Rechtschreibung - Questions on German orthography that cannot be resolved by an online dictionary like http://de.wiktionary.org or http://dict.leo.org. Use the tag 'orthography' for question on the scientific backrground of spelling rules.
16
votes
4answers
493 views
Is there a rule that dictates whether to use the eszett (scharfes S) or double s?
It's clear in the case of compound nouns, double s should be used e.g. Bundesstraße, but with other words I cannot see a pattern.
To me it appears to be used somewhat randomly, e.g.:
besser
...
13
votes
5answers
432 views
Is it an error when I do not use ß when it is necessary?
I'm living in a German-speaking country where ß is not used at all. Therefore, I do not use ß when I write German texts. Now I'm asking myself if this is technically a spelling error? Or is the ß more ...
25
votes
1answer
307 views
What is the origin of the rules about the capitalization of the first letter of each noun?
To my knowledge, German is the only language which capitalize the first letter of each of its nouns. Why is there such a rule?
Meines Wissens ist Deutsch die einzige Sprache, in der der erste ...
17
votes
3answers
364 views
Should I use the old spelling rules?
There seems to be a strong negative emotional reaction among (some?) native German speakers to the new spelling rules. They use the old spelling rules themselves and dislike the new spelling.
Should ...
3
votes
4answers
302 views
Why is “Vater” spelt with 'V' when it is pronounced like 'father'?
I know that 'V' in the German alphabet is for "Vau" and 'F' is "Eff".
Then why are we using 'V' instead of 'F' in German for "Vater"? Similar to the English "father" I would have expected it to be ...
12
votes
2answers
333 views
Zusammen oder getrennt? Gibt es eine Regel?
Es gibt viele Wörter im Deutschen, deren exakte Schreibweise sich meiner Kenntnis schon immer entzogen haben. Das größte Problem ist dabei die Frage: zusammen oder getrennt?
Ich nenne mal ein paar ...
9
votes
3answers
200 views
What caused “ss” to gain popularity over “ß” in the 19th century?
From Google Books' Ngram Viewer:
Notice that the "hasst" form gained popularity towards the end of the 19th century, only to drop again in favor of "haßt" later on. I noticed the same pattern on ...
6
votes
4answers
578 views
Is the eszett (ß) used in last names?
My grandparents last name is Reiss and I was wondering if they lived in Germany would this be spelled with the German ß (szett or sharp s)?
