Germany Languages

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Most materials used in German research are written in German. However, you do not need to speak or read German to do research in German records. You will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records.

Because of Germany's history, you may also find several other languages in German records. Latin was frequently used in Roman Catholic church records. French was often used in Elsaß-Lothringen and during the French domination of the area west of the Rhein river (1806-1815). Danish was used in much of Schleswig-Holstein until Preußen annexed that area in 1864.

Click here for information on the Low German language or here for languages in the Lower Rhine area or here for spelling variation in the northern Rhine area.

German grammar may affect the way names appear in genealogical records, so your ancestor's name in German may vary from record to record. For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section.

Click here for information on how dialects affect German names.

Click here for information on spelling variations in German documents.

Language Aids
FamilySearch Wiki has genealogical word lists for: Danish Word List French Word List German Word List Polish Genealogical Word List Portuguese Genealogical Word List

The German Word List includes symbols commonly used in German genealogical sources. For more information about reading German writing, see Germany Handwriting.

The following books and English-German dictionaries can help in your research. You can find these and similar materials at many research libraries.

Thode, Ernest. German-English Genealogical Dictionary. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992. (FHL book 433.21 T352g 1992.)

Langenscheidts German-English, English-German Dictionary = Langenscheidts Deutsch-Englisches, Englisch-Deutches Wörterbuch. New York, NY, USA: Pocket Books, 1952, 1993. (FHL book 433.21 L262g.)

Grimm's Dictionary online can be found at this link Dictionary of German historical words.

Other language aids, including dictionaries of various dialects and time periods, are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:


 * GERMANY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES


 * GERMANY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES - DICTIONARIES

Also check the Subject Search of the catalog under:


 * GERMAN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES

Other language aids for parish Latin can be found at these links:

http://www.krumhermersdorf.de/literatur/latein.htm#Auswahl

http://www.e-latein.de/

http://www.krumhermersdorf.de/literatur/latein.htm

http://www.albertmartin.de/latein/

http://lateinisch.bildung-infos.info/latedeus.htm

http://www.muehle-com.de/HP-Tools/html/latein.html

http://lateinwiki.org/Hauptseite http://www.albertmartin.de/latein/?q=bapti&amp;con=0

NUMBERS
In some genealogical records, numbers are spelled out. This is especially true of dates. The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) versions of each number. Days of the month are written in ordinal form. Ordinal forms may have other endings, for example: erste, ersten.

Dates and Time
In German records, dates are often written out. For example:

Freitag den vierzehnten Februar achtzehnhundert sechs und dreißig [Friday, the 14th of February, eighteen hundred six and thirty (1836)].

To understand German dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding “Numbers” section.

Months
A more extensive list of month names in German.

Days of the Week

English       German Sunday        Sonntag Monday       Montag Tuesday      Dienstag Wednesday Mittwoch Thursday    Donnerstag Friday         Freitag, Freytag Saturday     Samstag, Sonnabend

Click here for an article on special symbols used for week days.

Times of the Day

German birth and death records often indicated the exact time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.

German English ein Uhr one (o’clock) zwei Uhr two (o’clock) drei Uhr three (o’clock) halb eins half one = 12:30 halb zwei half two = 1:30 halbe Stunde half hour Stunde hour früh early (a.m.) spät late (p.m.) morgens in the morning vormittags in the forenoon mittags at noon nachmittags in the afternoon abends in the evening mitternachts at midnight

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SYMBOLS

The following symbols are commonly used in German genealogical sources.

Symbol Meaning born baptized, christened married died buried born illegitimately common law marriage, illegitimate divorced killed in action died of battle wounds stillborn

Paper publication: Third edition 1997. English approval: 4/97.

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