Germanistische Arbeitshefte

This introduction provides students, teachers, and readers interested in linguistics with a first glimpse into the central theoretical concepts of grammatical text analysis: text, sentence, and word group elements. The "top-down" description of the grammatical system of contemporary German is complemented by example analyses and exercises related to specific topics.

Perceptual dialectology is now well established in the research landscape and sees dialect not simply as something geographical or social but also as a cognitive phenomenon as well. This workbook presents both the latest research and the fundamental concepts in perceptual dialectology. Alongside providing an academic-theoretical contextualization, it also analyzes current research perspectives.

Using many authentic examples and looking at conditions in languages that function very differently to German, this introduction aims to achieve two things with its readers: firstly, to help them understand that the issue of parts of speech is one of the most interesting linguistic issues of all, and, building on that, to provide them with the ability to recognise linguistic structures and understand their functions.

Trust is a key mechanism of social life. Trust formation is fundamentally linked to communication, and thus to language. To date, however, few researchers have closely examined the interconnections between trust and language. This introduction helps fill this gap by focusing on the process of trust formation, thereby offering an illustration of linguistic perspectives and methods that can help elucidate the language of trust.

This textbook presents orthography from the perspectives of the public interest, linguistics, written language acquisition, and communication. It examines this multi-faceted element of language from a historical and critical viewpoint. The book is oriented to practice and addresses the needs of prospective and practicing students and teachers of German studies as well as school officials responsible for internal further training.

The volume begins with a review of the methods of modern language acquisition research, and then presents the basic stages in the acquisition of phonological, lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic skills. Following a detailed overview of the stages of language acquisition, various explanatory models are presented. The volume also contains chapters addressing multilingualism in children and speech development disorders.

As an introduction to usage-based approaches in construction grammar, this book presents the central concepts, principles, schools of thought, and the latest research in Germanist linguistics. The new, completely revised and corrected edition provides new impulses, discussing current insights into the relationship between pattern, construction, and schema, and developing a model-like construction network of the German language.

Conceived as an introduction, this volume begins by discussing the theory and method of the view, shared by all construction grammar approaches, that a unity exists between linguistic form and linguistic meaning. The second part examines studies on language acquisition, morphology, syntax, phraseology, grammaticalization, and spoken language that exemplify the latest research in German linguistics.

This workbook provides an introduction to the principles, research questions, and current findings of linguistics-based language criticism. It focuses on three practice areas to present the approaches and methods of critical language observation: linguistics and language philosophy; language didactics and German language instruction; and public and medial reflections on language.

This textbook provides an introduction into linguistically based language criticism for students of German studies and other philologies as well as for general readers interested in language criticism. The critique focuses on the merits of the German language with respect to acquisition, perception, recognition and presentation of the so-called extralinguistic reality. The approaches and practical possibilities of language criticism are presented from three perspectives: Linguistics, Language Didactics and from the point of view of the general public interested in language (Folk Linguistics).

This book provides an introduction to the theory and methods of historical semantics. It gives a survey of the most important types of semantic innovation (metaphor, metonymy etc.), it describes typical paths and results of semantic change (polysemy, competition of lexical units, shifts of prototypical meaning), and it presents historical case studies on various fields of German vocabulary (from speech act verbs to forms of address). The book is designed for readers with no background knowledge of semantics and can be used for seminar discussion or self-study. It contains extensive exercises and suggestions for further reading.

Historical research on dialogue in the context of German linguistics is a relatively recent branch of pragmatic linguistic history and historiography, mostly represented in widely scattered individual studies. This workbook provides an overview of the central approaches to the linguistics of dialogue and an introduction to the methods and categories it employs. With numerous examples ranging from the »Hildebrandlied« to chatrooms and e-mails, it gives a graphic account of the reconstruction of historical dialogue structures. The introduction rounds off with test questions plus solution proposals and a glossary of the terms used.

