Der Apostroph in der deutschen Gegenwartssprache: Logographische Gebrauchserweiterungen auf phonographischer Basis

When analysing the usage of the apostrophe in present German language two basic functions can be assumed. First, the apostrophe is a form of phonographic mark of elision (Elisionsapostroph). Traditionally, it stands for letters which have been omitted (e.g. , , ). Although this usage is not new to the German language, being particularly evident in the 19th Century, the communicative conditions of present day language as used on the internet and in advertising might promote the use of the stem-marking apostrophe in future. Moreover, the German orthography reform of 1998 sanctioned the stem-marking apostrophe in cases where identical genitive and nominative forms of different words (