Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-7nlkj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T09:12:39.119Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The diffusion of /l/-vocalization in Swiss German

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2014

Adrian Leemann ,
Marie-José Kolly ,
Iwar Werlen ,
David Britain  and
Dieter Studer-Joho
Adrian Leemann
Affiliation:
University of Zürich
Marie-José Kolly
Affiliation:
University of Zürich
Iwar Werlen
Affiliation:
University of Bern
David Britain
Affiliation:
University of Bern
Dieter Studer-Joho
Affiliation:
University of Zürich
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Several western Swiss German dialects roughly grouped around the nation's capital Bern show /l/ > [u] vocalization in various contexts. The spatial boundaries of /l/-vocalization in Swiss German are suspected to have been expanding since being described in the Linguistic Atlas of German-Speaking Switzerland in the middle of the 20th century. The present study assesses the overall expansion of /l/-vocalization by means of a rapid anonymous survey in 20 urban regional centers situated just beyond the traditional boundaries of /l/-vocalization highlighted by the Atlas. Results show that the expansion of /l/-vocalization mainly progresses in southeasterly, southerly, and westerly directions, but with much less success to the north and northwest, where the equally influential dialectal areas of Basel and Zürich seem to exert opposing influences. Further analysis of the data indicates that somewhat differing constraint hierarchies are at work in the different places to which vocalization has diffused.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , July 2014 , pp. 191 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ash, Sharon. (1982). The vocalization of /l/ in Philadelphia. PhD dissertation, University of Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Bailey, Guy, Wikle, Tom, Tillery, Jan, & Sand, Lort. (1993). Some patterns of linguistic diffusion. Language Variation and Change 5:359–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, Heinrich. (1940). Stadtmundart—Stadt- und Landmundart. Bern: Lang.Google Scholar
Borowsky, Toni. (2001). The vocalisation of dark-l in Australian English. In Blair, D. & Collins, P. (eds.), English in Australia. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 69–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borowsky, Toni, & Horvath, Barbara. (1997). L-vocalisation in Australian English. In Hinskens, F., van Hout, R. & Wetzels, W. L. (eds.), Variation, change and phonological theory. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 101–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britain, David. (2005). Innovation diffusion, “Estuary English” and local dialect differentiation: The survival of Fenland Englishes. Linguistics 43:995–1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britain, David. (2010). Contact and dialectology. In Hickey, R. (ed.), Handbook of language contact. Oxford: Blackwell. 208–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britain, David. (2014). Where North meets South? Contact, divergence, and the routinisation of the Fenland dialect boundary. In Watt, D. & Llamas, C. (eds.), Languages, borders and identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Bundesamt für Statistik. (2005). Statistisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Personenverkehr: Entwicklung der Tagesmobilität. Available at: http://www.bfs.admin.ch/. Accessed April 10, 2014.Google Scholar
Christen, Helen. (1988). Sprachliche Variation in der deutschsprachigen Schweiz. Dargestellt am Beispiel der /l/-Vokalisierung in der Gemeinde Knutwil und in der Stadt Luzern. Stuttgart: Steiner.Google Scholar
Christen, Helen. (1998). Dialekt im Alltag: Eine empirische Untersuchung zur lokalen Komponente heutiger schweizerdeutscher Varietäten. Tübingen: Niemeyer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christen, Helen. (2001). Ein Dialektmarker auf Erfolgskurs: Die /l/-Vokalisierung in der deutschsprachigen Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik 1:16–26.Google Scholar
Christen, Helen. (2010). Was Dialektbezeichnungen und Dialektattribuierungen über alltagsweltliche Konzeptualisierungen sprachlicher Heterogenität verraten. In Anders, C., Hundt, M. & Lasch, A. (eds.), “Perceptual dialectology”: Neue Wege der Dialektologie. Berlin: de Gruyter. 269–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dieth, Eugen. (1950). Vademekum der Phonetik: Phonetische Grundlagen für das wissenschaftliche und praktische Studium der Sprachen. Bern: Francke.Google Scholar
Dodsworth, Robin. (2005). Attribute networking: A technique for modeling social perceptions. Journal of Sociolinguistics 9(2):225–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durian, David. (2007). Getting [ʃ]tronger every day? Urbanization and the socio-geographic diffusion of (str) in Columbus, OH. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 13(2):65–79.Google Scholar
