Concurrent standardization as a necessity: The genesis of the new official orthographic guidelines

Buchbeitrag

The new official orthographic guidelines were brought into force by the official state authorities on August 1st, 1998 and its principle goals were a standardized representation of the guidelines and a «gentle simplification in respect of content». This regulation was not supported by the public and in fact it was the starting point for a struggle for conceptual solutions and a quest for the achievement of' a consensus between different possible norms. Since orthography is an officially codified standard taking up a prominent position among linguistic standards, it is of particular socio-political importance. It was the foremost task of the Council for German Orthography (Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung), instituted in December 2004, to elaborate a compromise in order to bring the «Orthographical war» (Die Zeit) to an end, which was led enthusiastically for more than a decade. - The concern of this article is to classify historically the agreement reached in 2006. Against this background, it can be stated that official guidelines will only be accepted, if they are based upon the usage in writing and if they take into account the interests of the reader. Both principles are characterizing the proposal made by the Council for German Orthography. An outlook on the Council's activities concerning orthographic standardization expected in the future will conclude this article.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Rechtschreibung ; Rechtschreibreform ; Sprachnorm ; Rat für Deutsche Rechtschreibung ; Historische Sprachwissenschaft ; Schriftsprache ; Deutsch ; Germanische Sprachen; Deutsch

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Güthert, Kerstin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Oslo : Novus AS
• (when): 2021-06-18

Further information

• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:mh39-104646
• Last update: 06.03.2025, 9:00 AM CET