Bastian Sick
Encyclopedia
Bastian Sick (ˈbastjaːn ˈzik) (born 17 July 1965) is a German
journalist
, translator
and author
.
in 1965. He studied history
and Romance
philology
, then became a literary editor
and later columnist
for German news magazine Der Spiegel
.
Sick wrote three books on common German grammatical mistakes, that were critically acclaimed for their humour and have become very popular in Germany. The titles of the books called Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod
(literally The Dative
is to the Genitive
its Death) use puns employing the his genitive
, which in official German is incorrect and often considered unaesthetic, instead of the correct genitive case.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
History
Sick was born in LübeckLübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
in 1965. He studied history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, then became a literary editor
Literary editor
A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary editor may also help with editing books themselves, by providing services such as proof reading, copy-editing, and literary...
and later columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
for German news magazine Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
.
Sick wrote three books on common German grammatical mistakes, that were critically acclaimed for their humour and have become very popular in Germany. The titles of the books called Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod
Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod
Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod is a series of books by Bastian Sick which deal in an entertaining manner with areas of contention in grammar, orthography, and punctuation, and unappealing and clumsy uses of the German language.-Origins:The books are collections of the author’s column...
(literally The Dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
is to the Genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
its Death) use puns employing the his genitive
His genitive
The his genitive is a means of forming a genitive construction by linking two nouns with a possessive pronoun such as "his"...
, which in official German is incorrect and often considered unaesthetic, instead of the correct genitive case.
Works
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod. Köln / Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-462-03448-0 (Audiobook ISBN 3-89813-400-8)
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod, Vol. 2. Köln / Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-462-03606-8 (Audiobook: ISBN 3-89813-445-8)
- Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod, Vol. 3. Kiepenhauer und Witsch 2006, ISBN 3-462-03742-0
- Happy Aua. Ein Bilderbuch aus dem Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln 2007, ISBN 978-3-462-03903-0
- Happy Aua 2. Ein Bilderbuch aus dem Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln 2008, ISBN 978-3-462-04028-9