User blog:Bob the Wikipedian/Grimm Dictionary

I just wanted to take a moment to highlight a book written by real life Grimms (Jacob and Wilhelm, that is!). The Grimm Brothers, as most of us know, were linguists, but the dictionary they compiled is not as popular as their fairy tales.

Here is an electronic copy of the Grimm dictionary:

http://woerterbuchnetz.de/DWB/

If you don't know German, it's probably not worth much to you. However, for scholars of the German language, this is a priceless resource, probably the ultimate compendium of the history of the German language. It contains words that were contemporary in the Grimm Brothers' time, as well as archaic words. Not only that, it explores the history of each word's definition, so it makes for quite an interesting study.

I've found it helpful in translating a few of the more archaic words that appear in Grimm, such as Gefrierengeber (Geber is an archaic spelling of Gebär). (And I'm excited to see there will be a Christmas special!)

Enjoy!