Weggefallenes

Weggefallenes is a term used in German in reference to elements that have fallen away or been omitted. It appears mainly in specialized contexts such as linguistic analysis, textual criticism and the editing of historical or literary texts. The word denotes things that are present in one form (for example in a draft or in a spoken variant) but are absent in another form (for instance in a final text, printed edition, or in everyday speech).

Etymology and grammar: Weggefallen is a compound verb meaning “to fall away” or “to be omitted.” The noun form is typically written with a capital W as Weggefallenes or Weggefallene, with singular and plural inflection similar to other neuter nouns formed from past participles. In practice, Weggefallenes refers to the material that did not survive, was deleted, or was left out in a given edition, recording, or discourse.

Contexts and usage: In textual criticism, Weggefallenes describes passages, phrases or words that were in an earlier source but are missing in the surviving copies; editors may note Weggefallenes in apparatus criticus. In linguistics, it refers to elements that have been elided in ellipsis or reduced forms, such as dropped subjects or auxiliary verbs in spoken language. The term is relatively formal and predominantly found in scholarly writing; in everyday language speakers would typically describe the omitted parts more directly rather than using the term Weggefallenes.

See also: Wegfall, Ellipsis, Textkritik, Sprachwissenschaft.