Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod
Encyclopedia
Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod (German
: The Dative
is to the Genitive
its death) is a series of books by Bastian Sick
which deal in an entertaining manner with areas of contention in grammar
, orthography
, and punctuation
, and unappealing and clumsy uses of the German language.
. Since February 2005 it has also appeared in print in Der Spiegel
’s monthly culture supplement
. The column’s title originates from a printers’ term, literally meaning ‘onion fish’, which denotes a single character in a block of text which has been set in an incorrect typeface
. The series runs currently to four volumes which reached the top of the book sales lists, the first volume selling more than 1.5 million copies within two years.
in Saarland
. The material in the book series has been adapted into a DVD
, a board game
, and a computer game.
in standard German, is replaced by a noun in the dative case
and the qualified noun is preceded by a possessive adjective
. For example, instead of saying das Buch des Mannes (the man’s book), one says dem Mann(e) sein Buch ([to] the man his book) or das Buch vom Mann (the book of the man). This is similar to the his genitive
phenomenon that once occurred in English, which nonetheless arose from a misunderstanding of the etymological origin of possessive /-s/ in English and is therefore linguistically unrelated to the German phenomenon discussed here.
Thus, the book’s title, Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod (literally ‘the dative is [to] the genitive its death’) is a dialectal manner of saying Der Dativ ist der Tod des Genitivs (or Der Dativ ist des Genitivs Tod), which can be translated into English as ‘the dative is the genitive’s death’ (or ‘the dative is the death of the genitive’).
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: The Dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
is to the Genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
its death) is a series of books by Bastian Sick
Bastian Sick
Bastian Sick is a German journalist, translator and author.- History :Sick was born in Lübeck in 1965. He studied history and Romance philology, then became a literary editor and later columnist for German news magazine Der Spiegel....
which deal in an entertaining manner with areas of contention in grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
, and punctuation
Punctuation
Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud.In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences...
, and unappealing and clumsy uses of the German language.
Origins
The books are collections of the author’s column ‘Zwiebelfisch’ which has appeared since May 2003 in the Spiegel OnlineSpiegel Online
Spiegel Online , the online version of German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, is one the most visited news websites written in the German language.- Company :...
. Since February 2005 it has also appeared in print in Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
’s monthly culture supplement
Supplement (publishing)
A supplement is a publication that has a role secondary to that of another preceding or concurrent publication.A follow-on publication complements its predecessor, either by bringing it up-to-date , or by otherwise enhancing the predecessor's coverage of a particular topic or subject matter, as in...
. The column’s title originates from a printers’ term, literally meaning ‘onion fish’, which denotes a single character in a block of text which has been set in an incorrect typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
. The series runs currently to four volumes which reached the top of the book sales lists, the first volume selling more than 1.5 million copies within two years.
Reception
In several German states, articles from the books have been used officially as teaching materials, and—according to Sick’s foreword of August 2005—the series has been added to the set text list for the AbiturAbitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
in Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
. The material in the book series has been adapted into a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, a board game
German-style board game
German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...
, and a computer game.
Meaning of title
The book’s title is actually a reference to a linguistic phenomenon in certain dialects of German in forming noun phrases showing possession. In these dialects, the qualifying noun, which would be in the genitive caseGenitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
in standard German, is replaced by a noun in the dative case
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
and the qualified noun is preceded by a possessive adjective
Possessive adjective
Possessive adjectives, also known as possessive determiners, are a part of speech that modifies a noun by attributing possession to someone or something...
. For example, instead of saying das Buch des Mannes (the man’s book), one says dem Mann(e) sein Buch ([to] the man his book) or das Buch vom Mann (the book of the man). This is similar to the his genitive
His genitive
The his genitive is a means of forming a genitive construction by linking two nouns with a possessive pronoun such as "his"...
phenomenon that once occurred in English, which nonetheless arose from a misunderstanding of the etymological origin of possessive /-s/ in English and is therefore linguistically unrelated to the German phenomenon discussed here.
Thus, the book’s title, Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod (literally ‘the dative is [to] the genitive its death’) is a dialectal manner of saying Der Dativ ist der Tod des Genitivs (or Der Dativ ist des Genitivs Tod), which can be translated into English as ‘the dative is the genitive’s death’ (or ‘the dative is the death of the genitive’).
Book titles
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod – Ein Wegweiser durch den Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln 2004, ISBN 3-462-03448-0 (audio book: ISBN 3-89813-400-8)
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod, Folge 2 – Neues aus dem Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln 2005, ISBN 3-462-03606-8 (audio book: ISBN 3-89813-445-8)
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod. Folge 3 – Noch mehr aus dem Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln November 2006, ISBN 3-462-03742-0 (audio book: ISBN 3-89813-566-7)
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod. Folge 4 – Das Allerneueste aus dem Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln 2009, ISBN 3-462-04164-9
DVD title
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod – Die Große Bastian Sick Schau. Sony BMG Music Entertainment GmbH, 2008, ASIN B000X1YDCC
Game titles
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod. KOSMOS, 2006, ASIN 3440690237
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod – Das PC-Spiel. (PC & Mac) United Soft Media Verlag GmbH, 2007, ASIN 3803228301