Spelling Variants in German Documents: Difference between revisions

<br>In this article we will look at spellings that deviate from standard modern German that appear&nbsp;in genealogical documents. In the vast majority of cases, the variant spellings represent the same pronunciation as the standard form. We will not consider personal names or words that have Latin endings, such as ‘Aprilis.’ (Click here to see articles on [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/The_Low_German_Language_in_German_Research Low German ]and [https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/The_Dialect_Basis_of_Spelling_Variation_in_German_Surnames dialect basis of spelling variation&nbsp;in German surnames]). We will, however, consider some place names.<br>So, the researcher should not be alarmed, nor think the scribe ‘did not know how to spell,’ when he encounters these variants.&nbsp; Many of these variants will be found well into the 19th century.  

|-

| Standard&nbsp;German  

| iahr

|-

| Jannuar, Jenner, Jänner, ienner

|-

| war  

| wahr

|-

| ward  

&nbsp;* The ' after the A was found in the document (it is not a typo)&nbsp;and represents an 'e' to make the umlaut.  

&nbsp;*** This is the standard form in Austria&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  

Often, very old verb forms appear. For example, today we spell ‘scheint,’ but you might find ‘scheinet,’ with an extra ‘e.’ <br><br>This list will grow in time as the writer finds more variants to add.  

[[Category:Germany]]