Chapter VI: Appendix: III

WORKS IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE[86]

English compositors called upon to set up German should have clear directions beforehand as to the founts to be used, whether English or German. If the manuscript is in well-written German script, and the compositor is acquainted with the German characters, he will find little difficulty in setting this up in German type. It is otherwise if he has to set German in its own characters from manuscript in Roman characters. This is owing principally to the numerous digraphs and the long and short s’s used. The following rules will be found of use in both cases:

1. _Capitals and lower-case._—All German substantives are written with capital initial letters; and capital letters are also used for adjectives in geographical designations, e.g. =das Kaspische Meer= (the Caspian Sea), or in adjectives derived from proper names, e.g. =die Grimmschen Märchen= (_Grimm’s Fairy Tales_); but as a rule adjectives, even when relating to nationality, have lower-case initials, not excepting titles of books, &c., thus: =das deutsche Vaterland, die französische Revolution= (the German Fatherland, the French Revolution).

The =von= in German names of persons begins with a small letter (unless of course when it commences a sentence), e.g. =Herr von Bülow=.

The =von= in such cases requires only a thin space after it: =Geschrieben von von Richter= (written by von Richter).

2. _The Reformed German Spelling of 1902._—All words of German origin ending in =th=, as =Muth=, =Rath=, now drop the =h= and become =Mut=, =Rat=, &c. =That= has become =Tat=, =Thor= is now =Tor=. =Willkühr= has become =Willkür=. =Thee= is now spelt =Tee=. But =Thron=, =Theater=, &c., being derived from Greek, keep =th=. Also =ph= in words of German origin is now supplemented by =f=, thus =Efeu= (for =Epheu=); =Adolf=, =Rudolf=, =Westfalen= (for =Adolph=, =Rudolph=, =Westphalen=). Likewise =Elefant=, =Fasan=, =Sofa=. But =Phonograph=, =Philosoph=, =Symphonie=, being learned words of Greek origin. =Z= is more and more used for =C=, thus: =Zentrum= for =Centrum=; =Zentner=, =Zirkus=. =Ae=, =Oe=, Ue, are always rendered =Ä=, =Ö=, =Ü=.

Three identical letters should not come together before a vowel. Consequently print =Schiffahrt=, not =Schifffahrt= (but in dividing print =Schiff~fahrt=). =Mittag=, =dennoch= (from =Mitt~tag=, =denn~noch=), are invariable. The plural of =See= is no longer =Seeen=, but =Seen=; in narrow measure divide =See~en=.

The suffix =niſz= is now =nis=: =Hindernis=.

The verbal suffix =iren= is now uniformly written =ieren=, thus: =addieren=, =subtrahieren=, =multiplizieren=, =dividieren=, =marschieren=.

A detailed list of the new German, Austrian, and Swiss orthographies[87] may be obtained through any bookseller. A few German writers still object to the modern spelling; in such cases, of course, copy should be followed.

3. _Hyphens in German._—If two or more words follow one another, relating to a common part of speech with which they form a compound, all except the last take a hyphen, thus: =Hut- und Krawattenfabrikant= (hat and tie manufacturer). Compound words in German are now printed as one word.

4. _Division of words in German._—Prefixes should of course remain intact, such as =an=, =auf=, =ent=, =emp=, =er=, =ver=, =vor=, =über=, =zer=. Thus: =an~fangen=, =auf~fahren=, =ent~zweien=, =emp~finden=, =er~fahren=, =ver~ändern=, =vor~rücken=, =über~reden=, =zer~ſtoſzen=. In narrow measure divide =ge~ben=, =tra~gen=, =he~bung=, =le~bend=, =mä~hen=, =ſa~gen=, =Tü~cher=, =lö~ſchen=. (See under paragraph 2 of this Appendix, ‘Reformed Spelling’, for three identical letters coming together. See also under 7, 11, 14.)

