Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
- identify the fields in which the South Tyrolean varieties differ from those of the other German-speaking areas;
- apply their knowledge of the German dialectology and of regional-language studies, which they have acquired in previous courses, to concrete examples, and to identify and explain the peculiarities of the South Tyrolean case;
- extract data from corpora, linguistic atlases, audio or video registrations and other sources (printed or available on the Internet);
- linguistically analyse and interpret data and to carry out generalisations;
- present results in oral talks and in written home-works or exams.

Program

"Spoken and written German varieties in South Tyrol"
The German dialects spoken in South Tyrol/Alto Adige (Province of Bolzano/Bozen) are part of the Tyrolean group (Southern Bavarian), which includes also the dialects spoken in the Austrian Land Tyrol. However, there are various differences between the varieties spoken and written in South Tyrol and the Austrian ones: due to its different political status (German speakers are a small minority within Italy), South Tyrol lacks an autonomous centre for a local standard. Moreover, the regional German variety spoken in South Tyrol is only weakly structured, since it is in competition with the local dialects, which are used in a large amount of contexts (although local dialects display some convergence phenomena, Lanthaler 1997). Thus, the written and spoken communication in non-dialectal contexts is based on external models, referring partly to the Austrian and partly to the German standard. In addition, another special feature of South Tyrolean varieties concerns the contact situation with Italian, which influences them in a significant way: many concepts and technical terms (e.g. the legal terminology) come from the Italian legal system, which does not completely correspond to the system of German-speaking countries. Hence, the regional variety used in South Tyrol is characterised by the balance between autonomous developments and references to the German and Austrian usage. Since there is no prestigious normative authority within the region, South Tyrolean speakers and institutions lack precise rules when they speak the regional variety. This is reflected in a consistent amount of inter-speaker variation, concerning especially the phonology, intonation and lexicon.
The main topic of this course will be the non-dialectal German production in South Tyrol, which will be analysed through the discussion of various examples. Moreover, the course will address the issue of the South Tyrolean sociolinguistic situation, in order to examine the role played by the widespread presence of the dialects and by the contact with Italian.

NB1: The course will be taught in German
NB2: For practical analyses during classes please bring a notebook with internet access.
NB3:
In order to attend this course, it is not necessary to have already passed the examination of "Varieties of German I"; but it is to be admitted to the examination of this course.

Bibliography:

• U. Ammon (2004). 'Standardvarietäten des Deutschen: Einheitssprache und nationale Varietäten', in: Moraldo/Soffritti (Hrsg.), Deutsch Aktuell. Roma: Carocci, 33-49
• L. M. Eichinger (1996): "Südtirol". In: Hinderling, Robert/Eichinger, Ludwig M. (Hrsg.): Handbuch der mitteleuropäischen Sprachminderheiten. Tübingen: 199–262.
• F. Lanthaler (1997): "Varietäten des Deutschen in Südtirol". In: Stickel, Gerhard (Hrsg.): Varietäten des Deutschen: Regional- und Umgangssprachen. Berlin/New York: 364–383
• F. Lanthaler (2001): "Zwischenregister der deutschen Sprache in Südtirol". In: Egger/Lanthaler (Hrsg.): Die deutsche Sprache in Südtirol. Einheitssprache und regionale Vielfalt. Wien/Bozen: 137–152
• C. M. Riehl, (1994): "Das Problem von 'Standard' und 'Norm' am Beispiel der deutschsprachigen Minderheit in Südtirol". In: Helfrich, Uta/Riehl, Claudia M. (Hrsg.): Mehrsprachigkeit in Europa – Hindernis oder Chance? Wilhelmsfeld: 149–164.

Examination Methods

Students who regularly attend classes: written assignment (Hausarbeit) + possible oral presentation (Referat) during the course, discussion of the Hausarbeit and of the Referat during the examination. Short written exam in case of no Referat.

Students who do not attend classes regularly: oral examination, according to the indications which will be published on the website (and with a more consistent bibliography)