1,720,986 research outputs found
Linguistic, social, and individual factors constraining variation in spoken Swiss Standard German
No full textThis chapter explores linguistic, social, and individual factors constraining spoken Swiss Standard German. The empirical focus of this study is on the variables (k) and (ç), which are well-attested to vary both at the level of the Swiss German speech community as a whole and also at the level of individual speakers within the community. Our data are based on sociolinguistic interviews including informal conversations (comprehension-oriented) as well as reading and transla- tion tasks (norm-oriented) from 16 adults ranging in age from 19 to 40 who were born and work in the city of Biel in North-West Switzerland. Results show that level of education and gender explain most of the variation present in the data, despite these factors not affecting (k) and (ç) equally. Language internal constraints only play a minor role. However, no systematic stylistic variation was found regarding the communicative orientation of the different language production tasks.
Based on these findings, this chapter furthermore addresses theoretical and methodological questions regarding systematic and non-systematic variation within individuals. In particular with respect to the results found at the level of the individual, it needs to be questioned whether (social) factors determining variation based on group averages can be generalised to individuals’ behaviour. Hence, we argue in this chapter that variationist sociolinguists should be more careful when it comes to drawing inferences based on group-derived estimates only.
Keywords: Spoken Swiss Standard German, Variationist Sociolinguistics, Intra- individual Variation, Inter-individual Variation, Linguistic and Social Factor
Intra-Writer Variation in Historical Sociolinguistics
No full textIntra-individual variation is an emerging research field in linguistics with a rapidly growing number of studies. In historical sociolinguistics, this trend has been slow, as it is still largely dominated by the macroscopic approaches of earlier sociolinguistics. Microscopic studies focusing on intra-individual variation in writing, i.e. intra-writer variation, however, are able to reveal how writers functionalize social or text-type variation for reasons such as audience design or persona creation. They may also provide insights into how ongoing changes were perceived by speakers and writers. In general, micro-approaches are able to uncover a wide array of possible factors influencing variation, which may not always carry sociolinguistic functions. This volume comprises twenty-two research articles on a wide range of languages and periods, all closely connected by their focus on intra-writer variation in historical texts and by their use of empirical and corpus-based approaches. The studies demonstrate that the challenges that historical material have for research on intra-individual variation can certainly be met and that the insights gleaned from analysing variation in individual writers are considerable
The use of discourse-ending formulae : exploring intra-writer variation in Michelangelo Buonarroti’s correspondence
No full textThe Florentine artist Michelangelo Buonarroti was a prolific letter writer: more than 400
autograph letters – most of which are private and everyday letters – have survived that
address a range of individuals from different backgrounds and span 68 years (1496–1563).
This chapter investigates intra-writer variation in Michelangelo’s use of a set of discourseending formulae, charting their usage in relation to time and to the relationship with the
addressee. This focus on intra-writer variation allows one to investigate the relative roles
of writing experience and group practices in Michelangelo’s language, suggesting that, for
him, this set of formulae functioned primarily as social conventions
Intra-Writer Variation in Historical Sociolinguistics
No full textIntra-individual variation is an emerging research field in linguistics with a rapidly growing number of studies. In historical sociolinguistics, this trend has been slow, as it is still largely dominated by the macroscopic approaches of earlier sociolinguistics. Microscopic studies focusing on intra-individual variation in writing, i.e. intra-writer variation, however, are able to reveal how writers functionalize social or text-type variation for reasons such as audience design or persona creation. They may also provide insights into how ongoing changes were perceived by speakers and writers. In general, micro-approaches are able to uncover a wide array of possible factors influencing variation, which may not always carry sociolinguistic functions. This volume comprises twenty-two research articles on a wide range of languages and periods, all closely connected by their focus on intra-writer variation in historical texts and by their use of empirical and corpus-based approaches. The studies demonstrate that the challenges that historical material have for research on intra-individual variation can certainly be met and that the insights gleaned from analysing variation in individual writers are considerable
Linguistic Repertoires and Intra-Writer Variation in Old English:Hemming of Worcester
No full textThis chapter explores intra- writer variation in the works of Hemming of Worcester, an eleventh- century monk whose hand has been identified in seven surviving manuscripts. A corpus compares selections from Hemming’s written output alongside parallel selections from other textual witnesses. The resulting scribal profile builds on data in Wallis (2013a) to analyse his variation in four features which deviate from ‘standard’ or ‘focused’ Late- West- Saxon: <wæ> spellings, o+ nasal, retraction of - ward, and unstable <h> (h- deletion and h- insertion). Hemming’s variation is shown to be due to two main factors, constrained selection (influenced by exemplar forms) in ‘local’ texts, and his own preferred usage, based on ongoing sound changes in late-Old English
Stadtgespräch... Das Szene-Graffiti als Kommunikationsmittel des Urbanen - eine konversationsanalytische Untersuchung anhand einer Graffitistudie in Nürnberg
No full textUlrike Epple untersucht die Kommunikationsstrukturen des Szene-Graffitis, die sich als Zeichen des menschlichen Strebens nach Sichtbarkeit, Handlungsfähigkeit, also Autonomie und Erinnerbarkeit lesen lassen. Das Szene-Graffiti wird dabei in den Kontext von Typographieforschung, Poetik, Soziolinguistik und Linguistic Landscape-Forschung gestellt. Durch Epples diachrone Studie gelingt ihr ein orginärer Blick auf das Kommunikationsmittel, der das Fluide der Kommunikation zwischen den Szene-Graffitis auf der Zeitachse fokussiert.