Political action is first and foremost verbal action. This study aims to give students and teachers a solid introductory foundation to the field of “Language and Politics” as well as to demonstrate the potential of a linguistic approach. The individual chapters are rounded out with references and exercises that add depth to the material.

The connection between language and politics is a much-studied issue and has brought forth an abundance of literature. The present introduction offers an initial approach to the subjects discussed and the methods employed by recent research. Its main focus is pragmatic in that it examines politicians' use of language in concrete communicative situations. The volume provides a set of instruments for analyzing political texts and illustrates its use with reference to numerous examples. Each chapter rounds off with indications for further reading and exercises designed to help readers engage more profoundly with the material and embark on their own analyses of political language use.

Classroom communication has long been a favourite topic in pragmalinguistics. With its transcript-based analysis of authentic communication, it opens new avenues for exploring classroom realities, which are also of interest for pedagogical and didactic disciplines. The book begins with an outline of (Anglo-American-style) discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and functional pragmatics, following this with an analysis of communicative approaches, e.g. elicitive teaching or group work. Next comes an analysis of activities on the organizing side of teaching, such as phasing and disciplining. The book closes with a proposal for didactic maxims.

The 3rd edition of this basic work on German dialectology has been broadly revised, expanded, and updated. By incorporating the latest research literature, the new edition presents a comprehensive picture of contemporary German dialectology, giving due attention to its historical dimension.

This introduction centres mainly around a discussion of the theory, methods and work-fields of research into grammaticalization and its application to selected problems of German. The following theoretical aspects are dealt with: distinctive features of grammatical signs, the structure of grammatical categories, degrees of grammaticalization, grammaticalization scales, cognitive and communicative strategies, grammaticalization cycles, and the links between grammaticalization theory and research into language change. Four extensive case studies on the German language revolve around grammaticalization phenomena in connection with modal verbs, the passive with bekommen, prepositions, and modal particles.

This introduction is designed to give both students of German and other languages and all those interested in onomastics a grounding in the central issues addressed by this discipline and the research results it has come up with. It covers both the more traditional areas of the subject (the historical and etymological study of the names of places, persons, lakes and rivers, etc.) and the more recent interest in sociological and psychological aspects (fashionable forenames, the learning and retention of names). Reference is also made to legal questions (married couples' names, brand names, company names). Research developments in the eastern federal states of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are given due coverage. The relation of proper names to the language system and the pragmatic aspects of their use in texts are dealt with synchronically.

This introduction is designed as a work-book. Alongside an outline of language history up to and including the period in question, it concentrates on the grammar and vocabulary of early New High German language varieties (legal language, the 'Luther idiom', printers' language). In the historical section, an attempt is made to define the geographical range and scope of the language, the socio-cultural preconditions for its use, and the different areas in which the various existing forms of early New High German was a valid vehicle of communication. The grammar section goes beyond a mere outline of the rules and regularities existing at the time, and provides insights into the development of New High German in its early stages. It also discusses some of the specific problems peculiar to early New High German. The book has been thoroughly revised for this second edition, not least to take into account the latest research findings.

This book explores the question ”What do we do when we speak?“. It provides an easy-to-follow introduction to the theoretical aspects and terminology of Searle’s and Austin’s speech act theory and offers possibilities for applying this theory to describe individual linguistic phenomena. The book also analyzes speech act sequences and describes basic dialogue structures. Appropriate for use in academic courses and for self-study. Questions and solutions accompany each chapter.

Because of the paramount importance of language for learning, teachers need competencies in language education. The study book is intended for student teachers of all subjects at the secondary level and contains texts for teaching the basics. It is suitable for self-study as well as for use in courses. The texts are also understandable for students of non-philological subjects.

This book provides an introduction to the linguistic analysis of public and political language use. The focus is on its discursive-historical transformation since 1945. Examples include how the 1960s term "guest worker" has evolved into today’s "migrant," the continuous linguistic framing of "crises," and the use of water metaphors (refugee wave, Corona wave) as recurring representations of threats to society.