I don't know how good your german is, so I'm making broad assumptions here:
One strategy I have found useful (having the resources of a university
library) is looking up the word in a very comprehensive german only
dictionary, though if you don't really know german that won't help. Der
Grosse Duden is fairly comprehensive.
Also, just as in english, german words don't always mean the same thing
now as they did in, say, schubert's day.
Let me list some typical problems with older german:
'i' is often written 'y' in diphthongs, for instance Malerey instead of
Malerei; 't' may often be 'th', and sometimes the other way around;
capitalization of nouns is not standardized; 'ck' may lack the 'c'; double
consonants are sometimes different. More contractions are found without
apostrophes that in modern usage, like 'im' for 'in dem' and 'am' for 'an
dem'.
Perhaps the biggest problem is if you're sketchy about the grammar of an
inflected languange: dictionaries typically give only the infinitive form
of a verb, unless you strike it lucky in the 'examples of use' section.
German
verbs often come apart in ways that would seems so strange to english
speakers if we only looked at our own tongue a little differently. Duden
(again!) has published a dictionary that tries to anticipate the trouble an
ordinary german may have with syllable division, spelling etc.
Another area of possible problems might be in attempts to translitterate
german dialects, and low german languages, and also in some regional
holdovers of mittelhochdeutsch and altdeutsch forms. If there are specific
knotty problems you might want to e-mail me privately (not too many I
hope). I'm familiar with a variety of german texts, often in a musical or
poetical context, and though not a native speaker I've read a great deal in
german and have an interest in and enthusiasm for languages in general. john
At 04:06 PM 6/29/01 +0100, you wrote:
>Dear List
>
>I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for good dictionaries or
other sources for translating German texts, which can often have older
forms of German words in them?
>
>MICHAEL SINANAN
>Research Assisstant
>School of Education
>University of Nottingham
>Wollaton Road
>Nottingham
>NG7 1BB
>Tel.: (0115) 9514482
>Fax.: (0115) 8466600
>Web: www.nottingham.ac.uk/education
>
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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