Consonant Strength in Upper German Dialects

Consonant Strength in Upper German Dialects PDF

Author: Kurt Gustav Goblirsch

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1994-01-01

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 8774929593

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The present study examines the problem of fortis and lenis in approximately 150 dialects of southern Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Alsace, and the German-speaking minorities in Italy, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The Upper German dialects are of particular interest from this point of view, because voice and aspiration, the features traditionally associated with strength, are generally absent. Changes related to strength such as lenition, vowel lengthening, simplification of geminates, and sandhi phenomena receive special attention. The findings are put into their appropriate context by comparison to the results of research on the status of strength in standard German and the modern Germanic languages. Although the realization of strength is language-specific and varies according to word-position, it can be equated with consonant length in standard German and Upper German dialects.

Consonant Strength in Upper German Dialects

Consonant Strength in Upper German Dialects PDF

Author: Kurt Gustav Goblirsch

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1994-01-01

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 9027272867

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The present study examines the problem of fortis and lenis in approximately 150 dialects of southern Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Alsace, and the German-speaking minorities in Italy, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The Upper German dialects are of particular interest from this point of view, because voice and aspiration, the features traditionally associated with strength, are generally absent. Changes related to strength such as lenition, vowel lengthening, simplification of geminates, and sandhi phenomena receive special attention. The findings are put into their appropriate context by comparison to the results of research on the status of strength in standard German and the modern Germanic languages. Although the realization of strength is language-specific and varies according to word-position, it can be equated with consonant length in standard German and Upper German dialects.

The German Consonant Shift

The German Consonant Shift PDF

Author: Annemarie Wendicke

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2009-10-08

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13: 3640441443

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Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject German Studies - Linguistics, grade: B+, Hawai'i Pacific University, language: English, abstract: The English language as well as the German language belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, which includes most of the languages spoken in Europe. All languages go through a process of change as human beings do the same. It happens very often that they are the reason for a change such as the introduction of spelling and pronunciation rules. Some languages are only affected by minor sound changes but the major sound changes affect all languages as it affects the people, who speak this language. For instance, although the German language was also affected by Grimm’s Law as it is the most famous sound law in the history of linguistics, they reason why the German language, especially High German, differs so much from Low German and other Indo-European languages is the High German consonant shift or what it is called in German “zweite Lautverschiebung.” Consequently, the High German consonant shift is responsible for the development of the different dialects in the German-speaking nations.

The Dialects of Modern German

The Dialects of Modern German PDF

Author: Charles Russ

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-13

Total Pages: 545

ISBN-13: 1136086684

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This unique reference volume covers the 18 dialects of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Alsace and Luxembourg. Each section discusses the status of dialect in the region concerned together with the historical and geographical background. Then follows a description of the dialect structure of the region, copiously illustrated with phonological, grammatical and lexical examples in IPA transcription. The phonology, grammar and vocabulary of one typical dialect are presented together with a commentary. All examples are given with English glosses. The volume will be of most interest to Germanists with some knowledge of the linguistics and history of German, wishing to deepen their knowledge of German dialects. General linguists and sociolinguists who wish to know about German dialects will also find it useful. It can serve as an intermediate level textbook for any course on German dialects which builds on a linguistics or history of German course.

Language Maintenance and Language Death

Language Maintenance and Language Death PDF

Author: Karen A. Roesch

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 9027202885

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This book provides the first extensive description of Texas Alsatian, a critically-endangered Texas German dialect, as spoken in Medina County in the 21st century. The dialect was brought to Texas in the 1840s by colonists recruited by French entrepreneur Henri Castro and has been preserved with minimal change for six generations. Texas Alsatian has maintained lexical, phonological, and morphosyntactic features which differentiate it from the prevalent standard-near varieties of Texas German. This study both describes its grammatical features and discusses extra-linguistic factors contributing to the dialect s preservation or accelerating its decline, e.g., social, historical, political, and economic factors, and speaker attitudes and ideologies linked to cultural identity. The work s multi-faceted approach makes its relevant to a broad range of scholars such as dialectologists, historical linguists, sociolinguists, ethnographers, and anthropologists interested in language variation and change, language and identity, immigrant dialects, and language maintenance and death."

Phonetics and Phonology of Tense and Lax Obstruents in German

Phonetics and Phonology of Tense and Lax Obstruents in German PDF

Author: Michael Jessen

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1999-01-15

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9027282242

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Knowing that the so-called voiced and voiceless stops in languages like English and German do not always literally differ in voicing, several linguists — among them Roman Jakobson — have proposed that dichotomies such as fortis/lenis or tense/lax might be more suitable to capture the invariant phonetic core of this distinction. Later it became the dominant view that voice onset time or laryngeal features are more reasonable alternatives. However, based on a number of facts and arguments from current phonetics and phonology this book claims that the Jakobsonian feature tense was rejected prematurely. Among the theoretical aspects addressed, it is argued that an acoustic definition of distinctive features best captures the functional aspects of speech communication, while it is also discussed how the conclusions are relevant for formal accounts, such as feature geometry. The invariant of tense is proposed to be durational, and its ‘basic correlate’ is proposed to be aspiration duration. It is shown that tense and voice differ in their invariant properties and basic correlates, but that they share a number of other correlates, including F0 onset and closure duration. In their stop systems languages constitute a typology between the selection of voice and tense, but in their fricative systems languages universally tend towards a syncretism involving voicing and tenseness together. Though the proposals made here are intended to have general validity, the emphasis is on German. As part of this focus, an acoustic study and a transillumination study of the realization of /p,t,k,f,s/ vs. /b,d,g,v,z/ in German are presented.

Quantity and Prosodic Asymmetries in Alemannic

Quantity and Prosodic Asymmetries in Alemannic PDF

Author: Astrid Kraehenmann

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2009-04-07

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 3110197227

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The comprehensive analysis of the segmental and metrical system of the Swiss German dialect of Thurgovian provides a significant contribution to both phonetic and phonological theory. Based on the author's original fieldwork and experimental investigations, it is the first in-depth study of this area, tracing it back also to its Old High German roots, particularly that of the dialect of Notker. Quantity alternations - notably word-initial long/short consonantal alternations - asymmetric neutralization of phonetic-phonological contrasts, stress and weight are most prominent among the theoretical issues on which Thurgovian phonology is brought to bear.

A Short History of the German Language (RLE Linguistics E: Indo-European Linguistics)

A Short History of the German Language (RLE Linguistics E: Indo-European Linguistics) PDF

Author: William Walker Chambers

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 1317918525

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This simple introduction to the history of the German language seeks to provide students who have some knowledge of modern German, but no knowledge either of its development or of linguistic theories, with a short account of the essential factors – chronological, geographical and linguistic – and their interrelation. The material is arranged in three parts. The first traces the history of the German language from its origins in Indo-European through the pre-documentary Germanic period and the Middle Ages to the present day. In the second part the development of the German vocabulary is described, including word formation, borrowing, and change in meaning; and the book concludes with a section on changes in sounds, grammatical forms, and syntax. Emphasis is placed on the development of the standard literary language in its historical and social context, while such topics as dialects and the relationship of German to other Germanic and European languages are treated very briefly as the need arises. The inclusion of maps, some specimen passages of German its early stages, suggestions for further reading after each chapter, and an extensive classified bibliography also contribute to making this a useful introduction to the subject and a reliable foundation for more advanced work.

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