Three Identical Letters in a Row in 
 the German Spelling Reform 
 (Drei gleiche Buchstaben nacheinander in 
 der deutschen Rechtschreibreform) 

Before the reform, an identical letter could appear three times in a row only rarely (vorher gab es drei gleiche Buchstaben nur selten):

Stickstofffrei (free of nitrogen),  Fetttropfen (drop of fat),  Pappplakat

With the new rules, this occurs frequently (mit den neuen Regeln kommt das häufig vor):

Old/Alt New/Neu List/Liste Meaning/Bedeutung
der See-Elefant der Seeelefant eee(7) elephant seal
die Stoffülle die Stofffülle fff(39) wealth of material
die Hawaiinseln die Hawaiiinseln iii(1) Hawaiian Islands
stillegen stilllegen lll(75) to close or shut down
die Stammutter die Stammmutter mmm(10) ancestress
die Brennessel die Brennnessel nnn(6) burning nettle
das Zoorchester das Zooorchester ooo(2) zoo orchester
das Kreppapier das Krepppapier ppp(2) crepe paper
das Sperrad das Sperrrad rrr(5) ratchet wheel
schußsicher schusssicher sss(193) bullet-proof
das Bettuch das Betttuch ttt(15) sheet
Total(355)
die Schiffahrt die Schifffahrt shipping
das Flußschiff das Flussschiff river boat
die Flußschiffahrt die Flussschifffahrt river navigation/traffic

Sources:

  1. Collins German Dictionary: Unabridged, (PONS-Großwörterbuch für Experten und Universität), 4rd Edition, 1999, Harper-Collins (Ernst Klett Verlag).
  2. Duden Universal Wörterbuch.
  3. Wahrig: Deutsches Wörterbuch, 1968.
  4. On line German dictionary: http://quickdic.org/.

Notes:

  1. With the old rules, one could only have three identical letters in a row in case two words were put together with the first ending in two identical consonents and the second starting with the same consonent, followed by another consonent. Of all the words given here, only the words at the start and a few similar words meet this standard:
      Auspuffflamme, Sauerstoffflasche, Stickstofffrei, Pappplakat, Balletttruppe, Balletttheater, fetttriefend, Fetttropfen.
    Note that under the old rules, no word could end with "ss", but such words ended with "ß" instead.
  2. Refence 3 is a 1968 dictionary that includes Flußschiffahrt, so this is a word that has long been in use.
  3. References 1 and 4 give numerous examples of words with 3 identical letters in a row. All these examples are given above under the "List/liste" column (well, most of them anyway):
  4. Numerous other words with three identical letters in a row, not in the dictionaries, will undoubtedly be constructed. See 24 examples, most from der Spiegel magazine and the novel Der Schwarm.
  5. In spite of the reformers' intention to allow three identical letters when words are combined, they did not have the nerve to change dennoch to dennnoch or Drittel to Dritttel or Mittag to Mitttag. For example, Mittwoch (Wednesday, literally ``mid-week'') is a combination of Mitt (mid) and woch (week), and in the same way Mittag (Mid-day), as a combination of Mitt and tag (day), should be Mitttag. (One other explanation: "Diese Wörter werden nicht mehr als Zusammensetzungen angesehen.")
  6. Here is an interesting email: comments.
  7. Until recently, I've never known of a word in English with three identical letters in a row. However, the new Wii video game has led to: `` "The variant in this patient can be labeled more specifically as 'Wiiitis,' " [Dr. Julio] Bonis, a family practice physician, wrote in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.'' (CNN.com, June 6, 2007, "If it's not tennis elbow, it may be 'Wiiitis' ".)
  8. How about German words with four identical letters in a row? This article gives some possibilities, using "aa" at the end and beginning of two words put together, or "oo" at the end and beginning. Thus
    • Sanaaaale (Sanaa: jemenitische Hauptstadt, Aal: Fisch),
      Djamaaaal (Djamaa: muslimische Gemeinschaft),
      Laaaal (Laa: Stadt in Österreich),
      Nausikaaaal (Nausikaa: griechische Sagenfigur)

    • Ballyhoooogenese (Ballyhoo: Reklamerummel, Oogenese: Entwicklung der Eizelle),
      Tattoooogenese (Tattoo: Tätowierung),
      Voodoooogenese (Voodoo: Geheimkult),
      Waterloooogenese (Waterloo: Ort in Belgien),
      Zoooogenese (Zoo: Tierpark).
Weird German words that might be (have been?) incorporated into English, from the NYT 2013-10-12.