German dictionary adds 3,000 new words including ‘ChatGPT,’ ‘Granola’

 

Admin I Monday, August 19, 2024

 

BERLIN – The new Duden reference book for German spelling has been expanded by 3,000 words, with the fresh entries reflecting the concerns and events of the four years since the last edition of the dictionary came out.

Examples include “Balkonkraftwerk,” or “balcony power station” for a home-installed solar unit, “Deutschlandticket,” or “Germany ticket,” the cut-price monthly travel card for the whole country, “ChatGPT,” the artificial intelligence language tool, “Granola,” the mix of rolled oats and nuts, “Klimakleber,” or “climate stickers” for the climate activists who glue themselves to roads, and “Ukrainekrieg,” or “Ukraine war.”

“The Duden reflects its time. These words say something about what has happened in the last three to four years,” Editor-in-Chief Kathrin Kunkel-Razum told dpa ahead of Tuesday’s release of the 29th edition of the reference book for German spelling.

With 151,000 entries, the printed edition is as comprehensive as never before, she said. The biggest language changes of recent years can, according to Kunkel-Razum, be narrowed down to three areas: crisis, war and cooking.

Terms like “Extremwetterereignis” (extreme weather event), “Flugabwehrsystem” (anti-aircraft defence system), “Gasmangellage” (gas shortage situation) and “Entlastungspaket” (relief package) remind one of crises in other areas. Changed eating habits are reflected in terms like “Fleischersatz” (meat substitute), “Gemüsekiste” (vegetable box), “Tahini,” the Middle Eastern sesame seed paste and “Kontaktgrill” (plug-in sandwich toaster).

In addition to new inclusions, the Duden editorial team also removes words that are rarely used. In the current edition, 300 words have been removed, said Kunkel-Razum.

No longer included, for instance, are “Frigidär” (refrigerator), “UMTS-Handy” (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System mobile phone).

“Removing words is much harder than adding them,” said Kunkel-Razum, because it is harder to prove that a word is rarely used than the opposite. And sometimes deletions are reversed.

The reference book named after its namesake Konrad Duden was considered the authoritative source for spelling, grammar and pronunciation in German for decades. It was first published in 1880.

The spelling reform of 1996 broke this monopoly. The Council for German Orthography now issues the “official rulebook,” which consists of a rules section and a word list.

According to Kunkel-Razum, the new Duden edition also contains the orthographic changes that the Council for German Orthography adopted at its last meeting at the end of 2023.