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Tracing the diffusion of linguistic innovations in space from historical sources is challenging. The complexity of the datasets needed in combination with the noisy reality of historical language data mean that it has not been practical until recently. However, bigger historical corpora with richer spatial and temporal information allow us to attempt it. This paper presents an investigation into changes affecting first person non-singular pronouns in the history of Norwegian: first, individual changes affecting the dual (vit>mit) and plural (vér>mér), followed by loss of the dual-plural distinction by merger into either form or replacement of both by Danish-Swedishvi. To create dynamic spatial visualisations of these changes, the use of kernel density estimation is proposed. This term covers a range of statistical tools depending on the kernel function. The paper argues for a Gaussian kernel in time and an adaptive uniform (k-nearest neighbours) kernel in space, allowing uncertainty or multiple localisation to be incorporated into calculations. The results for this dataset allow us to make a link between Modern Norwegian dialectological patterns and language use in the Middle Ages; they also exemplify different types of diffusion process in the spread of linguistic innovations.

Coda-final consonant deletion has been extensively documented in Eastern Andalusian Spanish; however, its effects on neighbouring segments is still unknown. Scholars working on consonant deletion in Eastern Andalusian Spanish have mainly focused on /s/, given the semantic importance of this consonant in Spanish. As a result, other consonants which are often deleted syllable-finally in this geolect have been studied to a much lesser degree. The present paper aims to expand the traditional view on vowel doubling by analysing /-s/, /-r/, and /-Ɵ/ deletion before /a/. Firstly, the speech of 24 speakers from El Ejido (Eastern Andalusia) is analysed to ascertain how the deletion of word final /s/, /r/, and /Ɵ/ changes the quality of a preceding /a/. Secondly, a perception test is carried out with native speakers from the local area to confirm whether these speakers can differentiate perceptually between word-final /a/ and /a/ preceding underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-Ɵ/. This paper presents two main conclusions: 1) /-s/, /-r/, and /-Ɵ/ deletion changes the quality of a preceding /a/ to different degrees; 2) EAS speakers can identify whether /a/ is followed or not by an underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-Ɵ/, but they cannot identify which consonant has been deleted in each case.

This paper analyzes the specific linguistic situation of print media in German language abroad based on the example of the “Batschkaer Spuren”, a regional newspaper of the German minority in Hungary. The goal is a linguistic assessment of the current manifestations of the used media language regarding its typological structures and fundamental characteristics. Additionally, journalistic possibilities and types of procedures, specifically with regards to regionalisms (informed by local dialects), multilingualism, and inter- as well as transculturality are discussed. The study identified a spectrum of minority-specific patterns und types of linguistic composition with highly variable characteristics of German. The analyzed linguistic practices of the newspaper show a type of dynamic multiliteracy that in itself causes an emergence of new patterns. The majority of findings can be attributed to multilingual or language-contact induced phenomena on different levels: from word to text/discourse (the text routines are occasionally influenced by the contact language Hungarian). The other central aspect of the analyzed text world lies in the regionalisms that are influenced by local dialects. The complete picture is determined by heterogeneity and inconsistency and presents itself as a mixture of linguistic and stylistic forms. Especially noteworthy is the established conflict between orality and scribality i.e., between a “language of proximity” and a “language of distance”. Hence, the analyzed newspaper articles present a large quantity of forms and structures of every-day written language that metaphorically can be termed “Parlando texts”.

This paper provides a dialectological account of the variety spoken by the first generation to grow up in a community in Essex populated by East Londoners after World War II. The dialect spoken by 15 speakers (female = 9; male =6) born between 1944 and 1969 is detailed in terms of vowels, consonants, morpho-syntactic features, and a brief discussion of Cockney Rhyming Slang. Comparisons are made with previous accounts of the working-class, East London dialect, Cockney, as well as the dialects of Essex (East London’s neighbouring county), East Anglia, South East England and Multicultural London English, the dialect now prevalent in the speech of young East Londoners. There are remarkable similarities between the English spoken in this Essex community and previous accounts of Cockney, including its most defining features. This Essex dialect is certainly encapsulated within the natural range of variation within Cockney and far surpasses the Cockney influences observed in other areas of the South East. Conclusively it can be determined that Cockney did move to Essex along with the communities who relocated.

This paper focuses on phonetic variation within the standard German language register of Austria. While the norm status and a high socio-symbolic value are attributed to certain lexical variants of standard language in Austria, the norm and usage status of characteristic phonetic properties remain unclear, due to lack of empirical analyses. By investigating the relation between standard language norms and “standard usage” (Gebrauchsstandard) in Austria, our study aims to close this research gap by using the example of unstressed ‹-ig›. The analyses are based on data gathered from 52 speakers from two generations, covering all Austrian dialect regions. Elicitation settings varied from strongly standardized tasks with a graphic or visual stimulus (reading aloud tasks, picture naming tasks) to translation tasks (translation from dialect into standard) with oral stimuli. The results demonstrate that although ‹-ig› is predominantly pronounced like [ɪk], (socio-)linguistic factors as phonetic context, part of speech, setting, gender and regional background influence the ‹-ig›-variation. In total, the data suggest that German speaking Austrians are situated in a conflict between transnationally diverging norms and intra-nationally varying model speakers of German.

Western Peninsular Spanish possesses a type of causative construction in which an intransitive lexeme is used as transitive. Specifically, the verbscaer(‘to fall’),quedar(‘to stay’) andentrar(‘to enter) can induce a direct object in detriment of the standard verbstirar(‘to throw’),dejar(‘to leave’) andmeter(‘to put in’). This phenomenon (called lability) has not been investigated in depth for Spanish and, with this paper I attempt to pinpoint its current geographical extension as well as the semantic factors that favour the transitivisation of these verbs.