Abstract

Abstract The paper analyses systematic variations in the way words are separated by spaces (WS variations) in German. In particular, WS variations in the traditional German orthography are compared with WS variations after the spelling reform of 1996. Based on a general distinction between four different kinds of spelling variants and an analysis of the WS system before and after the reform in the framework of Optimality Theory, it is shown how and why the spelling reform lead to a drastic reduction of the possibilities to express semantic differences by WS variations. Furthermore it is argued that two recent revisions of the spelling reform, although they reintroduced many WS variants that were originally banned by the spelling reform, did not succeed in restoring these possibilities.

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