Deutsch homophones
Schaaf/Schaf/Schaff
"Schaaf" is a name; "Schaf" is a noun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #5 of 483 German groups.
Data vintage
Grammar picks the spelling
Same sound, different grammar: "Schaaf" arrives as a name, while "Schaf" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "scha" then splits - "Schaaf" (6 letters) vs "Schaf" (5).
- Shared stem "scha" then splits - "Schaaf" (6 letters) vs "Schaff" (6).
- Shared stem "schaf" then splits - "Schaf" (5 letters) vs "Schaff" (6).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across Schaaf, Schaf, Schaff: acfhs. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
Schaaf
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCCVVC
Inventory acfhs · no private letters vs siblings
Schaf
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCCVC
Inventory acfhs · no private letters vs siblings
Schaff
6 letters · 1 vowels · shape CCCVCC
Inventory acfhs · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "Schaaf" when you mean: deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname
- Write "Schaf" when you mean: Paarhufer, der als Lieferant für Wolle, Fleisch und Milch dient
- Write "Schaff" when you mean: größeres, oben offenes Holzgefäß
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.