German Genealogical Word List

Introduction
This list contains German words with their English translations. On most computers, simultaneously pressing CTRL and F (Command and F, if on a Mac) will search this page for the word you wish to translate. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a German-English dictionary, the online Grimm Deutsches Wörterbuch (one of the best sources), or other regional online dictionaries found at woerterbuchnetz.de. Latin words are often found in German records, and a few are included in this list. See the Latin Genealogical Word List (34077).

German is spoken in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Records written in German may be found in these countries and also in parts of Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Czechia, Hungary, and wherever German people settled. There are several different dialects in the German language. For example, in the province of Westfalen and other areas of Germany that border the Netherlands, you may notice words that are closely related to Dutch. You may find the Dutch Genealogical Word List useful when working with these records.

In addition, German is found in some early records of the United States, such as in Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and other states where Germans lived.

Language Characteristics
German words for persons, places, and things (nouns) are always capitalized. All nouns are classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter. This classification is called gender. The gender of a noun is indicated by der (masculine), die (feminine), and das (neuter), all three of which translate as "the." Word endings may vary depending on the way the words are used in the sentence.

Variant Forms of Words
In German, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in the sentence. Who—whose—whom or marry—marries—married are examples of words in English with variant forms. In German, the form of many words can change greatly. This word list focuses on the standard form of each German word. As you read German records, you will need to be aware that some words vary with usage.

The endings of words in a document may differ from those on this list. For example, the document may use the word junger, but you will find it in this word list as jung. In addition, the suffixes -chen and -lein are often added to words to indicate "little"; when one of these suffixes is added, the vowel usually changes slightly. Therefore, the word Söhnchen means "little or young son" (Sohn = son) and Töchterlein means "little or young daughter" (Tochter = daughter).

Adjectives describe nouns and must have the proper masculine, feminine, or neuter endings. For example, in German you would say "junger Mann" (young man), "junges Mädchen" (young maiden), or "junge Frau" (young woman) if a man, maiden, and woman are the subjects of a sentence. Adjective endings can change depending on usage and gender.

Plural words are usually formed by adding -er, -en, or -e. Thus the word Kind becomes Kinder, Frau becomes Frauen, and Aufgebot becomes Aufgebote. Plurality may also change the vowel slightly. For example, Mann becomes Männer.

In German, many words are formed by joining two or more words together. Very few of these compound words are included in this list. You will need to look up each part of the word separately. For example, Geburtstag is a combination of two words: Geburt (birth) and Tag (day).

Dialects
Germany has a range of different dialects. These can be grouped into two main groups: Low German spoken in the northern lowlands of Germany, and High German spoken in the more mountainous south. Traditional dialects form a continuum as opposed to sharp charges, with dialects slowing becoming more "Low German" as one moves towards the north-east. Dutch dialects can be viewed as a continuation of this continuum.

High German has become the most "standard" dialect of German. See these wiki articles for specific information on Low German: Low German Language in German Research, The Dialect Basis of Spelling Variation in German Surnames, Spelling Variants in the Northern Rheinland.

Diacritic Marks
German uses diacritics over several letters, i.e. Ä (ä), Ö (ö), Ü (ü). These diacritics are not optional in German because the pronunciation and meaning of a word will be changed depending on whether the diacritic is added or omitted. There is another symbol that will be found in German, namely ß. It has the value of . Historically, German also included Ÿ (ÿ) which today has been replaced with the letters I (i) and Ü (ü).

For data entry and some searches, it is useful to know how to create these characters. Note: Do not use diacritics when searching in the FamilySearch Catalog.

From a PC keyboard, these letters may be created by using the following keystroke combinations. Make sure the number lock is on.

On a Linux system it is possible to use a control combination with the Unicode code for the characters. Using the left Ctrl and Shift keys and the U key at the same time, then type the code and hit Enter. For example, left Ctrl-Shift-U then c then 4 then enter will produce Ä, Ctrl-Shift-U then dc is Ü, and so on. For a complete list of codes, reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unicode_characters.

Alphabetical Order
German letters with diacritic marks will be alphabetized in this publication as though they were a, o, u, and ss. However, many dictionaries and gazetteers will alphabetize these characters as if they were ae, oe, ue, and ss.

Spelling
Because spelling rules were not standardized in earlier centuries, spelling variations are common. Local dialect often affects the spelling in genealogical records. In German records, the following letters are sometimes used interchangeably:


 * p used for b
 * a used for e
 * t used for d or dt
 * s used for z
 * ck used for k
 * y used for i or j
 * v used for w or f
 * k used for g
 * tz used for z
 * ig used for isch or ich
 * t used for th
 * u used for i

Examples:


 * Freytag for Freitag
 * Burckhart for Burkhard
 * Waldpurga for Waldburga
 * undt for und

Transcription
In transcriptions of German handwriting some errors are prevalent:


 * n transcribed u or w
 * r transcribed s
 * Z transcribed F, G, J, or L
 * z transcribed g or y

Transliteration
Within a given language transliteration is seen especially in personal names, a result of migration and geographically near other languages. The German letters s and z are notably affected.


 * German s = Hungarian sz
 * German sh = Hungarian s
 * German z = Hungarian cz = Dutch s

Additional Resources
This word list includes only words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a German-English dictionary. Several German-English dictionaries are available in the Family History Library. These are in the European collection. The call numbers begin with 433.21.

Particularly helpful dictionaries include:


 * Langenscheidt New Muret-Sanders Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English and German Languages. Berlin, Germany: Langenscheidt, 1969, 1974 (FHL book 433.21 Sp83n).


 * The New Cassell’s German Dictionary, German-English, English-German. New York, NY, USA: Funk and Wagnalls, Inc., 1971 (FHL book 433.211 C272 1971).


 * Rudy's List of Archaic Medical Terms. German and Latin terms are included at this website.


 * Das Deutsche Wörterbuch / Deutsches Wörterbuch (DWB, The "German Dictionary" / "German Dictionary") is one of the most important dictionaries of the German language. Written entirely in German, the dictionary contains 32 volumes and includes about 350,000 main entries. It is particularly useful for finding the meaning of words in genealogical documents that are no longer used in modern German. See the online version by clicking here.


 * Oeconomische Encyclopädie online Encyclopedia of archaic German terms (German to German).

Additional dictionaries are listed in the subject section of the FamilySearch Catalog under GERMAN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES or in the locality section under GERMANY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES.


 * BYU Script German Tutorials

For resources showing how any name or word looks written in the old German script, see Language Aids at Germany Languages.

Key Words
To find and use specific types of German records, you will need to know some key words in German. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the German words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find German words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, joined, and other words used in German records to indicate marriage.

Dates/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 “Numbers” section on this wiki page.

Months
A more extensive list of month names in German.

Days of the Week
See also:


 * 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.

Symbols
Sometimes a symbol is used in German genealogical sources rather than abbreviations. Some of these are shown at GenWiki, Genealogical Symbols and Signs.

Occupations

 * Berufe und Sozialstatus der Vorfahren In German. An excellent analysis of historical German occupations and social status. Hint: Use a web-based translator or translator/browser like Chrome to see this in passable English.

Medical Terminology

 * German Medical Terminology - includes historical illnesses and medical terms

Types of Farmers
There are many different words meaning "farmer" in German. Most of these words explain what type of farmer a person is.

General Word List
Note: In German, letters with diacritical marks are alphabetized as if they did not have a diacritical mark. In some other languages, they are alphabetized separately.

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