By A-R's house editors

This is the third in a series of UnderScore posts on word division in lyrics within music, covering syllabification guidelines for German (for an introduction and overview, see the first post in the series). Please note that the rules given here may differ in small details from guidelines given in style manuals not primarily concerned with sung texts.

The orthographical reforms implemented in the German Sprachreform of 1996 included changes to syllabification practice; to give one notable example, the consonant combination -ck- in the middle of a word, which formerly changed to -kk- for the purposes of division, is now treated as a single consonant that divides after a vowel (e.g., Stri-cke rather than Strik-ke). For the most part, the rules recommended by A-R and outlined below follow post-reform practice. It is notable, however, that in some cases the Sprachreform retained some older syllabification practices while also permitting new alternatives (for example, hinein may now be divided as hi-nein in addition to the original hin-ein; Instrument as In-stru-ment, Ins-tru-ment, or Inst-ru-ment). Such particulars are generally left to the editor’s discretion but should be applied consistently. When doubt arises, consult a standard source like Duden, vol. 1, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 1996 or later editions).

In German, as in many other languages, syllables should divide after a vowel and before a consonant whenever possible (Re-gel, Ta-ge, ge-hen, Va-ter, wä-re). Divide groups of two or more consonants before the last consonant (Kas-ten, Lüf-te, brin-gen, schät-zen, Was-ser, Hüt-te, reichs-te, gest-rig, Rät-sel, uns-re, Wechs-ler). Exceptions and additional considerations follow:

  1. Do not divide the consonant groups ch, ck, ph, rh, sch, and th when they form a single consonant sound (Zu-cker, rei-che; Myr-rhe but Ger-hard; Ta-sche but Häus-chen; My-thos but Rat-haus).
  2. The combination ss is treated as two consonants and divides accordingly (las-sen, Was-ser). The eszett (ß) counts as a single letter and divides accordingly (gro-ße, Fuß-stap-fe).
  3. If retaining archaic spellings in which words now spelled with z alone are spelled with tz (e.g., Hertzen for Herzen, schwartze for schwarze), the combination tz does not divide in such words (Her-tzen rather than Hert-zen, schwar-tze rather than schwart-ze). It divides in words whose modern spelling still uses tz (ver-let-zen, Kat-ze, Sit-ze).

Some considerations for vowels:

  1. Do not divide two vowels that form a single sound or function as diphthongs (Treu-e, Hei-land, Mau-er, ver-lie-ren, Waa-ge, Sai-ten).[1]
  2. When the letter h is used to lengthen a vowel before a consonant, the h stays with the vowel (fah-ren, ab-leh-nen; compare ge-hen, ru-hig, Rei-he, where the h has a consonantal function).
  3. Do divide vowels when two separate sounds are formed (be-frei-en, Trau-ung, grau-en, bö-ig, be-en-den, Kni-e, sä-en).

Some considerations for compound words, prefixes, and suffixes:

  1. The component parts of compound words are respected in division (Schiff-fahrt, Diens-tag [and other names of days of the week], Fei-er-a-bend, Kin-der-freund, Welt-an-schau-ung, rat-schla-gen, ge-ra-de-aus, Ge-wis-sens-zwang, Teu-fels-dreck).
  2. In general, prefixes are respected in division (ent-wor-fen, emp-find-lich, ver-eh-ren, zer-streu-en, ge-kränkt). Words formed with the prefixes dar-, her-, hin-, vor-, or wor- and a preposition may be divided either at the prefix or at the consonant as long as the practice is applied consistently (dar-um/da-rum, hin-ein/hi-nein, her-auf/he-rauf, vor-aus/vo-raus, wor-ü-ber/wo-rü-ber).[2]
  3. Suffixes that begin with a consonant are respected in division (Keusch-heit, Drei-fal-tig-keit, furcht-bar, heil-sam, geist-lich, hilf-reich).
  4. Suffixes and endings that begin with a vowel (-ig, -isch, -ung, -en, plural -e, etc.) are not respected in division (saf-tig, säch-sisch, Wir-kung, We-ge, lau-fen, Rei-hen). Since the 1996 Sprachreform this also includes the feminine suffix -in (e.g., Freun-din rather than Freund-in).

Some considerations for foreign-derived words in German:

  1. Foreign-derived words that have been fully adopted into German are divided according to the rules stated above (Chris-tus, Fas-zi-kel, Na-ti-o-nen, po-e-tisch).
  2. Per the Sprachreform, foreign-derived words involving groups of two or more consonants may be divided either according to the rules of their original language or the German rules described above (I-gno-ranz/Ig-no-ranz, in-ter-es-se/in-te-res-se, In-stru-ment/Ins-tru-ment/Inst-ru-ment, In-stinkt/Ins-tinkt, ma-gne-tisch/mag-ne-tisch, Me-lan-chthon/Me-lanch-thon, Pu-bli-kum/Pub-li-kum, Sa-kra-ment/Sak-ra-ment). Again, whichever practice is adopted must be followed consistently.
  3. When y within a foreign-derived word has its own vowel sound, it is divided accordingly (Hy-a-cinth). When it is used in conjunction with another vowel to form a diphthong, it is not separated (Boy-kott).

As always, feel free to consult your house editor when ambiguities arise.

For the complete Recent Researches in Music Style Guide, click here (PDF).

[1] The combinations ey and ew, when used in archaic orthography equivalently to the modern ei and eu, respectively, do not divide (Hey-land, Frew-den).

[2] The same applies to warum (war-um/wa-rum) and to the verb vollenden and its derived nouns (voll-en-det/vol-len-det, Voll-en-dung/Vol-len-dung).