The Pluricentricity of German: Perceptions of the Standardness of Austrian and German Lexical Items

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-63
Author(s):  
James Pfrehm

This article explores the theory of pluricentricity from an empirical perspective. With a particular focus on the written lexicon, and using questionnaires and statistical analysis, I examine how native speakers from Austria (n=115) and Germany (n=104) rated the standardness of 36 words designated as representing either Austrian Standard German (ASG) or German Standard German (GSG). Analyses of quantitative data offer preliminary empirical support for the pluricentricity of the German language. Ultimately, my study (a) justifies the need for more extensive empirical research on perceptions of standardness among native speakers in Austria, (b) demonstrates the value of eliciting attitudes of nonlinguists to assess the validity of theories posited by linguists, and (c) provides an initial model for investigating coexisting standard varieties which, it is hoped, future researchers will adopt and improve on.

2021 ◽  
Vol 563 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Stochmal ◽  
Jan Maciejewski ◽  
Andrzej Jarynowski

The article presents the results of the secondary analysis of qualitative and quantitative data in relation to social research conducted in Poland during the pandemic. The research results were introduced on the basis of analyzes of 180 projects carried out by scientific and commercial institutions in the period from January to May 2020. The aim of the project is to present a standard way of conducting empirical research for social researchers who undertake the challenge of identifying the phenomena accompanying the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We are interested in the possibility of drawing conclusions that go beyond individual research projects carried out in the social field. The conclusions recommended by us concern the following issues: mitigating the polarization of social attitudes dynamically changing during a pandemic, practical solving – and not only diagnosing – problems revealed in COVID reality and supplementing the deficiencies of theoretical assumptions accompanying research works.


Author(s):  
Stephen Shiaondo Ajim ◽  
Iorember Margaret N

Nominalization is a linguistic process of deriving nouns from other word classes or linguistic units. Nominalization is evident in many languages of the world. The Tiv language also exhibits nominalization. This paper critically analyses nominalization in Tiv. The objectives of the paper are: to determine the processes through which nominalization takes place in the Tiv language, the extent to which the processes of nominalization are productive in the Tiv language, and the classes of words and linguistic units that are nominalized in Tiv. Data were sourced from the native speakers of Tiv using the researcher – participant technique. The researchers documented the lexical items used during the interaction, determine the basic components of the lexical items and the word classes such lexical items belonged to. The intuitive knowledge of the researchers as the native speakers of the language was harnessed. The secondary data were sourced from the already existing literatures such as textbooks, journals and the internet. The theory adopted in the paper is Hokett’s (1954) structural theory whose models are the Item-and-Process (I.P) and Item-and-Arrangement (I.P). It has been found out that the processes through which nominalization takes in the Tiv language are prefixation, prefixation plus some modifications, tonality and desententialization (sentence deconstruction). These processes are discovered to be very productive in nominalization in Tiv. It has also been found out that verbs roots and adjectives are the classes of words that are nominalized (lexical nominalization) in the Tiv language together with sentences (syntactic nominalization).


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Rolle

This paper establishes the lexical tone contrasts in the Nigerian language Izon, focusing on evidence for floating tone. Many tonal languages show effects of floating tone, though typically in a restricted way, such as occurring with only a minority of morphemes, or restricted to certain grammatical environments. For Izon, the claim here is that all lexical items sponsor floating tone, making it ubiquitous across the lexicon and as common as pre-associated tone. The motivation for floating tone comes from the tonal patterns of morphemes in isolation and within tone groups. Based on these patterns, all lexical morphemes are placed into one of four tone classes defined according to which floating tones they end in. This paper provides extensive empirical support for this analysis and discusses several issues which emerge under ubiquitous floating tone. Issues include the principled allowance of OCP(T) violations, and the propensity for word-initial vowels and low tone to coincide.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 31-36
Author(s):  
Mykola Karpik