5. _Spaced words._—In these the following compound letters should never be spaced: =ch=, =ck=, =ſt=, =ſz=, =tz=. The following are spaced: =ff=, =fi=, =fl=, =ll=, =ſi=, =ſſ=. That is, two different consonants coming together (except =f= and =l=) are not spaced; but a consonant and vowel, and double consonants, are to be spaced.

6. _Prepositional and other prefixes in German._—When =auf= precedes a part of speech commencing with =f=, the two =f=’s should not form one letter. Print =auffahren=, not =auffahren=.

So also, when =aus= is prefix to a part of speech beginning with an =ſ=, it should not form with the latter an =ſz= or =ſſ= if German type is used. Print =ausſprechen=, not =ausſzprechen= or =auſſprechen=.

If =ent= precedes a part of speech beginning with =z=, the =t= and =z= do not form one letter, but remain separate: =entzweien=, not =entzweien=.

7. _Suffixes_ =lich=, =zig=.—The letter =l= in the former should not be joined to a preceding =f=, nor the letter =z= in the latter to a preceding =t=. Print =verwerflich=, not =verwerflich=; =achtzehn=, =achtzig=, not =achtzehn=, =achttzig=. So also, in dividing, put =verwerf~lich= (or =ver~werflich=) and =acht~zehn=, =acht~zig=.

8. _German in Roman type._—In Roman type =ſz= is now rendered =ß= (better than ſs)[88]; =ſſ= becomes ss; and in spaced words all letters (except =ß=) are separated. When Roman capital letters are used, =ſz= becomes SZ. Thus MASZE (=Maſze=, measures) (with long _a_), not MASSE (=Maſſe=, substance) (with short _a_).

9. _Metal-rules in German._—Spaces are always put before and after a rule in a sentence, wide spaces in a widely spaced line, thin spaces in a narrowly spaced one, exactly as with words, thus: =Er sagte — nicht ohne Zaudern —, daſz er gehen müſſe=.[89]

Rules are not put after colons.

10. _Quotation marks in German._—The commencement of a quotation is indicated by commas followed by a thin space; the close by turned commas. A quotation within a quotation is usually rendered by a single Roman comma at commencement, and by a turned Roman comma at the end[90]; thus: =Er ſagte mir: „Gehe nicht hin, denn es heiſzt, daſz es dort von ,Geistern‛ spukt.‟=[91]

11. =ll=.—This is always printed as one letter at the end of a syllable or word, as also in the body of a word if the latter is not a compound, thus: =Schaliloch= (now, however, written =Schalloch=, but divided =Schall~loch=); =will, ſoll=; =wollen, ſollen=. But in compound words, in which the first =l= ends a syllable and the second =l= commences the next one, the two =l=’s must be separated, thus: =vielleicht= (divided =viel~leicht=).

12. =ſſ=, =sſ=.—Both in Roman type = ss. The first (=ſſ=) is used after short vowels, thus: =eſſen=, =müſſen=.

The second (=sſ=) is employed when the first s ends one syllable and the second commences the next, each syllable giving sense taken singly, i. e. in compounds, thus: =Eisſcholle= (ice-block), =dasſelbe=, =desſelben=.

13. =ſz=.—After long vowels or diphthongs and if followed by e or i of a less strongly accented syllable[92]: =ſpaſzen=, =grüſzen=, =heiſzen=, =Süſzigkeit=; also after short or long vowels or diphthongs if followed by =t=: =haſzt=, =ſpaſzt=, =küſzt=, =grüſzt=, =iſzt=, =genieſzt=, =heiſzt=; and also at the end of words or first part of compounds, whether the preceding vowel be long or short: =Schloſz=, =groſz=, =eſzbar=, =faſzlich=.

14. _Double letters._—=ch=, =ck=, =ff=, =fi=, =fl=, =ll=, =ſi=, =ſſ=, =ſt=, =fz=, =tz=. No triple letters, like the English ffi, ffl, are used in German.—ffi, ssi, are usually printed =ffi=, =ſſi=, as =pfiffig=, =biſſig=; ffl is printed =ffl=, as =trefflich=.

