The ' (, ''Association for the German Language''), or , is Germany's most important government-sponsored language society. Its headquarters are in
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...
. Re-founded shortly after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1947, the is politically independent and the declared successor of the ' (), the General Association for the German Language, which had been founded in 1885 in
Brunswick. Its aim is to research and cultivate the German language; to critically evaluate the current German
language change
Language change is the process of alteration in the features of a single language, or of languages in general, over time. It is studied in several subfields of linguistics: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and evolutionary linguistic ...
; and to give recommendations concerning the current usage of German.
Activities
With its language advice service, the supports individuals, companies, authorities and institutions concerning questions of the usage of contemporary German with regard to spelling, grammar and style.
In a bi-annual public ceremony, the awards the Media Award for Language Culture ('). Furthermore, and in co-operation with the Alexander Rhomberg Foundation, the awards the annual Alexander Rhomberg Award for young journalists.
Since 1971, the produces the annual language retrospective, well known for its
Word of the Year ().
The has a podcast called "Wortcast" and has also been featured on other national and international podcasts such as "Yellow of the Egg" and "Nah am Menschen".
Work for the German Parliament
The editorial panel of the parliament (') gives linguistic advice to the and . They also advise ministries and authorities on both federal and state level as regards the linguistic correctness of draft legislation, by-laws, orders and other texts.
The most important task of the GfdS is to revise the language of draft legislation, by-laws, and orders whose legal terminology must be formulated clearly and concisely.
Publications
The publishes two linguistic journals, ' and '.
' was founded in 1957 as a result of the practical work of the , it is the association's newsletter, published bi-monthly, with a circulation of 3,200 (2012) and aims to address a broad, general audience with an interest in linguistic issues. The publication mainly focuses on
historical linguistics
Historical linguistics, also known as diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of how languages change over time. It seeks to understand the nature and causes of linguistic change and to trace the evolution of languages. Historical li ...
,
grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
,
stylistics
Stylistics, a branch of applied linguistics, is the study and interpretation of texts of all types, but particularly literary texts, and spoken language with regard to their linguistic and tonal style, where style is the particular variety of l ...
,
phraseology
In linguistics, phraseology is the study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units (often collectively referred to as ''phrasemes''), in which the component parts of the expression tak ...
,
terminology
Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, Compound (linguistics), com ...
,
onomastics
Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use.
An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...
and
spelling
Spelling is a set of conventions for written language regarding how graphemes should correspond to the sounds of spoken language. Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element.
Spelli ...
, but also contains articles dealing with more general questions concerning the use of current German.
The publishes a highly regarded quarterly
academic journal
An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...
, '. , it is in its 122nd year of publication, with a circulation of 1,000 covering over 40 countries, and focuses entirely on specialist linguistic matters.
Organisation
The chairman of the GfdS is Armin Burkhardt, a professional linguist and Professor of Germanic Linguistics at
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
The Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg () (Short: ''OVGU'') is a public research university founded in 1993 and is located in Magdeburg, the Capital city of Saxony-Anhalt. The university has about 13,000 students in nine Faculty (division), ...
; the GfdS Secretary is Andrea-Eva Ewels, also a professional linguist.
, the association consists of a 103 branches in 35 countries on four continents, 47 in Germany and 56 abroad.
German branches
, 50 branches are located in Germany, with at least one branch in each of the 16 German federal states:
* Baden-Württemberg (Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart)
* Bavaria (Munich, Nuremberg, Würzburg)
* Berlin (Berlin)
* Brandenburg (Frankfurt/Oder, Potsdam)
* Bremen (Bremen)
* Hamburg (Hamburg)
* Hesse (Bergstraße, Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, Marburg an der Lahn, Wiesbaden)
* Lower Saxony (Brunswick, Celle, Fechta, Göttingen, Hannover)
* Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Greifswald, Rostock, Schwerin)
* North Rhine-Westphalia (Aachen, Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Münsterland, Siegen, West Ruhr Area, Wuppertal)
* Rhineland-Palatinate (Koblenz, Mainz, Palatinate, Trier)
* Saxony (Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig, Zittau, Zwickau)
* Saxony-Anhalt (Halle/Saale, Magdeburg)
* Saarland (Saarbrücken)
* Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel)
* Thuringia (Erfurt, Weimar)
If a federal state has more than one branch, then at least one branch is located in the capital of the state.
Branches outside Germany
, the has 59 branches outside Germany, in 38 countries on four continents:
* ''Africa'' (6 branches)
** Egypt (Cairo)
** Cameroon (Yaoundé)
** Namibia (Windhoek)
** South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town)
** Togo (Lomé)
* ''America'' (7 branches)
** Brazil (Porto Alegre, São Paulo)
** USA (Boston, Chicago, Madison, New York, Philadelphia)
* ''Asia'' (11 branches)
** Armenia (Yerevan)
** China (Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai)
** India (Pune)
** Israel (Tel Aviv)
** Japan (Tokyo)
** Russia (Omsk, Ural)
** South Korea (Seoul)
** Turkey (Ankara)
* ''Europe'' (35 branches)
** Austria (Innsbruck, Vienna)
** Belgium (Brussels)
** Bulgaria (Sofia)
** Croatia (Zagreb)
** Czech Republic (Prague)
** Denmark (Copenhagen)
** Estonia (Tallinn)
** Finland (Turku, Vaasa)
** France (Paris)
** Georgia (Tbilisi)
** Greece (Athens)
** Hungary (Budapest)
** Italy (Bolzano, Milan, Rome)
** Lithuania (Vilnius)
** Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
** Netherlands (Nijmegen)
** Poland (Warsaw, Wrocław)
** Romania (Bucharest)
** Russia (Kaliningrad, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Polar Region, Saratow, St Petersburg, Voronezh)
** Slovakia (Bratislava)
** Spain (Madrid)
** Ukraine (Kiev, Chernivtsi)
** United Kingdom (London)
Co-operation
The chairman represents the on the
Council for German Orthography ('). In 2003, both organisations, together with the and the Institute of the German Language, founded the German Language Council (') which was later also joined by the
German Academic Exchange Service
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee.
Organisa ...
().
The is connected to various universities and other education institutions with an interest in
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, e.g. the
German Academy for Language and Poetry and the Institute of the German Language (IDS).
References
External links
Homepage of the GfdS – Gesellschaft für deutsche SpracheList of GfdS branchesGfdS UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gesellschaft Fur Deutsche Sprache
Language regulators
Organizations established in 1947
German language
Culture in Wiesbaden
1947 establishments in Germany