Spelling Variants in German Documents: Difference between revisions
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<br>In this article we will look at spelling that deviate from standard modern German that appear fairly often 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, dialect forms, 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://wiki.familysearch.org/en/The_Dialect_Basis_of_Spelling_Variation_in_German_Surnames dialect basis of spelling in German]). 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. Many of these variants will be found well into the 19th century. | <br>In this article we will look at spelling that deviate from standard modern German that appear fairly often 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, dialect forms, 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://wiki.familysearch.org/en/The_Dialect_Basis_of_Spelling_Variation_in_German_Surnames dialect basis of spelling in German]). 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. Many of these variants will be found well into the 19th century. | ||
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| Standard <br>German | |||
| Variant | |||
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| auf | |||
| auff | |||
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<br> <br>bei bey, beÿ<br>-dorf -dorff<br>ein(en) ain(en)<br>Eltern Aeltern, Ältern<br>Freitag Freytag <br>geboren gebohren <br>getauft getaufft <br>heisst heist<br>hiermit hiemit Heirat- Heurat-<br>Juli Julÿ<br>Juni Junÿ<br>Köln Cöln <br>Krefeld Crefeld<br>März Merz<br>Name Nahme<br>Oktober October<br>sein seyn, seÿn <br>sind seint<br>sind sint <br>tat that<br>tun thun<br>tot todt | |||
um umb<br>untertan unterthan<br>Vater Vatter zwanzig zwantzig zwei zwey, zweÿ | um umb<br>untertan unterthan<br>Vater Vatter zwanzig zwantzig zwei zwey, zweÿ |
Revision as of 09:20, 11 July 2011
In this day and age of high literacy and standardization, we are used to, indeed expect, that what we see in print will be uniform. For example, we can look up words in dictionaries to find the ‘correct spelling.’ However, such has not always been the case. Centuries ago, there were no dictionaries available to dictate ‘correct spelling’ and most dictionaries that were available were designed to give definitions, not spelling. Most writers from before the 18th century would have found the idea of a single spelling for any particular spelling rather odd. If several possible spelling variants are available, why should one be limited to only one choice? Early writers certainly took advantage of the many possibilities available to them. After all, variety is the spice of life. In modern German, the sound represented by the English word ‘I’ can be rendered by ‘ei, ai, ey,’ and ‘ay.’ Again, writers from previous centuries could and did use any of these to render the ‘I’ sound.
In this article we will look at spelling that deviate from standard modern German that appear fairly often 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, dialect forms, or words that have Latin endings, such as ‘Aprilis.’ (Click here to see articles on Low German and dialect basis of spelling in German). We will, however, consider some place names.
So, the researcher should not be alarmed, nor think the scribe ‘did not know how to spell,’ when he encounters these variants. Many of these variants will be found well into the 19th century.
Standard German |
Variant |
auf | auff |
bei bey, beÿ
-dorf -dorff
ein(en) ain(en)
Eltern Aeltern, Ältern
Freitag Freytag
geboren gebohren
getauft getaufft
heisst heist
hiermit hiemit Heirat- Heurat-
Juli Julÿ
Juni Junÿ
Köln Cöln
Krefeld Crefeld
März Merz
Name Nahme
Oktober October
sein seyn, seÿn
sind seint
sind sint
tat that
tun thun
tot todt
um umb
untertan unterthan
Vater Vatter zwanzig zwantzig zwei zwey, zweÿ
Often, very old verb forms appear. For example, today we spell ‘scheint,’ but you might find ‘scheinet,’ with an extra ‘e.’
This list will grow in time as the writer finds more variants to add.
Although the following is not a spelling variation, we mention it here:
gewesene geweste