Germans denounce influence of English as ‘idiot’s apostrophe’ gets official approval | Germany

A relaxation of official rules around the correct use of apostrophes in German has not only irritated grammar proponents but also raised existential fears around the pervasive influence of English.

Establishments with the names of their owners, with signs like ‘Rosi’s Bar’ or ‘Kati’s Kiosk’ are a common sight in German towns and cities, but strictly speaking they are wrong: unlike English, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to to indicate the genitive case. thing or possession. The correct spelling would therefore be ‘Rosis Bar’, ‘Katis Kiosk’, or, as in the title of a recent viral hit, Barbaras Rhabarberbar.

However, guidelines issued by the body that regulates the use of the spelling of Standard High German have clarified that the use of the punctuation mark colloquially known as Deppenapostrophe (“idiot’s apostrophe”) has become so widespread that it is allowed – as long as it separates the genitive ‘s’ within a proper name.

The new edition of the style guide of the Council for German Orthography, which prescribes grammar use in schools and public institutions in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, lists “Eva’s Blumenladen” (Eva’s flower shop) and “Peter’s Taverne” (Peter’s Tavern) as viable alternatives , although “Eva’s Brille” (“Eva’s glasses”) remains incorrect.

The Deppenapostrophe should not be confused with the English greengrocer’s apostrophe, when an apostrophe before an ‘s’ is incorrectly used to form the plural of a noun (“a kilo of potato”).

The new rules came into force in July, and the council said a relaxation of the rules in 1996 meant ‘Rosi’s Bar’ had not, strictly speaking, been incorrect for almost three decades. Yet German newspapers and social media networks have seen a revolt by pedants against the relaxation of grammar rules in recent days.

A commentator in the tabloid Bild said that seeing signs like “Harald’s Eck” (“Harald’s Corner”) made his “hair stand on end”, and that enthusiasts of the German language would deplore the correct use of the genitive form.

A columnist in the venerable newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung labeled the council’s decision as further evidence of the English language’s “victory march,” while a newspaper editor on LinkedIn complained that legalizing the “idiot apostrophe” was tantamount to “nodding for English”.

However, some linguists wonder whether the rise of the possessive apostrophe has much to do with the influence of English at all.

“The familiarity of English names may be a factor, but it could just as easily come from a desire to avoid confusion,” says Anatol Stefanowitsch, a linguist at Berlin’s Freie Universität. “What we often see when a language interacts with another prestige language is that it incorporates its vocabulary, not its grammar.”

Even before the clarification of the rules, the German Orthographic Council allowed the use of the possessive apostrophe for the sake of clarity, such as ‘Andrea’s Bar’ to make it clear that the owner’s name is Andrea and not Andreas.

“There is a long tradition of conservative circles being concerned about international influences on German languages,” Stefanowitsch said. “It used to be French, now it’s mainly English.”

The Dortmund-based association Verein Deutsche Sprache is trying to counter the influence of English with an ‘anglicism index’ that proposes alternative German words, such as Klapprechner instead of “laptop” or Puff corn instead of “popcorn”.