Small characters, big discussions: The gender asterisk - for example in the word journalists - is used increasingly. Some experts are critical of this type of gender-sensitive language.
Berlin / Wiesbaden (dpa) - Whether police officers, pensioners, colleagues or journalists: The gender asterisk is becoming more and more common - and is now a term in the Duden.
In the opinion of the Society for German Language (GfdS), however, it is neither in accordance with the rules of German grammar nor with those of spelling.
The GfdS - a politically independent association for the maintenance and research of the German language - generally advocates a non-discriminatory language. "From a linguistic point of view, the so-called gender asterisk is not a suitable means of implementing this concern," she said on Thursday in Wiesbaden.
Grammatically incorrect forms such as doctor, farmer or colleague could arise. In addition, the approach to non-discriminatory language is very inconsistent: the Lübeck city administration uses a gender double point, the cities of Hanover and Flensburg use a gender asterisk. According to the language experts, this leads to inconsistent spelling.
And: "How personal designations with a gender asterisk should be pronounced - for example with a short pause in speech, omitting the asterisk as a feminine form or as a pair form - is unclear. This creates uncertainties for the speaker and for the audience." Conclusion: "The GfdS therefore expressly advises against using the gender asterisk and similar problematic forms."
But what is the alternative? "We don't have a solution yet," says GfdS managing director Andrea-Eva Ewels. "We're also on the German Spelling Council, which has been looking into ways of making the genders visible for some time." The Council's most recent publication on this is from November 2018. It says that the development is just beginning. And: gender-sensitive texts should be understandable, legible and readable.
With regard to the gender asterisk, gender underline or gender gap (police officers) or the gender double point (police officers), Ewels says: "A lot has become independent. We have standardized spelling that is also taught in school - there is no provision. " The solution to the problem, which is being sought further, could aim at several variants. One could be the participle (reader, staff).
The new Duden has been in bookstores since Wednesday - for the first time with the term gender star. "We took up the word because it has been anchored in common parlance over a long period of time," said a spokeswoman for Duden Verlag on Thursday for the German press agency. But: "It is not a recommendation to use the gender asterisk." For the first time there are three pages in the Duden with references to gender-sensitive language.
There it says: "German offers a wealth of opportunities to formulate gender-equitable. However, there is no standard for this." The Duden gives an overview of various options. Listed are, for example, the double mention (colleagues) or the slash (director). Some spellings are not covered by the "official regulations"; for example the gender star, the gender underline, the gender colon and the internal I (students).
The discussion about gender-equitable language has been going on for years - and there are also critics who want to leave everything as it is. The AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel wrote in a message in March 2019: "The so-called" gender-equitable "language is an Orwell project. It not only rapes our mother tongue and smashes texts to the point of illegibility, they also want ours through the manipulation of language Influence and control thinking in terms of gender ideology. "
Weidel described the gender asterisk as nonsense. She welcomed the call of the Association of German Language (VDS / Dortmund) under the motto "Put an end to gender nonsense" - it was launched last year. Journalists, writers, German scholars and statisticians were among the first to sign.
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