Durian, David. (2008). The vocalization of /l/ in urban blue collar Columbus, OH African American Vernacular English: A quantitative sociophonetic analysis. Ohio State Working Papers in Linguistics 58:30–51.Google Scholar
Flury, Alexandra. (2002). l-Vokalisierung und nd-Velarisierung in Spiez: Eine empirische Untersuchung. Licenciate thesis, University of Bern.Google Scholar
Gauchat, Louis. (1905). L'unité phonétique dans le patois d'une commune. Halle: Niemeyer.Google Scholar
Gnanadesikan, Amalia E. (2004). Markedness and faithfulness constraints in child phonology. In Kager, R., Pater, J., & Zonneveld, W. (eds.), Constraints in phonological acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 73–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grammont, Maurice. (1933). Traité de phonétique. Paris: Delagrave.Google Scholar
Haas, Walter. (1973). Zur l-Vokalisierung im westlichen Schweizerdeutschen. In Bausinger, H. (ed.), Dialekt als Sprachbarriere: Ergebnisbericht einer Tagung zur alemannischen Dialektforschung. Tübingen: Tübinger Vereinigung für Volkskunde. 63–70.Google Scholar
Haas, Walter. (1983). Vokalisierung in deutschen Dialekten. In Besch, W., Knoop, U., Putschke, W., & Wiegand, H. E. (eds.), Dialektologie: Ein Handbuch zur deutschen und allgemeinen Dialektforschung. Vol II. Berlin: de Gruyter. 1111–1116.Google Scholar
Haas, Walter. (1989). Sprachwandel in apparent time und in real time. In Schindler, W. & Untermann, J. (eds.), Grippe, Kamm und Eulenspiegel: Festschrift für Elmar Seebold zum 65. Geburtstag. Berlin: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Hall-Lew, Lauren, & Fix, Sonya. (2012). Perceptual coding reliability of (L)-vocalization in casual speech data. Lingua 122:794–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, Jennifer, & Drager, Katie. (2010). Stuffed toys and speech perception. Linguistics 48(4):865–892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henzen, Walter. (1927). Die deutsche Freiburger Mundart im Sense- und südöstlichen Seebezirk. Frauenfeld: Huber.Google Scholar
Horvath, Barbara M., & Horvath, Ronald J. (1997). The geolinguistics of a sound change in progress: /l/ vocalisation in Australia. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 4:109–124.Google Scholar
Horvath, Barbara M., & Horvath, Ronald J.. (2001). A multilocality study of a sound change in progress: The case of /l/ vocalisation in New Zealand and Australian English. Language Variation and Change 13:37–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horvath, Barbara M., & Horvath, Ronald J.. (2002). The geolinguistics of /l/ vocalization in Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Sociolinguistics 6:319–346.Google Scholar
Horvath, Barbara M., & Horvath, Ronald J.. (2003). A closer look at the constraint hierarchy: Order, contrast and geographical scale. Language Variation and Change 15:143–170.Google Scholar
Hotzenköcherle, Rudolf. (1962). Einführung in den Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz. Vol. A: Zur Methodologie der Kleinraumatlanten. Vol. B: Fragebuch, Transkriptionsschlüssel, Aufnahmeprotokolle. Bern: Franke.Google Scholar
Hotzenköcherle, Rudolf. (1984). Die Sprachlandschaften der deutschen Schweiz. Edited by Bigler, N. & Schläpfer, R.. Aarau: Sauerländer.Google Scholar
Johnson, Wyn, & Britain, David. (2007). L-vocalisation as a natural phenomenon: Explorations in sociophonology. Language Sciences 29:294–315.Google Scholar
Jongkind, Anke P., & van Reenen, Pieter. (2007). The vocalization of /l/ in standard Dutch. In Timuska, A. (ed.), Proceedings of the IVth International Conference of Dialectologists and Geolinguists, University of Latvia, Riga, 28.7.2003. Riga: Latvian Language Institute. 1–6.Google Scholar
Kerswill, Paul. (2003). Dialect levelling and geographical diffusion in British English. In Britain, D. & Cheshire, J. (eds.), Social dialectology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 223–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labov, William. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (1994). Principles of linguistic change. Vol. 1: Internal factors. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (2003). Pursuing the cascade model. In Britain, D. & Cheshire, J. (eds.), Social dialectology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 9–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labov, William. (2007). Transmission and diffusion. Language 83:344–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matter, Marc, & Ender, Andrea. (2006). Datenerhebung mit einer Rapid Anonymous Study am Beispiel der l-Vokalisierung. Talk at 4. Tage der Schweizer Linguistik, 20 November 2006, Basel.Google Scholar
McElhinny, Bonnie. (1999). More on the third dialect of English: Linguistic constraints on the use of three phonological variables in Pittsburgh. Language Variation and Change 11:171–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mees, Inger, & Collins, Beverley. (1999). Cardiff: A real-time study of glottalisation. In Foulkes, P. & Docherty, G. (eds.), Urban voices: Accent studies in the British Isles. London: Edward Arnold. 185–202.Google Scholar
North, David. (1985). Spatial aspects of linguistic change in Surrey, Kent and Sussex. In Viereck, W. (ed.), Focus on England and Wales. Amsterdam: Benjamin. 79–96.Google Scholar
