Über Feminisierungstendenzen im heutigen Deutsch (am Beispiel der deutschsprachigen Zeitschrften)

P. 203–212.

Rossikhina M. Y.

The article deals with the reflection of the feminist linguistic tendencies in the contemporary German language. It describes the ways of avoiding gender asymmetry thus promoting men’s and women’s equality of rights not only in the society but also in the language. The most wide-spread methods are the explicit naming of both genders (full and contracted), as well as the use of neutral forms, acting as substitutes (substantivized participles and adjectives in the Plural, compound words, abstract nouns). All the periodicals showed the considerable increase in the use of feminine gender nouns denoting the professions which were formerly considered as mainly masculine ones. These nouns are basically formed by adding of the suffix -in (Kanzlerin, Ministerin) and the semi-suffix -frau (Kauffrau, Zeitungsfrau). The article also examines the guidelines offered by the dictionaries of Duden publishing house on how to use the non-sexist forms in the normative German language. The research was done as exemplified in the German-language magazines (political, scientific, feminist) published in Germany from 2003 to 2013. The findings demonstrated the inconsistent use of non-sexist forms over the last decade; moreover, the Duden Dictionary guidelines were often ignored. It is explained by the negligent attitude of the authors and editors to the requirements of the feminist linguistics.

Keywords: журнал, periodical, German, немецкий, feminization, феминизация

In book

Vārds un tā pētīšanas aspekti (Слово и аспекты его исследования)

Vol. 18(2). , Лиепая: LiePA, 2014.