Der Konjunktiv II in Salzburger Varietäten: Grammatik, Gebrauch, soziale Faktoren

If one looks for linguistic information on the past subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) in Salzburg, there is not much to obtain. A few studies have commented on its morphology in dialect (Mauser 1998 und 2021a), the atlases of colloquial German (Eichhoff 1977–2000; Elspaß/Möller 2003–) provide some general insights as to the use of analytical forms, other studies aim at a broader scope on Bavarian dialects (e. g. Wiesinger 1989; Donhauser 1992). This article gives a first more detailed account. We present findings from a traditional dialectological investigation (relying on on-site interviews using a questionnaire) as well as a variationist analysis of online questionnaire data on colloquial Salzburg varieties. The dialectological analysis focuses on language-internal factors such as analytic vs. synthetic construction and variation of endings but also shows strong differences between the northern Flachgau, which surrounds the capital of Salzburg, and the remote and more rural southern Lungau. The online questionnaire allows for a quantitative inspection of the use of Konjunktiv II forms of brauchen, i. e. analytical vs. synthetical, (non-)use of umlaut, inflection with -ert/-at and -te. Statistical analysis shows that the participants’ preferences correlate with their age, region of origin, degree of education, and mobility: Younger speakers indicate the use of analytical forms more frequently, and standard (or near-standard) forms are favoured by participants near or directly from the city of Salzburg and those of higher education and mobility. In the end, we will shortly discuss the comparability of our outcomes and future research avenues, especially with regard to the Salzburg region and its neighbouring dialect areas.