How often do you see this word in your native language?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Peregrinus, Jun 22, 2014.

  1. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    This thread is for language learners to post a word they have learned or run across, but which seems very low frequency, and about which they wonder how often native speakers encounter it. Put the word in bold so it stands out.


    Here is my word of the day from my Anki German deck: die Gesetzesgebungshoheit = writ of law (note other sources spell it as Gesetzgebungshoheit)

    The source of that word was a Top Thema article on the Deutsche Welle site, and which I added to Anki some time ago.

    So German native speakers, how often have you run across that word? Or is it just another of those constantly created compound words for which German is famous?
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  2. Wise owl chick

    Wise owl chick Active Member

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    Of course Gesetzgebung is a common word, but liek you I hadn't heard Gesetzgebungshoheit.

    I searched Hoheit and found that it's like Dutch's hoogheid, which I had guessed it might be and in Ducth I knew because of Koninklijke Hoogheid (Ger Königliche Hoheit) but because Germany hasn't a royal family (in my lifetime) I didn't hear or read this in German. In Ducth / Flemish it's often because Holland and Belgium have a royal family in each country.

    But then Gesetzgebung + Hoheid seems funny LOL. King of the laws, but I suppose legislative sovereignty.
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  3. Josquin

    Josquin Member

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    This is a technical term of law and not a very common word. It would be used by lawyers and politicians, but not by the common man. I see no use in learning it unless you want to specialize in German constitutional law.

    "Hoheit" in this word doesn't refer to a royal highness but to power or sovereignty in general. Those who have legislational power are in possession of "Gesetzgebungshoheit".

    By the way, it's "Gesetzgebung", not "Gesetzesgebung".
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  4. Wise owl chick

    Wise owl chick Active Member

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  5. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    Too late :(. It's stuck in my mind now. Like I said it was used by the Deutsche Welle course site.


    Thanks for the great explanation. Re the spelling, dict.cc that I linked to above uses the same spelling as you do. However the source for this word, this Top Thema article, uses the other (scroll down to Glossar). However the DW site is not without its occasional mistakes, and I don't especially trust their monolingual translations which are often too loose.


    English tip for you in exchange if you don't mind: it's "legislative" not "legislational". This is where I often see non-native speakers of English make a small mistake but where the meaning is still clear, i.e. in word derivation, which isn't often regular in English.

    Again thanks!
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  6. Josquin

    Josquin Member

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    You're welcome!

    Duden only has "Gesetzgebung", so "Gesetzesgebung" must be a mistake: http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Gesetzgebung

    Thanks for the tip. I knew the word "legislative" (it's similar to German "die Legislative"), but I somehow mutilated it. Thanks for pointing out the mistake. I'm always eager to improve my English, just as all my other languages.
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  7. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    Unbekanntes Wort von heute: Plätterin.

    Ich vermute, dass dieses Wort eine plattdeutschsprachige Frau bezeichnet, oder? Es steht keine Defintion im Wörterbuch.
  8. Josquin

    Josquin Member

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    Ha ha, nein! "Plätten" ist ein alter Ausdruck für "bügeln". Eine Plätterin ist eine Frau, die beruflich bügelt, also eine Büglerin.
  9. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    LOL. Danke sehr für deine Hilfe. Wenn das Wörterbuch versagt, so auch meine Verständnis.
  10. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    Das Wort von heute, von dem Roman Tannöd, ist "arbeitsam." Ins Wörterbuch ist "arbeitsam" bezeichnet sowohl gehoben als obsolet. Aber dieser Roman war in 2006 geschrieben. Ist das Wort wirklich obsolet?
  11. Wise owl chick

    Wise owl chick Active Member

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    I would say fleißig but arbeitsam seems a very logic word as well. I don't know if it's obsolete.
  12. Wise owl chick

    Wise owl chick Active Member

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    Ooups wrong langauge haha, ich meine, ich würde eher fleißig dafür sagen, ich bin aber natürlich keine muttersprachelrin. arbeitsam klingt wohl logisch. hoffentlich kommt ein deutscher / eine deutsche schnell vorbei.
  13. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    Kein problem. Gut Sie wieder hier zu sehen. Ich weiß die Übersetzung von dem Wort, und interessiere ich mich nur ob das Wort wirklich obsolet ist.
  14. Wise owl chick

    Wise owl chick Active Member

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    danke. du sollst mir duzen: ich bin viel junger als dich (22).
  15. Josquin

    Josquin Member

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    "Arbeitsam" sounds pretty old-fashioned to me. Might have been used for stylistic reasons though.

    Anyway, I wouldn't use it in conversation.
  16. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

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    Thanks for the reply Josquin. The novel is set in Bavaria and has a lot of dialect as well, so maybe it is something more common in southern Germany and Austria. Or maybe the novelist likes to read really old stuff and regurgitates it in her own novels.

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