The article presents the application of sociolinguistic methods of language study. The proposed research aimed at analyzing the functions of the Austrian variant of the German language in public contexts and disclosing some peculiarities of its use. The issue was addressed by analyzing sociolinguistic and statistic data that we had acquired in 2009–2019. A work with informants was one of the stages of our research. Within the framework of the study of Austrian German we surveyed 102 Austrian respondents, native speakers of the language variant, who represent various social groups and reside in different regions of Austria. The analysis of the received responses showed that the majority of respondents comprehend the concept Austriacism not only in theory, but in practice as well for the bulk of Austriacisms, given as examples in the questionnaire, were known for the informants. The respondents gave predominantly affirmative answers to the question “Do you consider Austriacisms to be the recognized word stock of the standard language?” The use of Austriacisms is also majorly not considered obsolete, hens we can conclude, that Austrian German is a modern colloquial language. These results demonstrate the positive attitude to Austriacisms. Approximately half of the surveyed (49%) showed no awareness of Record 10 on the use of the specific Austrian terms in the German language and this result is seen quite expected. Only 7 % of the surveyed were able to name the number of expressions in this Record. Other responses allow us to address Austriacims as an intrinsic part of Austrian culture and history. A surprising response we received to the question “Would you like Austriacisms to be used by the residents of other German speaking countries?” given by 40 % of the respondents answering Yes. However, the following responses show that the Austrians consider Austriacisms a factor of identity formation, so they would object to the usage by the non-Austrians. Therefore, the hypothesis, formed at the beginning of our research, has found some evidence to support it. The results of experimental use of Austriacisms make it possible to draw the following conclusions: Austrian German is an essential however secondary means of communication in Austria; its use reflects Austrian social reality and national culture. Austrian German acts as an element of Austrian national identity, thus, a further research on its communicative role is an essential task for modern German Studies.


Author(s):  
Christine A. Haynes ◽  
Kaye Shelton

With the rapid advancement of online survey tools, research collaboration tools, communication platforms, and statistical analysis tools, the Delphi method is an increasingly popular research approach to gain insight from experts into complex problems or when future-oriented planning is required. This chapter focuses on practical considerations and implications for practice when conducting studies online using the Delphi method. Practical logistics for the management of online Delphi studies explored in this chapter include preparing for a successful study, designing communication strategies, addressing technological considerations, and handling of qualitative and quantitative data.


This chapter presents data gathered by a Cyprus-related survey that was conducted by the authors with the aid of many professional Cypriot journalists. The survey was conducted between 6th of September and 13th of November 2012 and managed to gather 62 responses. The participants came from a different social and educational background as they were gathered thanks to online media coverage. The authors present statistical graphics in order to visualise the quantitative data. Additionally, statistical analysis is being conducted (using one by one variable analysis) in order to identify trends and associations between different groups in the same country.


This chapter presents data gathered by a Germany-related survey that was conducted by the authors between 29th of November and 18th of December 2011, with the aid of Johannes Fritz (Research Assistant at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg). The sample was limited but highly educated, consisting mainly of students and teaching staff of the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. The authors present statistical graphics in order to visualise the quantitative data. Additionally, statistical analysis is being conducted (using one by one variable analysis) in order to identify trends and associations between different groups in the same country.


2022 ◽  
pp. 417-451
Author(s):  
Shalin Hai-Jew

The q-method, as a graphic (visual) elicitation, has existed since the mid-1930s. Setting up a q-method, with q-sort capabilities, in an online survey platform, extends the reach of this method, even as data has to be processed in a quantitative data analytics suite. This chapter describes the setting up of a visual q-sort and the related debriefing on the Qualtrics Research Suite. The available data may be extracted and analyzed in a basic statistical analysis tool for factors and preference clusters.


2022 ◽  
pp. 898-919
Author(s):  
Gennaro Iorio ◽  
Marco Palmieri ◽  
Geraldina Roberti

Secondary analysis for quantitative data is a social research method traditionally employed for statistical analysis of administrative data. In the new digital society, this old research method that pre-existed the emergence of the new digital environment has been digitized to carry out its valuable activity in doing science. In this chapter, the secondary analysis for digitized data is illustrated. Thanks to the growing availability of datasets digitized on the web, the scholars of social well-being use the secondary analysis to inquiry this phenomenon through a cross-national perspective. The authors present the empirical study of World Love Index, in which the utility of the secondary analysis in finding and selecting valid indicators of social well-being is experienced.


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