What is the current status of the German spelling reform (as of 2015)? Thread poster: Jeff Whittaker
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Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 08:31
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
I don't wish to get into a political discussion about whether the reform is bad or whether it's bad, but it's hard to find information about its current status (how people are using it in real life) because all of the information is either outdated or people are just pointing out its obvious flaws. Or are things still in a state of chaos? (die Rad fahrenden Kinder" or "die radfahrenden Kinder")?
I'm not looking for a list of rules per se, like Duden, but a link or resource describi... See more I don't wish to get into a political discussion about whether the reform is bad or whether it's bad, but it's hard to find information about its current status (how people are using it in real life) because all of the information is either outdated or people are just pointing out its obvious flaws. Or are things still in a state of chaos? (die Rad fahrenden Kinder" or "die radfahrenden Kinder")?
I'm not looking for a list of rules per se, like Duden, but a link or resource describing how it is being applied in practice as of 2015. Is the FAZ still using the old spelling? Are both spellings considered correct? Are people adopting some rules and not others?
Here are a few articles I've found, but they mostly describe what people are "supposed" to do, not what they are actually doing:
http://www.abendblatt.de/meinung/article205323339/Manche-Reform-Vorschlaege-waren-daemlich.html
http://www.bild.de/ratgeber/2014/bildung/rechtschreibung-reform-absurde-auswirkungen-irre-sprache-37418518.bild.html
http://www.welt.de/kultur/article121635352/Doppelt-so-viele-Fehler-dank-Rechtschreibreform.html
[Edited at 2015-06-15 15:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 14:31
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
| Difficult to answer | Jun 15, 2015 |
Dear Jeff,
This is a difficult question to answer. Some thoughts:
The new spelling is mandatory for schools and public institutions. Some newspapers use the old spelling, some use the reformed spelling, others mix.
AFAIK, the FAZ has initially adopted the new spelling, then went back to the old rules (as the new ones were considered too absurd), then changed their mind again when a lot of the old spellings were adopted into the new spelling rules as altern... See more Dear Jeff,
This is a difficult question to answer. Some thoughts:
The new spelling is mandatory for schools and public institutions. Some newspapers use the old spelling, some use the reformed spelling, others mix.
AFAIK, the FAZ has initially adopted the new spelling, then went back to the old rules (as the new ones were considered too absurd), then changed their mind again when a lot of the old spellings were adopted into the new spelling rules as alternatives. If I'm not mistaken, at the moment the FAZ is using the new spelling in its conservative interpretation, and ignores the rules in cases where they consider them too ridiculous. In other words: They use their own spelling which generally follows the conservative interpretation of the new rules.
As you're asking about people in real life, I'd say that most people keep doing it the way they've learnt it in school (read: doing it wrong the way they've learnt it in school). People in real life don't care very much about spelling, old or new.
However, keep in mind that the reformed spelling allows for a lot more alternative spellings, while the old one was much more rigid (so a lot of the old spelling is still correct in the new one, while it doesn't work the other way round).
To summarize, I'd say that the German language has largely lost the authoritative spelling rules it used to have and is moving towards a concept similar to the English one, where you can basically spell any way you like (within reason), as long as you're being consistent. In my experience, that's what people in real life do.
And, please excuse this one bit of political discussion, all this with the expressed intent of simplifying the spelling of a language whose spelling used to be extremely simple to begin with (compared to English, for example). There's good reason why the concept of a spelling bee is absolutely foreign to Germans: it would be equivalent to shooting penalties with no goalkeeper.
[Bearbeitet am 2015-06-15 16:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 08:31
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thank you for the interesting response | Jun 15, 2015 |
So, basically, people have accepted the changes they have found to be valid and rejected others.
I hadn't noticed the variation in English spelling, but a quick search revealed I was wrong:
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/20-words-with-more-than-one-spelling/
What are some of the changes that have been mostly universally accepte... See more So, basically, people have accepted the changes they have found to be valid and rejected others.
I hadn't noticed the variation in English spelling, but a quick search revealed I was wrong:
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/20-words-with-more-than-one-spelling/
What are some of the changes that have been mostly universally accepted? The ones I really hate are "dass." instead of "daß" (although I understand the logic behind the change) and "wie viel" instead of "wieviel". Wieviel is optional (but "deprecated")
[Edited at 2015-06-15 17:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Erik Freitag
Germany
Local time: 14:31
Member (2006)
Dutch to German
+ ...
| No clear idea | Jun 15, 2015 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
I hadn't noticed the variation in English spelling, but a quick search revealed I was wrong:
Sorry, looks that I haven't expressed myself very clearly. What I meant is that what people mostly seem to do in English is to pick a dictionary and stay with it.
In German however, in the old days we had one official spelling (which you could find in the Duden), while today, you rather do what the English speaking world does: pick a dictionary or a way of spelling and cling to it.
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
What are some of the changes that have been mostly universally accepted?
I really couldn't tell. I guess that "ss" has pretty much been universally accepted to replace "ß" after a short vowel, but I could be wrong.
[Bearbeitet am 2015-06-15 18:05 GMT]
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