As regards =fl=, the =f= and =l= must be separated if the latter belongs to a suffix, thus: =ſchlaflos=, not =ſchlaflos=.

15. =ſ, s.=—The long _s_ is used at the beginning, the short _s_ at the end of syllables (=ſagen=, =laſen=, =las=, =das=, =Häuschen=).

16. _Abbreviations in German._—The most common are: =uſw=. (= =und so weiter=, and so on, et cetera); =z. B.= (= =zum Beiſpiel=, for example); =d. h.= (= =das heiſzt=, that is to say); =d. i.= (= =das iſt=, that is); =dgl.= (= =dergleichen=, such like, similar cases); =u. a. m.= (= =und andere mehr=, and others); =ſ.= (= =ſiehe=, see); =ſ. o.= (= =ſiehe oben=, see above); =ſ. u.= (= =ſiehe unten=, see below); =u. ö.= (= =und öfter=, _passim_); =ſog.= (= =ſogenannt=, so-called); =bzw.= (= =beziehungsweiſe=, respectively); =Aufl.= (= =Auflage=, unaltered edition); =Ausg.= (= =Ausgabe=, revised edition); =Abt.= (= =Abteilung=, division); =Abſchn.= (= =Abſchnitt=, section); =a. a. O.= (= =am angeführten Orte=, in the place cited); =Bb.= (= =Band=, volume); =Hs.= (= =Handſchrift=, manuscript); =hss.= (= =Handſchriften=, manuscripts)[93].

After ordinal numbers a full point is put where we put ‘1st, 2nd’, &c., thus: 1. =Heft= (or 1. =H.=, = =erſtes Heft=, first number); 2. =Band= (or 2. =Bd.=, = =zweiter Band=, second volume). This full point is often mistaken by compositors and readers for a full stop.

For & in ‘&c.’ the Germans have a special character _&_, thus: _&c_.; but =uſw.= now generally takes its place.

17. _The Apostrophe._—Print =iſt’s=, =geht’s= (for =iſt es=, =geht es=); but where a preposition and the article =das= are merged, omit the apostrophe; thus =ans= (for =an das=), =ins= (for =in das=), =durchs= (for =durch das=), =fürs= (for =für das=), (_not_ =an’s=, =in’s=, =durch’s=, =für’s=).

After proper names ending in =s=, =ſs=, =z=, used possessively, put an apostrophe, omitting the apostrophal _s_; thus =Voſs’ Luiſe=, =Demoſthenes’ Reden=, =Horaz’ Oden= (Voss’s _Louise_, Demosthenes’ _Speeches_, Horace’s _Odes_). But put =Schillers Gedichte= (Schiller’s Poems).

18. _The Comma._—In German, commas must invariably be put before =daſs= and before relative clauses (beginning with =der=, =die=, =das=, =welcher=, =welche=, =welches=, =womit=, =wodurch=, =woran=, =woraus=, &c. &c.). This is frequently forgotten by English compositors.

19. §.—This mark (in English, ‘section’) is called in German ‘Paragraph’.

FOOTNOTES:

[86] For many useful suggestions in this section, bringing these rules up to date, I am much indebted to Karl Breul, M.A., Litt.D., Ph.D., Reader in Germanic at Cambridge University.—H. H.

[87] A very useful book is that by K. Duden, _Orthographisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache_, 8th ed., Leipzig, 1906. Price 2_s._—H. H.

[88] Where these founts are not yet available, ss must, as hitherto, be put for =ſz=.

[89] He said—not without hesitation—that he must depart.

[90] Single German commas are, however, also used.

[91] He said to me, ‘Do not go there, for they say that “ghosts” are haunting that place’.

[92] After short vowels and before =e= and =i= of less strongly accented syllables print =ſſ=: =eſſen=, =wiſſen=, =laſſen=, =küſſen=, =Flüſſigkeit=.

[93] A very full list of German abbreviations, with explanations, is given in Dr. Breul’s _New German Dictionary_ (Cassell & Co., London, 1906).