i-Dötzchen

See also: I-Dötzchen

German

Alternative forms

• I-Dötzchen

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Central Franconian i-Dötzje (“first-year pupil”), from the letter i, which was traditionally the first letter that school children learnt, and the noun Dotz (“little, often chubby, child”). This word’s original meaning is “knob, bump”, it being probably cognate with (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Dutch and (deprecated template usage) [etyl] English dot. The word i-Dötzje might therefore alternatively be derived from i-Dotz meaning “dot of the i”, as has been proposed; but neither is this latter sense in general use, nor does the derivation suggest itself semantically.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈiːˌdœts.çən/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): [ˈiːˌdøts.jən] (native dialectal pronunciation)

Noun

i-Dötzchen n (genitive i-Dötzchens, plural i-Dötzchen)

1. (informal, regional, chiefly Rhineland, but spreading Germany-wide) first-year pupil; child who has just started school; abecedarian

Synonyms

• ABC-Schütze, Abc-Schütze, Abcschütze
• Erstklässer (especially Central German)
• Erstklassler (Austrian)
• Erstklässler
• i-Dotz (Rhenish)
• i-Männchen (regional)
• Schulanfänger
• Taferlklassler (Austrian, colloquial)