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Spelling Variants in the Northern Rheinland (view source)
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<br>German, as well as English, has both long and short vowels. For centuries, how to spell the long vowels has vexed writers and it has been only recently (within the last 200 years or so!) that a standard has been agreed upon. Before that time (and sometimes later, especially in dialects) writers used a variety of devices to indicate long vowels. In Modern English, one way to indicate a long in to add an ‘e’ at the end of a monosyllabic word, e.g. hat/hate, kit/kite and so on. Other languages handle the problem differently; some languages double the vowel, others put another vowel or ‘h’ after the vowel in question. Most use a combination of devices, however. | <br>German, as well as English, has both long and short vowels. For centuries, how to spell the long vowels has vexed writers and it has been only recently (within the last 200 years or so!) that a standard has been agreed upon. Before that time (and sometimes later, especially in dialects) writers used a variety of devices to indicate long vowels. In Modern English, one way to indicate a long in to add an ‘e’ at the end of a monosyllabic word, e.g. hat/hate, kit/kite and so on. Other languages handle the problem differently; some languages double the vowel, others put another vowel or ‘h’ after the vowel in question. Most use a combination of devices, however. | ||
<br>In the baptismal registry of the Evangelische-reformierte Kirche in the late 16th century, the scribe uses a Low German form instead of the standard High German, getauft. However, he spells it in several ways, as he wrestles with the problem of the long vowel. We find gedopt, which seemingly ignores the long vowel, gedoept, which is not an umlaut, in spite of the ‘oe’ combination, and gedoipt, which does not represent a diphthong. The ‘oi’ | <br>In the baptismal registry of the Evangelische-reformierte Kirche in the late 16th century, the scribe uses a Low German form instead of the standard High German, getauft. However, he spells it in several ways, as he wrestles with the problem of the long vowel. We find ''gedopt'', which seemingly ignores the long vowel, ''gedoept'', which is not an umlaut, in spite of the ‘oe’ combination, and ''gedoipt'', which does not represent a diphthong. The ‘oi’ and 'ui' spellings are characteristic in the Lower Rhine and Westfalia, where the ‘i’ was only a length marker. The ‘oi’ and 'ui' spellings appear in several words in standard Modern German, cf. the surname ‘Voigt’, with a long 'o' as in English 'pole' and the place names ‘Duisburg’ and ‘Duisdorf,’ the first syllables of which should be pronounced as in English ‘doos’ and not ‘doo-is.’ | ||
<br>Another long vowel that has a variant spelling in the records of Wesel is ‘a.’ The Modern German word ‘Name’ appears almost always as ‘naem.’ This ‘ae’ group for long ‘a’ is typical of older Dutch, esp. Flemish. | <br>Another long vowel that has a variant spelling in the records of Wesel is ‘a.’ The Modern German word ‘Name’ appears almost always as ‘naem.’ This ‘ae’ group for long ‘a’ is typical of older Dutch, esp. Flemish. | ||