Chapter published in:
Language Variation - European Perspectives VI: Selected papers from the Eighth International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 8), Leipzig, May 2015Edited by Isabelle Buchstaller and Beat Siebenhaar
[Studies in Language Variation 19] 2017
► pp. 185–198
Variation in the structure of conjunctions in Luxembourgish German in the 19th century
An interplay of language-internal and contact-induced variation
Rahel Beyer | Institut für deutsche Sprache, Mannheim
This contribution aims to shed light on the structural development of Luxembourgish German in the 19th century. The fact that it is embedded in a multilingual context raises many research questions. The evidence comprises predominantly bilingual German/French public notices issued by the City of Luxembourg in this period. The analysis of two conjunctions suggests that processes of replication and interlingual transfer are sources for variation. It shows that the influence of French was particularly acute during the “French period” (1795–1814). However, rather than working in isolation, the language contact phenomena operate on the basis of similar constructions existing in the borrowing language. In addition, ancient German forms quickly disappeared, despite showing similarity to forms in the local dialect.
Keywords: language standardization, language contact, German, Luxembourg, 19th century, parallel text corpus, variable analysis
Published online: 26 July 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.19.12bey
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.19.12bey
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