Deutsches Wörterbuch

The German Dictionary

The original title page of theDeutsches Wörterbuch,1854
Author	Brothers Grimm
Original title	Deutsches Wörterbuch
Language	German
Subject	General
Genre	Dictionary
Publisher	Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag
Publication date	1854 and on
Publication place	Prussia Germany
Media type	33 volumes (hardbound)
ISBN	978-3423590457

TheDeutsches Wörterbuch(German:[ˌdɔʏtʃəsˈvœʁtɐbuːx];"The German Dictionary" ), abbreviatedDWB,is the largest and most comprehensivedictionaryof theGerman languagein existence.Encompassing modernHigh Germanvocabulary in use since 1450, it also includesloanwordsadopted from other languages into German. Entries cover theetymology,meanings,attested forms,synonyms,usage peculiarities, and regional differences of words found throughout theGerman speaking world.The dictionary'shistorical linguisticsapproach, illuminated by examples fromprimary sourcedocuments, makes it to German what theOxford English Dictionaryis toEnglish.The first completed DWB lists over 330,000headwordsin 67,000 print columns spanning 32 volumes.

TheDeutsches Wörterbuchwas begun by theBrothers Grimmin 1838 and the initial volumes were published in 1854. Unfinished at the time of their deaths, the dictionary was finally completed by a succession of later scholars and institutions in 1961.In 1971, a 33rd supplement volume was published containing 25,000 additional entries. New research projects began in 2004 to expand and update the oldest parts of the dictionary to modern academic standards. Volumes A–F were planned for completion in 2012 by the Language Research Centre at theBerlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanitiesand theUniversity of Göttingen.

History

Original manuscript of theDeutsches WörterbuchbyJacob Grimm

The Berlin Academy of Sciences staff working to complete the Grimm dictionary, 1952

Beginnings

Beginning in 1830,Weidmann's Publishing HouseinLeipzigrepeatedly approachedJacobandWilhelm Grimmwith a proposal for a large new dictionary, spanningGermanvocabulary fromMartin LuthertoJohann Wolfgang von Goethe.As busy professors atGöttingen University,theBrothers Grimmrejected such a complex undertaking. A political scandal then dramatically changed matters. In 1837, the new King of Hanover,Ernst August,dissolved parliament and demanded oaths of allegiance from all civil servants. The brothers and five other professors refused and this so-called "Göttingen Seven"were removed from their positions by royal order. The brothers then became political refugees in their former home inKassel.

The Grimms (1838–1863)

By October 1838, the Brothers had a contract with Weidmann's and the prestigious Leipzig journalAllgemeine Zeitungpublished an announcement of the start of work on the DWB. The brothers initially expected the project to take ten years and produce 6–7 volumes. Circumstances seemed favorable because they were provided with staff and spacious apartments inBerlinat the invitation of the Prussian Minister in 1841. However, difficulties soon began. Not only did the acquisition of source excerpts take much longer than expected, but illness and theRevolution of 1848interrupted the work. Eight volumes consisting of 1824 printed columns, a bibliography and a detailed preface were finally published on 13 April 1854.

The first edition of theDWBexceeded the expectations of the brothers and the publishers. The press called it a "great national work" and its first shipments sold 10,000 copies. As it included words regarded as "indelicate," Jacob anticipated criticism of this and stated the following in the Foreword:

"This dictionary is not an immoral book, but a scientific undertaking. Even theBibledoes not lack for words that are frowned upon in fine society. "

-Jacob Grimm,Vorwort 1. Band, S. XXXIV,Leipzig 1854

More volumes and updates were planned, but in their lifetime the brothers could only fully complete portions: Wilhelm Grimm wrote the articles to the letter D and died in 1859; Jacob, who was able to fully complete the letters A, B, C and E, died in 1863 while working on the entry for "Frucht" (fruit).

Post-Grimm era (1863–1907)

After the deaths of the Grimm Brothers, successive linguists continued the work. The first of these were close associates of the brothers,Rudolf HildebrandandKarl Weigand.TheDWBalso became an affair of state whenOtto von Bismarckrequested theNorth German ConfederationFederal Council to provide state funding in 1867. The youngGermanistMoritz Heynejoined the project and became one of its most important contributors. By 1888 Heyne had invited graduate students to post articles under his supervision, turning the DWB into a true consortium for the first time. Included in this group was Rudolf Meißner who collaborated on theDWBfor six decades (1889–1948). These ever-changing authors had different approaches and the work also proceeded very slowly. Hermann Wunderlich, Hildebrand's successor, only finishedGestümetoGezwangafter 20 years of work and 3000 columns of text. By 1905, academic professionals across Germany were unanimous: management of the DWB had to change or it would never be completed.