Ohala, John J. (1974). Phonetic explanation in phonology. In Bruck, A., Fox, R. A., & Galy, M. W. La (eds.), Chicago Linguistic Society, Papers from the parasession on natural phonology, April 18, 1974. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. 251–274.Google Scholar
Pater, Joe. (1997). Minimal violation and phonological development. Language Acquisition 6:201–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piller, Anita. (1997). Sprachwandel im Sensebezirk dargestellt am Beispiel der /l/-Vokalisierung und der Rundung der Palatalvokale. Licentiate thesis, University of Fribourg.Google Scholar
Recasens, Daniel. (2012). A cross-language acoustic study of initial and final allophones of /l/. Speech Communication 54(3):368–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rickford, John. (2002). Implicational scales. In Chambers, J., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), Handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 142–167.Google Scholar
Ris, Roland. (1979). Dialekt und Einheitssprache in der deutschen Schweiz. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 21:41–62.Google Scholar
Ris, Roland. (1992). Innerethik der deutschen Schweiz. In Hugger, P. (ed.), Handbuch der schweizerischen Volkskultur. Vol. 2. Zürich: Offizin. 749–766.Google Scholar
Siebenhaar, Beat. (2000). Stadtberndeutsch—Sprachschichten einst und jetzt. In Siebenhaar, B. & Stäheli, F. (eds.), Stadtberndeutsch. Sprachporträts aus der Stadt Bern. Murten: Licorne. 7–32.Google Scholar
Siebenhaar, Beat. (2008). Sprachwandel und Sprachgeographie—der Einfluss der Stadt Bern auf die Region. In Krefeld, T. (ed.), Sprachen und Sprechen im städtischen Raum. Frankfurt am Main: Lang. 173–195.Google Scholar
Siebenhaar, Beat, & Wyler, Alfred. (1997). Dialekt und Hochsprache in der deutschsprachigen Schweiz. 5th ed.Zürich: Pro Helvetia.Google Scholar
Sieber, Peter, & Sitta, Horst. (1986). Mundart und Standardsprache als Problem der Schule. Aarau: Sauerländer.Google Scholar
Smith, Neil. (1973). The acquisition of phonology: a case study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz. (1962–2003). Bern: Francke (Vols. 1–6), Basel: Francke (Vols. 7, 8).Google Scholar
Stampe, David. (1979). A dissertation in Natural Phonology. Garland: New York.Google Scholar
Starks, Donna. (1998). An alternative type of rapid and anonymous survey. In Paradis, C., Vincent, D., Deshaies, D., & Laforest, M. (eds.), Papers in Sociolinguistics. NWAVE26 Quebec 1997. Quebec: Nota Bene. 11–18.Google Scholar
Stuart-Smith, Jane, Timmins, Claire, & Tweedie, Fiona. (2006). Conservation and innovation in a traditional dialect: l-vocalization in Glaswegian. English World-Wide 27:71–87.Google Scholar
Timmins, Claire, Tweedie, Fiona, & Stuart-Smith, Jane. (2004). Accent change in Glaswegian (1997 corpus): Results for consonant variables. University of Glasgow: Department of English Language.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. (1974). Linguistic change and diffusion: Description and explanation in sociolinguistic dialect geography. Language in Society 3:215–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. (1983). On dialect. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. (1986). Dialects in contact. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
van Reenen, Pieter & Jongkind, Anke. (2000). De vocalisering van de /l/ in het Standaard-Nederlands. Taal en Tongval 52:189–199.Google Scholar
von Essen, Otto. (1964). An acoustic explanation of the sound shift [ɫ] > [u] and [l] > [i]. In Abercrombie, D., Fry, D. B., MacCarthy, P. A. D., Scott, N. C., & Trim, J. L. (eds.), In honour of Daniel Jones: Papers contributed on the occasion of his eightieth birthday 12 September 1961. London: Longmans. 53–58.Google Scholar
Weiss, Richard. (1947). Die Brünig-Napf-Reuss Linie als Kulturgrenze zwischen Ost- und Westschweiz auf volkskundlichen Karten. Geographica Helvetica 2:153–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werlen, Iwar. (1985). Zur Einschätzung von schweizerdeutschen Dialekten. In Werlen, I. (ed.), Probleme der schweizerischen Dialektologie. 2. Kolloquium der schweizerischen. Geisteswissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft. Problèmes de la dialectologie suisse. 2e Colloque de la Société suisse des sciences humaines. Fribourg: Editions Universitaires Fribourg. 195–266.Google Scholar
Werlen, Iwar. (2004). Zur Sprachsituation in der Schweiz mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Diglossie in der Deutschschweiz. Bulletin VALS-ASLA (Vereinigung für angewandte Linguistik in der Schweiz) 79:1–30.Google Scholar
Wikle, Tom, & Bailey, Guy. (1997). The spatial diffusion of linguistic features in Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science 77:1–15.Google Scholar
Wolfensberger, Heinz. (1967). Mundartwandel im 20. Jahrhundert: Dargestellt an Ausschnitten aus dem Sprachleben der Gemeinde Stäfa. Frauenfeld: Huber & Co.Google Scholar
Wright, Susan. (1989). The effects of style and speaking rate on /l/-vocalisation in local Cambridge English. York Papers in Linguistics 13:355–365.Google Scholar