Rechtschreibreform
This article should be from material at Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), concerning the reform of German spelling. Luxembourg, a trilingual country with German as one of its official languages, has not endorsed the reform. The reform is being phased in gradually, and not until August 1, 2005 will the use of the old spellings be considered incorrect. The use of the new spelling rules is legally binding in schools and in the public administration. Nonetheless, many people and several major German language periodicals have de facto rejected the spelling reform, and it remains to be seen whether it will take hold.
The spelling reform is an attempt to simplify the orthography and make it easier to learn, without substantially changing the familiar rules of the German language. The bulk of the reforms concern:
- changing ß to ss (Schloss instead of Schloß) after short vowels;
- re-analysing certain compound words as separate words, (ab sein instead of absein);
- unmerging letters in compound words (Stemmmeißel instead of Stemmeißel); and
- the regularisation of loan words (Cornedbeef instead of Corned beef).
- germanizing of loan words (Ketschup instead of Ketchup, Orthografie instead of Orthographie)
The reform has not been without controversy, and has been heavily debated since its introduction in 1998. A referendum in Schleswig-Holstein in 1998 resulted in a vote against the new orthography, and on 1 August, 2000, the leading conservative daily, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, returned to the older spelling. Most books and newspapers nowadays are, by and large, published in the new spelling.
There was heavy debate in Germany in 2004 about whether the reform should be cancelled. Many students, as well as adults, are confused by the new rules. The debate eventually became a real "Sommertheater" (silly season) topic — expanding the otherwise unspectacular summer news supply — when Der Spiegel, Bild and the Süddeutsche Zeitung announced that they would join the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in returning to the old spelling rules. Newspapers and periodicals produced by these publishing houses are read by 60% of all Germans. A decision has yet to be made by the German education ministers on the question of whether schools will be obliged to stick to the reform rules or not after the summer holidays are over.
See also: Spelling reform.
