The Upper German differential
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Werner Abraham✝
Abstract
This essay is essentially a list of phenomena taken from the two large dialect areas of what is called Upper German (for German Oberdeutsch, South German (SG henceforth), comprising Austrian and Bavarian dialects as well as High Alemannic). The author himself speaks natively (base and high school) Viennese Austrian and the dialect of the Montafon, Vorarlberg, as samples of these two dialect areas. Although the critical assumptions of micro-linguistics (cf. Poletto 2000; Kayne 2013; Abraham & Leiss 2013) form the bottom seed, no theoretical discussions are entertained as consequences to the empirical data body. Wherever known to me, however, I included the pertinent bibliographical information that leads to advanced and farther reaching conclusions and generalizations particularly in the spirit of Universal grammar.
Abstract
This essay is essentially a list of phenomena taken from the two large dialect areas of what is called Upper German (for German Oberdeutsch, South German (SG henceforth), comprising Austrian and Bavarian dialects as well as High Alemannic). The author himself speaks natively (base and high school) Viennese Austrian and the dialect of the Montafon, Vorarlberg, as samples of these two dialect areas. Although the critical assumptions of micro-linguistics (cf. Poletto 2000; Kayne 2013; Abraham & Leiss 2013) form the bottom seed, no theoretical discussions are entertained as consequences to the empirical data body. Wherever known to me, however, I included the pertinent bibliographical information that leads to advanced and farther reaching conclusions and generalizations particularly in the spirit of Universal grammar.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Aspects of Bavarian syntax 1
-
1. COMP Phenomena
- Syntactic and phonological properties of wh-operators and wh-movement in Bavarian 23
- Complementizer agreement (in Bavarian) 51
- The rise and fall of double agreement 83
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2. Extraction Phenomena
- Structures of ‘emphatic topicalization’ in Bavarian 113
- Gaps and parasitic gaps in Bavarian 145
- Observations on relative clauses in Bavarian 183
-
3. Non-clausal Phenomena
- Really weird subjects. The syntax of family names in Bavarian. 203
- Austro-Bavarian directionals 223
- IPP-Constructions in Alemannic and Bavarian in comparison 247
-
4. The Topography of Southern German Dialects
- The Upper German differential 305
- Index 337
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Aspects of Bavarian syntax 1
-
1. COMP Phenomena
- Syntactic and phonological properties of wh-operators and wh-movement in Bavarian 23
- Complementizer agreement (in Bavarian) 51
- The rise and fall of double agreement 83
-
2. Extraction Phenomena
- Structures of ‘emphatic topicalization’ in Bavarian 113
- Gaps and parasitic gaps in Bavarian 145
- Observations on relative clauses in Bavarian 183
-
3. Non-clausal Phenomena
- Really weird subjects. The syntax of family names in Bavarian. 203
- Austro-Bavarian directionals 223
- IPP-Constructions in Alemannic and Bavarian in comparison 247
-
4. The Topography of Southern German Dialects
- The Upper German differential 305
- Index 337
