{"title":"Extending the Scope of Lectometry","authors":"Laura Rosseel, Karlien Franco, M. Röthlisberger","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0005","url":null,"abstract":"This special issue brings together a collection of papers that highlight recent advances in the field of lectometry. Lectometric research measures distances between various types of language varieties, such as dialects or sociolects. In addition to briefly sketching the development of the field, this introductory paper surveys the theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions a lectometric approach to language has to offer. We furthermore identify blind spots within the current scope of lectometric work and lay out suggestions for future avenues the field could go down. The paper concludes by introducing the various contributions to this special issue of “Zeitschrift fur Dialektologie und Linguistik” and by outlining how each of those papers contributes to extending the scope of lectometry.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41341279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The quality of schwa in Swiss German","authors":"I. Hove","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Observations in specialist literature as well as the perception of lay people suggest that in Swiss German dialects in general and even more so in the dialects of Central Switzerland the unaccented vowel in words such as macha (‘make’), which is here referred to as schwa, is not a completely central vowel corresponding to [ə] but is closer to [ae] or [ɛ]. In order to verify whether these observations are correct, recordings from Central Switzerland and Zurich were analyzed and later also compared to recordings of speakers from Germany speaking Standard German. The results show that speakers of both Swiss German dialects pronounce schwa with a more open quality than the speakers from Germany. The analyses of different factors reveal that for the Swiss but not for the Germans the degree of openness of schwa correlates with a more deliberate articulation. It can, therefore, be assumed that the Swiss German schwa’s target is not a completely central but rather a slightly open vowel. Furthermore, in the dialects of Central Switzerland the vowel is articulated with more spread lips than in Zurich German. Nevertheless, the formant values lead to the conclusion that the Swiss German schwa is still fairly central and does not overlap with any front vowels. It is most precisely represented by the phonetic symbol [ɜ].","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"06 1","pages":"3-24"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86547503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Situating Twitter Discourse in Relation to Spoken and Written Texts","authors":"A. Bohmann","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Language use on Twitter is a recent and currently understudied phenomenon. The present study makes an empirical contribution towards understanding the similarities and differences between Twitter and offline registers. To this purpose, a lectometric analysis is conducted: on the basis of 236 linguistic features whose frequency information is measured in 7 309 spoken, written and Twitter texts, 10 dimensions of linguistic variation are developed. Within the space of variation circumscribed by these dimensions, Twitter is characterized not so much by radical difference as by gradual differentiation from other registers. The only dimension along which a clear distinction between Twitter and other registers can be seen is that of “colloquial markedness”. In general, language on Twitter can be described as involved and consciously informal, but not very much oriented towards either addressees or factual statements.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"24 1","pages":"250-284"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87808849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mapping the Structure of Language Repertoires: on the Use of Sociolectometric Methods","authors":"Anne-Sophie Ghyselen, D. Speelman, Koen Plevoets","doi":"10.25162/ZDL-2020-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/ZDL-2020-0008","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we will discuss the importance of (socio)lectometric research in attempts to empirically map the range and internal structure of language repertoires, on both the level of the individual and the level of the speech community. Spoken data from 10 East Flemish women (city of Ghent) in 5 speech settings are analysed using 3 multivariate statistical techniques: correspondence regression, multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis. These analyses show that on a community level, the language repertoire in Ghent can be called - following Auer (2005) - “diaglossic”, with a continuum stretching from dialect to standard language with intermediate variations in between. In this continuum, focal points or prototypes can be identified, such as dialect, tussentaal and Standard Dutch. On the level of the individual language user, however, the repertoires are not necessarily diaglossic. Methodologically, we will argue that different multivariate techniques are ideally combined and complemented, as each technique has both advantages and drawbacks, and only structures emerging in multiple analyses can be considered robust. The Flemish case-study will moreover demonstrate that the techniques can only be usefully implemented in repertoire structure studies when stylistically stratified datasets are available and a diverse set of language features is observed.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"195 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79814904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Die Affrikate tsch in den Varianten des Deutschen: Wortstruktur und Wortschatzstruktur","authors":"Andreas Lötscher","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Historically, the German affricate /tʃ/ is an orphan in the German sound system: it has no regular historical sources in older stages of German. Synchronically, in the codified present day standard German vocabulary, it is rather marginal. In dialectal vocabularies, however, words containing /tʃ/ are fairly frequent. In a few cases, /tʃ/ can be traced back to isolated combinatory sound developments. In most cases, however, the origin of/tʃ/ is sound symbolistic word creation or word variation, primarily by onomatopoeia (sound iconism), but also by expressivity (saliency iconism). It is no coincidence that /tʃ/ is so much more frequent in dialectal vocabularies than in standard German. Dialectal vocabulary with words containing /tʃ/ is focussed on everyday experience and is characterized by creativity, irregularity, expressiveness and affectivity, factors that are closely interlinked with each other and essential features of the “language of immediacy” (‘Nahe-Sprache’), i. e. the form of language that is used in intimate personal communication. The diaphasic markedness of /tʃ/ in German explains why it is unfamiliar to the codified standard German, which in principle represents the language of distance.