The life and death of texas German
By: Hans C. Boas.
Contributors: American Dialect Society.
Series: Publication of the American Dialect Society -- no. 93; Publication of the American Dialect Society -- no. 93.
Publisher: Duke University Press for the American Dialect Society
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Durham
Language: eng
Number of pages: 345
ISBN-13: 9780822367161
Subjects: German language -- Texas -- New Braunfels -- History; Germans -- Texas -- New Braunfels
Other titles: American Speech. $n vol. 83 (Supplement).
Description: This volume presents the first major study of Texas German as spoken in the twenty-first century, focusing on its formation and the linguistic changes it has undergone. This New World dialect, formed more than 150 years ago in German communities in central Texas, is an unusual example of a formerly high-status dialect that declined for sociopolitical reasons. An important case study for dialect research, Texas German is now critically endangered and will probably be extinct by 2050. By comparing and contrasting present-day data with data from the German dialects brought to Texas since the 1840s, the volume offers an in-depth analysis of mutual interaction between the German-speaking community and English-speaking Texans, long-term accommodation of Texas German speakers in this new community, and language hybridization on the Texas frontier. The volume also analyzes a number of phonological, syntactic, and morphological changes in Texas German over the past century and examines sociolinguistic aspects of the Texas German community from its foundation to today, providing insight into the dynamics underlying new-dialect formation, diglossia, language shift, language maintenance, and language death. Finally, the volume investigates the rapid disappearance of languages, which has global social and cultural implications for areas beyond linguistics. - Publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: German immigration to Texas; title: New Braunfels 1845/2000; title: Diglossia; title: The founding period 1845/50 : diglossia or standard-with-dialect?; title: German language domains 1850/90; title: German langauge domains 1890/1920; title: German language domains 1920/60 : diglossia English/Texas German; title: German language domains 1960/2000 : language Shift; title: Texas German in the Twenty-First Century; title: German sprachinseln around the world; title: Koineization : and new-dialect formation; title: Donor dialects of Texas German; title: Setting the stage for determining dialect-specific features in Texas German; title: Development of the vowel system; title: Consonants; title: Other phonological developments; title: Evaluation of phonological data; title: Case in German; title: Word order; title: Loss of preterite; title: Number; title: Gender; title: Language death; title: Why is Texas German dying?; title: Language attitudes and language maintenance.