Der Duden in 12 Bänden, Band 8: Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter

Der Duden in 12 Bänden #8

by Dudenredaktion, Wolfgang Müller (Editor)

Wörterbuch der treffenden Ausdrücke

A thesaurus of more than 82,000 synonyms, words, idioms and expressions with information on appropriate language usage. Written entirely in German.

Genres: Reference, German Literature, Nonfiction

801 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Seit über 130 Jahren ist Duden die maßgebliche Instanz für alle Fragen zur deutschen Sprache und Rechtschreibung.

Der Name Duden steht für Standardnachschlagewerke zur deutschen Sprache und bürgt für höchste lexikografische Kompetenz. Die Wörterbücher der Dudenredaktion zeigen nicht nur das breite Spektrum der deutschen Gegenwartssprache, sondern sie geben vor allem Sicherheit in allen sprachlichen Belangen. Das Portfolio des Dudenverlags umfasst (digitale) Wörterbücher und Nachschlagewerke, Ratgeber und Übungsbücher.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indeed, my published in 1986 (and not in 1997 as the book page on Goodreads shows) German language thesaurus from the Duden Verlag (Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter) and which I purchased at the Mount Allison University bookstore for a course on advanced German grammar and syntax, I have used very extensively for all my German language writing both at university and equally so post university and from basically the mid 1980s right up to now (and so much so that it is rather falling apart because of over-usage). And I definitely am not exaggerating when I state that Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter basically pretty much ended up saving me during my PhD dissertation stylistics wise, as I was able to find adequate synonyms, antonyms and thus prevent my dissertation text from becoming overly repetitive (which I have always had the tendency to do with regard to my writing). Therefore because of this, combined with the fact I do think that Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter are vastly superior to in particular Rogets thesauruses, my rating for Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter is and will always be solidly and conpletely five stars (and a most highly recommended language and writing tool).

But although I absolutely adore Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter I would also from a practical point of departure not ever recommend without major caveats any Duden thesaurus published prior to 2000, as the older editions would obviously not yet contain the German orthographic reforms of 1996. And while an older Duden thesaurus which still uses the pre reform spellings, like my Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter from 1986 could and likely would still give one the necessary and required synonyms and antonyms desired, there would of course be different spellings for certain and sometimes even for many words (due to the above mentioned and indeed mandatory German spelling reform), something that I am aware of and proceed accordingly (which basically means that if I come across a German noun, verb, adjective etc. that I know is spelled differently or slightly altered today, well, I just make sure to write it according to die neue deutsche Rechtschreibung). But honestly, if you are in fact looking for a good and all encompassing German language thesaurus (and in my opinion, the Duden thesaurus is absolutely the best and also the most all encompassing), do go for post 2000 editions (and realise that the newer editions are no longer called Die sinn- und sachverwandten Wörter but instead Das Synonymwörterbuch).

[Mk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gift I keep reading.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically this is a German thesaurus, however I've personally found it to be better than any English thesaurus.