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"43 1","pages":"66-100"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79318045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lectometry and Latent Variables: a Model for Underlying Determinants of (Normative) Choices in Written and Audiovisual Translations","authors":"Koen Plevoets","doi":"10.25162/ZDL-2020-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/ZDL-2020-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Ever since its first formulation in Geeraerts, Grondelaers & Speelman (1999), lectometry has been widely used to map distances between language varieties or ‘lects’. Often, these distances are given a geometrical representation in a low-dimensional space. Examples are the use of Multidimensional Scaling in Speelman, Grondelaers & Geeraerts (2003) and Ruette, Geeraerts, Peirsman & Speelman (2014) and of Correspondence Analysis in Plevoets (2008), Delaere, De Sutter & Plevoets (2012), Prieels, Delaere, Plevoets & De Sutter (2015) and Ghyselen (2016). Usually, the number of dimensions of the geometrical space is chosen on the basis of representativeness, leading to an approximate picture of the linguistic variation. However, the spatial dimensions can also be interpreted as underlying factors governing the variability of the data. This methodological paper will explore this functional interpretation of the geometrical dimensions by establishing the link between lectometry and Latent Variable Models. It will be shown that the dimensions of the lectal space can be considered as hidden variables which lay bare specific causal mechanisms. In particular, analyses of translation and interpreting data will demonstrate that the lectometrical dimensions can be made to correspond to various socio-cultural determinants. That opens up the possibility for lectometrical studies of determining the ‘social meaning’ of linguistic varieties and variants.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"7 1","pages":"144-172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89918101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Das Sibilantensystem in der deutschen Sprachinsel Zahre/Sauris in Friaul im Vergleich zum Zimbrischen (Lusérn) – Sibilanten zwischen Bewahrung und Veränderung","authors":"B. Vogt","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0013","url":null,"abstract":"The study deals with the sibilant system in the historical German language island Zahre/Sauris situated in the north east of Italy comparing it with the inventory spoken in Lusern/Luserna (Cimbrian). It turns out that features from Old and Middle High German have been preserved. The varieties under investigation still reveal effects of the process of fricative lenition called by Paul (1881 [2007]: 170) “althochdeutsche Spirantenschwachung”. In the variety of Lusern the contrast regarding the place of articulation between postalveolar “shibilants” [ś, ź] and alveolar sibilants [s, z] is also still observable, while it is neutralized in Zahre in all contexts. It is argued that the loss of this qualitative feature in Zahre is connected to the preservation of a fortis-lenis contrast for the fricatives in intersonorant position (after a long vowel or a diphthong).","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"45 1","pages":"375-396"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73336975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Morphological Dynamics of German Adjective Gradation in Rural Regions of Austria","authors":"Katharina Korecky","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0002","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the influence of different socio-demographic, regional and linguistic variables on autochthonous rural Austrian speakers’ productions of comparatives and superlatives in two experimental settings (aiming at standard versus nonstandard registers of individual speech repertoires). Effects of setting, of the distance from the city of Vienna as well as of various linguistic variables were found. Age group turned out to be the most important socio-demographic variable.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"235 1","pages":"25-65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76627540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gotzon Aurrekoetxea, E. Clua, Aitor Iglesias, I. Usobiaga, M. Salicrú
{"title":"Characterizing Dialect Groups: Distance and Informativeness Associated with Linguistic Features","authors":"Gotzon Aurrekoetxea, E. Clua, Aitor Iglesias, I. Usobiaga, M. Salicrú","doi":"10.25162/zdl-2020-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25162/zdl-2020-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Starting from a distance which highlights similarities and differences among populations, dialectal classification allows the border between varieties to be established and transition zones (border populations) to be identified. The high cost of conducting and processing surveys to a great extent limits the size of the samples used, the number of localities and the time interval between fieldworks to determine dialect variation over time. Although recently other methods of gathering information have been developed, for those who prefer face to face methods we have introduced a method which allows researchers to select the subset of the most informative linguistic items. In order to maximize the similarity between the classifications obtained with the selected subset and the complete set of linguistic items, we have defined a measure of similarity which highlights redundancy between items (Simple Matching Coefficient), we have grouped items by similarity (K-means method), and finally, we have chosen the most representative linguistic items in the representation obtained from Ward’s method, proportionally according to the size of each one of the subgroups. This exploratory study made use of the Bourciez Corpus, focusing on Basque language data, to illustrate the methodology.","PeriodicalId":42450,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik","volume":"100 1","pages":"307-326"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76968002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}