The Council for German Spelling has decided: gender symbols are not a regular part of the German language. But something else for that?
Mannheim/Munich – As announced, the Council for German Spelling officially took a position on the use of gender symbols in the German language on Friday. According to the council, they are “not part of the core of German orthography,” as the committee’s office announced in the afternoon. However, there is a “but”.
Advice for German spelling: Gender sign is not a regular part of the orthography
Gender symbols such as an asterisk, colon or underscore have a direct effect “on the orthographically correct spelling of words”, the reason given. In various cases, their setting could “lead to subsequent grammatical problems that have not yet been clarified”. So these are not regular characters.
Instead, the Council wants to recommend government agencies to add a special character section to the official set of rules. Gender characters should at least be listed as special characters, which would be an innovation.
This development is not yet complete and will continue to be monitored by the Council. Sabine Krome, managing director of the council, described the decision of the body as a “wait and see attitude”. Work needs to be done on how the gender signs can be used.
According to the Council, gender sign is not a regular spelling – but there is a “but”
According to Krome, the recommendations of November 2018 and March 2021 continue to apply. At that time, the Council had already spoken out against the inclusion of the disputed signs. However, there would be a small change if government agencies recognize the gender signs as “special signs” in response to the new recommendation. Although they would still be missing from the official regulations, they would at least be described there as a phenomenon.
The Council for German Orthography is a body with 41 members from a total of seven countries and regions that was established in 2004. It is of great importance because, among other things, schools and authorities use the set of rules. “The Council is the authoritative body in questions of German spelling and publishes the official set of rules for German spelling,” says the official website.
Gender-appropriate language repeatedly leads to heated discussions in Germany. Opinions also differ significantly in the district of Munich. A survey by the Münchner Merkur shows that the municipalities are taking different approaches. (nz with afp)
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