Media and Lesuire: German Spelling

ReformBy Noah Taylor

History of Spelling Reform

In 1901 the first official spelling rules were put in place by the german government.

Then Switzerland officially abolished the “ß” character in 1938.

Hitler tries for spelling reform but fails due to harsh war conditions (1944)

Reform of 1996

New spelling rules were approved in July

They were 10 years in the making

The most significant alteration since 1901

Schools adopted the rules in August

Components

The most significant change proposed was to get rid of the “ß” character and replace it with two S’s

The other important altercation was of the changing in the spelling of compound nouns

Changing spellings to more “Germanic” ones was also noteworthy

Reform of 1996 conflict

In October 1996 academics and other intellectuals call for the rules to be retracted

In September 1998 the state of Schleswig-Holstein votes to keep schools from adopting the reform

Public Response

In 2002 about 80% of Germany was opposed to the reform

Most people kept spelling conventionally especially between non-governmental cases

This was despite the efforts of the government to control spelling in the media

Reform of 2006

Third substantial reform of German spelling and grammar

It was an amendment to the reform of 1996

The government essentially gave in to the public’s opinion

Effects of the 2006 Reform

Schools are now required to follow further corrected rules

The older spelling rules (1996) are now considered incorrect in education

The two Länder (Bavaria and North-Rhine Westphalia) are now also required to adhere to new standards

They previously refused to adopt them

Current Views of Spelling Reform

Some writers still believe in the stricter reform of 1996

They say that they will spell and publish however they deem fit

Many more laymen (not involved with media or education) see the reform as too much trouble; however, the rules are not hard to learn even for non-natives

References

I wrote this Powerpoint

http://german.about.com/library/blreform.htm

http://www.goethe.de/ges/spa/siw/en630493.htm

http://www.ultralingua.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34

References

Image referenceshttp://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,1922563,00.htmlhttp://www.kinder-hd-uni.de/rechtschreib0.htmlhttp://www.amazon.com/Duden-Deutsche-Rechtschreibung-Betriebswirtschaftlichen-Forschung/dp/3411040122