Specification | Alman Institut
Az. 1880-TW-001<br>Antrag auf Sprachreform
Antragsteller: Twain, M. (Heidelberg)<br>Eingegangen: 1880 · Status: offen<br>Gemeldete Verluste: drei Lehrkräfte
Every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in the<br>distribution; so the gender of each must be learned separately and<br>by heart. There is no other way. … In German, a young lady<br>has no sex, while a turnip has.
— M. Twain,<br>A Tramp Abroad (1880)
Anlage 1: Beweisstück
Gretchen. Wilhelm, where is the turnip?
Wilhelm. She has gone to the kitchen.
Gretchen. Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?
Wilhelm. It has gone to the opera.
Az. 1880-TW-001<br>Anlage 2: Bestandsaufnahme
GegenstandGeschlecht lt. Wörterbuch
der Baum (tree)männlich ♂<br>die Knospe (its bud)weiblich ♀<br>das Blatt (its leaf)sächlich ⚲<br>der Hund (dog)männlich ♂<br>die Katze (cat, incl. tomcats)weiblich ♀<br>das Pferd (horse)sächlich ⚲<br>das Weib (wife)sächlich ⚲<br>die Steckrübe (turnip)weiblich ♀<br>das Mädchen (young lady)sächlich ⚲
Systematik: keine.
Az. 1880-TW-001<br>Anlage 3: Reformvorschläge (Auszug)
In the first place, I would leave out the Dative case. …<br>The Dative case is but an ornamental folly — it is better to<br>discard it.
Fourthly, I would reorganize the sexes, and distribute them<br>according to the will of the creator. This as a tribute of<br>respect, if nothing else.
Seventhly, I would discard the Parenthesis. … Infractions<br>of this law should be punishable with death.
Vermerk: Vorschläge 1 und 4 fallen in die Zuständigkeit des<br>Instituts.
Anlage 4<br>Bestimmter Artikel, Standarddeutsch
Mask.Fem.Neut.Plural
Nominativ<br>derdie<br>die<br>dasdie<br>die
Akkusativ<br>dendie<br>die<br>dasdie<br>die
Dativ<br>demdie<br>derdie<br>demdie<br>dendie
Genitiv<br>desder<br>der<br>desder<br>der
Sechzehn Felder. Zwei Formen.
Präzedenzfall<br>Bestimmter Artikel, Altenglisch (ca. 900)
Mask.Fem.Neut.Plural
Nominativ<br>sethe<br>sēothe<br>þætthe<br>þāthe
Akkusativ<br>þonethe<br>þāthe<br>þætthe<br>þāthe
Dativ<br>þǣmthe<br>þǣrethe<br>þǣmthe<br>þǣmthe
Genitiv<br>þæsthe<br>þǣrethe<br>þæsthe<br>þārathe
Sechzehn Felder. Eine Form.
Präzedenzfall<br>Erledigt ca. 1300
Altenglisch<br>Mittelenglisch<br>Heute
se mōna (m.)<br>þe mone<br>the moon
sēo sunne (f.)<br>þe sonne<br>the sun
þæt wīf (n.)<br>þe wif<br>the wife
Erledigt. Keine Beschwerden seit 700 Jahren.
Formblatt AL-2<br>Antrag auf Vereinfachung
Eingang: F. Kafka, Die Verwandlung (1915), Satz 1
Als Gregor Samsa<br>eines Morgensein Morgen<br>aus<br>unruhigenunruhige<br>TräumenTräume<br>erwachte, fand er sich in<br>seinemsein<br>Bett zu<br>einemein<br>ungeheuerenungeheure<br>Ungeziefer verwandelt.
§2a<br>§3a<br>§4a<br>§7c
Reinschrift
Als Gregor Samsa ein Morgen aus unruhige Träume erwachte, fand er<br>sich in sein Bett zu ein ungeheure Ungeziefer verwandelt.
Amtlich vereinfacht<br>Geprüft · §1–§10
Anlage W<br>Weltsprachen-Register
Author: Al MacDonald<br>Editor: Fritz Lekschas<br>License: CC BY-SA 3.0<br>ID: ISO 3166-1 or "_[a-zA-Z]" if an ISO code is not available
Englisch — 1,5 Mrd. Sprecher (entgendert ca. 1300)
Deutsch — 0,13 Mrd. Sprecher (Stand: vor Vereinfachung)
Deutsch — Prognose (nach Vereinfachung)
Vorgang 1880-TW-001
In 1880, an American author filed<br>a detailed complaint<br>about the German language, together with a proposal for its<br>reform. He had studied it for nine weeks, under great difficulty<br>and annoyance; three of his teachers died in the meantime. The<br>file has remained open since.
Beweisaufnahme
Supporting evidence was attached: a dialogue from one of the best<br>of the German Sunday-school books, in which a turnip is<br>she and a young lady is it. The Institut has<br>reviewed the material. No error on the applicant's part could be<br>established.
Bestandsaufnahme
The applicant further submitted an inventory: a tree is male, its<br>buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs<br>are male, cats are female — tomcats included, of course. A wife,<br>he noted, has no sex at all. The inventory has been verified<br>against the dictionary. It is accurate.
Reformvorschläge
The applicant supplied remedies, estimating that a gifted person<br>ought to learn English in thirty hours, French in thirty days,<br>and German in thirty years. Proposals 1 and 4 fall within the<br>Institut's remit. Processing begins — 146 years after receipt,<br>well within the usual administrative timeframe.
Befund
The complaint has merit. Standard German declines its definite<br>article across three genders, four cases and two numbers: sixteen<br>slots, six forms, and no system by which to learn them.
Präzedenzfall
A precedent exists. English — also a Germanic language — once<br>declined its article through the same three genders and four<br>cases: se mōna, the he-moon; sēo sunne, the<br>she-sun; þæt wīf, the it-wife. Sixteen slots, nine forms.<br>Any Anglo-Saxon would have understood the applicant's suffering.
Präzedenzfall, Fortsetzung
Then it stopped. Between roughly 1150 and 1300 the endings wore<br>away, the sixteen slots merged into a single the ,<br>and the grammatical genders went with them. No committee was<br>involved. No intelligibility was lost.
Präzedenzfall, Ergebnis
Since then, English assigns gender by...