Academy of Sciences (1908–1961)

The prestigiousPrussian Academy of Sciencestook on formal development of theDWBin 1908 withGöttingenremaining a central collection point forsource documents.Operations were streamlined and salaried workers were provided through funding by the Empire. This period of reform and consolidation ended withWorld War Iin 1914. By the early '20s the project was again close to collapse asGerman hyperinflationdrove costs of production to over 5 billion marks. A donation of just $152 from the United States in 1923 saved theDWBfrom ruin.Max Planckrepeatedly advocated for the dictionary and funding was eventually taken up by theEmergency Association of German Science.Due to the efficiencies of a permanent staff of lexicographers as well as standardized policies for production, the period between 1931–1939 saw six times as much work completed as in the previous years. Nearly 100 years after its conception the DWB was permanently institutionalized and its conclusion was in sight.

World War IIthen paralyzed the work. Employees were drafted into military service, resources were scarce, and the archived holdings were moved to apotash mineatBernburg an der Saaleto protect them fromAllied bombing.The remaining three employees continued some work at Schloss Fredersdorf outside Berlin. After the war the USSR granted permission to move the archived materials from Fredersdorf and Bernburg back to Berlin in 1947. The newGerman Academy of Sciences at Berlinthen took on the work of the DWB. With the founding ofEast Germanyin 1949, communication between Berlin and Göttingen became more difficult. Despite these political complications, theDWBwas finally published in January 1961, 123 years after its beginnings. It totaled 67,744 text columns, 320,000 keywords and weighed 84 kg. A 1971 supplement contains 25,000 additional entries and references to primary sources.

Later versions

Planning for a second edition had already begun in 1957, four years before the first edition was finished. The revision was intended especially to bring the oldest part of theDictionary,the letters A-F originally authored by theBrothers Grimm,up to date. It also was to be a cooperative effort betweenEastandWest Germany:theAcademy of Sciences of the GDRinEast Berlinwould complete A-C, and theUniversity of Göttingenin the West would complete D-F. The initial fascicles of this revision were published in 1965, but it remains unfinished today, with the letters B and C (originally assigned to the Berlin team) still in progress. The East German Berlin team was greatly hindered for political reasons because theSEDauthorities saw the DWB as a "bourgeois" lexicography project. In the course of the 1960s, most of its staff were taken off the project and used for other tasks.In 1984, the original 1961 version of theDWBwas published in a paperback edition, now out of print. In 1999 a new paperback printing of all 33 volumes (weight 30 kg), published by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, became available (ISBN978-3423590457).

Digital edition

In 2004 the Competence Center for Electronic Text Processing and Publication in the Humanities at theUniversity of Trierdigitized the entire 300 million printed characters according to the method of double entry. The entire body was manually entered twice in China to eliminate error.A set of CD-ROMs of this digitization was released for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS. In this version spelling errors in the original were corrected. An online version of the first edition is also available at theUniversity of Trier.The digitized first edition of theDWBmet with lively interest. Every day the online version receives tens of thousands of hits and the CD-ROM of the first edition is now in its fourth updated distribution.

New edition

In 2006 the unfinished project to revise and update the A-F volumes to modern academic standards was resumed. The conclusion of this work (the B and C volumes) was finished in 2016;fascicles are appearing with the S. Hirzel Verlagas they are completed.

However, theBerlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanitiesannounced that no revision of the volumes G to Z is planned. According to the Academic Director of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy, Wolf-Hagen Krauth, the sheer labor that would be required exceeds the possibilities for funding it in today's world.

See also

• List of German dictionaries
  • Duden,a Standard German dictionary of the 1880s and the prescriptive source of German spelling
  • Österreichisches Wörterbuch,the official Austrian Standard German dictionary

• Die Brüder Grimm: Pioniere deutscher Sprachkultur des 21. Jahrhunderts.Herausgegeben von Jochen Bär... [et al.]; [Texte und Redaktion: Bernhard Roll, Andrea Rocha-Lieder].ISBN9783577003056

External links

• Das Deutsche Wörterbuchon the Internet
• Official website of theDeutsche WörterbuchRevision Project