Anhand dieser Dynamik wird mit Epples Arbeit eine konversationsanalytische und ethnomethodologische Studie zu Szene-Graffitis an ausgewählten Orten Nürnbergs vorgelegt
Linguistic Repertoires and Intra-Writer Variation in Old English:Hemming of Worcester
No full textThis chapter explores intra- writer variation in the works of Hemming of Worcester, an eleventh- century monk whose hand has been identified in seven surviving manuscripts. A corpus compares selections from Hemming’s written output alongside parallel selections from other textual witnesses. The resulting scribal profile builds on data in Wallis (2013a) to analyse his variation in four features which deviate from ‘standard’ or ‘focused’ Late- West- Saxon: <wæ> spellings, o+ nasal, retraction of - ward, and unstable <h> (h- deletion and h- insertion). Hemming’s variation is shown to be due to two main factors, constrained selection (influenced by exemplar forms) in ‘local’ texts, and his own preferred usage, based on ongoing sound changes in late-Old English
Die 'Aussageeinheit' als methodischer Zugang zu Diskursen. Eine systematische Diskursanalyse am Beispiel historischer Krankheitszeugnisse.
Get PDFAnhang (zip-Datei, 8 MB): Primärquellen (PDF), Annotationsdatei (MAXQDA), Semantischer Datensatz (Excel), Programmierskript (R);
E-Mail-Adresse für Rückfragen: "[email protected]"Vor dem Hintergrund der begrifflich wie methodisch heterogenen Forschungsdisziplin der 'Diskurslinguistik' setzt sich die vorliegende Arbeit zum Ziel, ein Verfahren zu entwickeln, mit dem sich ausgewählte Diskursausschnitte auf semantischer Ebene möglichst strukturiert erfassen und analysieren lassen. Auf diese Weise sollen zentrale diskursanalytische Fragen beantwortet werden wie z. B.: Wie entfalten sich die thematischen Strukturen im Diskurs? Wie lassen sich diskursive Sprechweisen verschiedener Akteure unterscheiden? Welche Handlungsqualitäten (hier im Sinne von semantischen Rollen) werden bestimmten Diskursteilnehmern beigemessen? Und nicht zuletzt: Welche Wertungen werden im Diskurs transportiert?
Kern der vorgestellten Methodik ist die Definition einer semantisch begründeten sprachlichen Minimaleinheit, die hier als 'Aussageeinheit' eingeführt wird. Denn erst mit dem Vorliegen einer solchen Minimaleinheit ist – so die Prämisse des Vorhabens – eine systematische und möglichst objektive Analyse von komplexem Sprachmaterial überhaupt erst möglich. Hinzu kommt insbesondere, dass dadurch auch Stichprobenverfahren herangezogen werden können, die eine möglichst unverzerrte Reduktion der Menge an zu bearbeitenden Sprachdaten in Aussicht stellen.
Als Anwendungsbeispiel wird die Methode anhand eines eigens für dieses Vorhabens generierten Textkorpus erprobt. Es handelt sich um eine Sammlung von 30 historischen psychiatrischen Krankengeschichten der ehemaligen Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Kutzenberg aus dem Jahr 1927. Es sei darauf hingewiesen, dass das Verfahren nicht an eine bestimmte Thematik oder an bestimmte Textzeugnisse gebunden ist. Die Übertragbarkeit auf andere Analysethemen sollte daher mitgedacht werden. Als Analysetools kommen MAXQDA (für den Annotationsprozess), MS Excel (für die Weiterverarbeitung der MAXQDA-Exportdatei) und RStudio (für die Analyse- und Visualisierungstechniken) zum Einsatz. Die hier beispielhaft genutzten Forschungsmaterialien werden zur Verfügung gestellt.Considering 'discourse linguistics' as a field of study that is conceptually and methodologically highly heterogeneous, this research project aims to develop a method that allows for capturing and analyzing selected discourse segments on a semantic level as systematically as possible. This approach seeks to answer crucial discourse-related questions such as: How are thematic structures unfolded in the discourse? How can discursive speech modes of different groups be distinguished? Which 'action types' (in the sense of semantic roles) are assigned to specific discourse participants? And finally: What kinds of valuations are conveyed in the discourse?
The core of the method is based on the definition of a semantic minimal unit, introduced as 'Aussageeinheit' ('proposition unit'). Hereby, the premise of this project is addressed: large amounts of complex linguistic data can only be analyzed systematically and objectively if there is a standardized definition of a minimal unit. Furthermore, the introduction of this linguistic unit enables the use of sampling methods, allowing for an unbiased reduction of the linguistic data volume.
As an application example, the method is used on a text corpus specifically generated for this project. It consists of 30 historical psychiatric clinical histories from the former Bavarian Asylum in Kutzenberg, dated 1927. It should be noted that the procedure is not tied to a specific topic or type of document. Therefore, its transferability to other analytical topics should be considered. The tools used include MAXQDA (for the annotation process), MS Excel (for managing the MAXQDA export file) and RStudio (for essential analyses and visualization techniques). The resources employed in this project are made available as downloadable files
Linguistic Repertoires and Intra-Writer Variation in Old English:Hemming of Worcester
No full textThis chapter explores intra- writer variation in the works of Hemming of Worcester, an eleventh- century monk whose hand has been identified in seven surviving manuscripts. A corpus compares selections from Hemming’s written output alongside parallel selections from other textual witnesses. The resulting scribal profile builds on data in Wallis (2013a) to analyse his variation in four features which deviate from ‘standard’ or ‘focused’ Late- West- Saxon: <wæ> spellings, o+ nasal, retraction of - ward, and unstable <h> (h- deletion and h- insertion). Hemming’s variation is shown to be due to two main factors, constrained selection (influenced by exemplar forms) in ‘local’ texts, and his own preferred usage, based on ongoing sound changes in late-Old English
- …
