Thanks to Elke for reminding us about this bit of unfinished
business. Happy, though, the students (and their teachers), who have no
greater concern than the "Rechtschreibreform."
The question I have never found the answer to is what will happen after
the transition period to the Germans/Austrians/Swiss etc who cannot (or
will not) learn the new system. Will the old spelling be a
Kündigungsgrund for Beamte? Will children be docked marks in the
Abitur for following the old spelling? What is the status of a
"Rechtschreibreform" for the, as it seems, growing number of
people for whom literacy means e-mails and txt mssgs? Could it
be that the ultimate effect of the "Rechtschreibreform" will be the
accomodation into German of the sort of orthagraphical practises that
have definately become common in English? Will we find more German
towns with a "Bußbahnhof"?
Alan Deighton
Department of German
Hull
On Tue, 1 Oct 2002 03:22:49 +0100 Elke Philburn <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Four years after the introduction of the spelling reform (the so-
> called "Rechtschreibreform") and three years before the end of the
> transition period during which both orthographies are still accepted as
> valid, the feasibility of fully implementing the new spelling remains an
> issue for debate. etc., etc.
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