Misspellings in German are a subcategory of orthographical errors (German: Rechtschreibfehler), counter the rules of German orthography. Although there is some variance following the current 'optional' status of the German spelling reform of 1996.
Misspelling in German is less common than in English since most words are spelled as they are pronounced.[1] Exceptions however occur, as for the (in modern German) identical "ä" and "e" both representing the IPA [ε] sound.[2] Confusion can also occur with homonyms as verb prefixes: wiederspiegeln (incorrect) vs. widerspiegeln (correct).
Misspellings of German words, outside Germany, also occur - for example by Bram Stoker[3] and James Joyce.[4]
References
edit- ^ Commonsense Grammar and Style: The Textbook - Phillip S. Sparks - 2004 - Page 65 "In many other languages, German and Spanish for example, almost all words are easy to spell because they are written "
- ^ Learning to Spell: Research, Theory, and Practice Across Languages - Charles A. Perfetti, Laurence Rieben, Michel Fayol - 1997 Page 86 "Why vowel spelling proved difficult for some of the German words is easy to understand from the misspellings listed in Table 5.1. In the case of Bär (only 66% correct), 25 children used e for /ε/. The letter e actually is the more common spelling ..."
- ^ Roman in Englisch-deutscher Perspektiven Susanne Stark - 2000 Page 239 "Conclusion Although misspelling of German terms, such as "Todten" in Dracula and Draculas Guest, as well as "Pinacotek", "Wehrwolf and "Gelegenbeiten" for " Gelegenheiten" in the "Working Notes",67 suggest that Stoker was perhaps not ...
- ^ John Gordon Finnegans Wake: A Plot Summary -1986 Page 20 "'Clubsessel' (559.06), the peculiar misspelling of German klubsessel — ' easychair' — puts it within echoing distance of 'closestool', a term (current in Bloom's day — Ulysses 179, 709) for a commode; though dubious, the innuendo seems ..."