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