Speech Dynamics

The book offers a comprehensive introduction to modern regional language research, providing more than just an introduction to dialectology. It addresses the entire spectrum of regionally influenced speech that shapes modern spoken German and is currently undergoing significant change. This spectrum starts with dialects, which often remain surprisingly stable. It also includes the regional forms of High German speech, known as Regiolekte, which are currently undergoing a rapid process of revaluation. Furthermore, it extends to forms of dissolution, where residual regionalisms are deliberately used to mark informal speech (regional accent or colloquial standard). The fact that these speech situations and varieties are in constant, whether faster or slower, change is not a threatening phenomenon of the present, but rather...