Bewertungen – Erwartungen – Gebrauch: Sprachgebrauchsnormen zur inneren Mehrsprachigkeit an der Universität

This study examines norms on variety choice using the example of the University of Salzburg. On the one hand, questionnaires and interviews are examined with quantitative and qualitative methods to detect normative evaluations and expectations. On the other hand, regularities in the actual language use are uncovered through a variable analysis of video recorded university lectures.Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht Normen zur Varietätenwahl am Beispiel der Universität Salzburg. Dazu werden einerseits Fragebögen und Interviews mittels quantiativer und qualitativer Methoden auf normative Bewertungen und Erwartungen untersucht. Andererseits werden Regelmäßigkeiten im tatsächlichen Variationsverhalten durch die variablenanalytische Auswertung von Videoaufzeichnungen von Lehrveranstaltungen freigelegt

Bewertungen – Erwartungen – Gebrauch

Inwiefern regeln soziale Normen den Gebrauch unterschiedlicher Varietäten in der Hochschullehre? Philip C. Vergeiner untersucht dies in seiner Fallstudie zur Universität Salzburg schwerpunktmäßig für die lautliche Variation im Deutschen auf der Dialekt-/Standardachse. Am Beginn der Arbeit entwickelt er eine praxeologische Normkonzeption, der zufolge durch den Rückbezug von Handlungsregelmäßigkeiten auf normative Wertungen und Erwartungen auf das Vorhandensein sozialer Normen geschlossen werden kann. Um in diesem Sinne Sprachgebrauchsnormen aufzudecken, verwendet Vergeiner ein Mixed-Methods-Design, welches objekt- und metasprachliche Daten trianguliert: Neben einer quantitativ-statistischen Analyse von Fragebögen und einer Inhaltsanalyse von Interviews, um den normativen Diskurs freizulegen, untersucht er den tatsächlichen Sprachgebrauch anhand universitärer Lehrveranstaltungen

Der Konjunktiv II in den ruralen Basisdialekten Österreichs.: Quantitative und qualitative Befunde

Until today, variation and change in the use of subjunctive II variants in the dialects of Austria have been poorly studied. Largely neglected by traditional dialectology, even more recent studies neither consider all dialect regions of Austria, nor do they go into detail about intra-linguistic factors. Furthermore, an integration into morpho-syntactic theories of language change is missing. This paper addresses the above-mentioned desiderata. Using an apparent-time design, it intends to uncover linguistic, geographical, and sociolinguistic factors of variation and change in the use of subjunctive II variants in Austria’s dialects. In order to achieve these goals, a comprehensive corpus of direct dialect recordings is analysed by means of various quantitative methods (cluster analyses, factor analyses, mixed variance analyses). Data are based on the dialect translations of 21 verb forms by 163 speakers from 40 locations (3,430 tokens). Overall, results show that periphrastic variants spread in the Austrian dialects, in particular periphrastic forms with the täte-auxiliary. Meanwhile, synthetic forms lose importance (both strong and weak synthetic forms). Moreover, results reveal significant verb-related differences which cannot be explained by their belonging to inflectional classes, as previous studies suggested. Instead, the 21 verbs studied can be divided into six clusters reflecting different stages in the spread of periphrastic forms. In terms of linguistic geography, Austria is divided into three parts with regard to subjunctive II variation: an Alemannic region in the west, a north-western Bavarian area, and a south-eastern Bavarian area. With respect to sociolinguistic factors, gender is hardly a relevant factor, whereas age turns out to be decisive. Younger speakers use periphrastic forms more often and synthetic variants less often. Finally, these empirical findings will be discussed against the background of the theory of Natural Morphology

Zur Stabilität dialektaler Formen.: Eine real- und apparent-time-Analyse remanenter Merkmale in den ruralen Basisdialekten Österreichs

Stability is an essential but frequently underrepresented fact in the study of language variation and change. Although in dialectology the distinction between “primary” and “secondary” dialect features initially led to a certain consideration of stable features as opposed to more dynamic ones, more recent empirical studies have not taken any notice of the former. The question of stability is nevertheless crucial for dialectology. For example, the extent of dialect loss cannot be assessed without establishing which forms are stable. The aim of this study is therefore to address this desideratum by investigating ten dialectal features in Austria’s rural dialects. All ten examples concern variables of the vowel system which show large phonetic differences between dialect and standard variants. On the basis of a comprehensive dialect survey, both a real- and an apparent-time study is conducted to examine the extent and the factors of dialectal stability and change. The study provides evidence for a surprisingly high degree of stability and continuity in Austria’s rural dialects. Changes are not only restricted to a few variables, but also limited (a) to a lexical factor – only a small group of lexemes is not completely stable –, and (b) to a regional factor – only some eastern parts of Austria show a higher degree of change. Other factors, such as the extent of the spatial distribution of a form or the phonetic distance to the standard, do not prove to be relevant for stability and change of the variables

Die Konjunktiv-II-Bildung im Kontext von Partikelverben in den Basisdialekten Salzburgs

Focusing on phrasal verbs such as einbringen ‘to harvest’ or abbringen ‘to dissuade’, the aim of the present exploratory apparent-time study is to uncover factors affecting the subjunctive II formation in the traditional base dialects of Salzburg (Austria). Depending on whether the subjunctive II formation is synthetic or periphrastic, phrasal verbs are formed in contact position (e. g., würde/täte abbringen ‘would dissuade’) or in distance position (e. g. brächte ab ‘would dissuade’) between particle and verb stem. In order to examine which subjunctive II variants are used for 15 phrasal verbs in the traditional dialects of Salzburg, an indirect survey was carried out with 25 informants in six rural locations. These villages are spread across the three dialect areas (West-Central Bavarian, South-Central Bavarian, and South Bavarian) cutting through the federal state of Salzburg. Furthermore, the subjunctive II formation of the phrasal verbs is compared to that of the simple verbs (e. g., bringen ‘to bring’) corresponding to the derivational bases of the respective phrasal verbs investigated (e. g., einbringen or abbringen). In addition to linguistic and areal factors, sociolinguistic factors (age and gender) are taken into account. Results show that the subjunctive II formation of phrasal verbs differs significantly from that of simple verbs: compared to the corresponding simple verbs, the informants used the phrasal verbs significantly more often with periphrastic variants. It is argued that this tendency is related to specific semantic-lexical and morpho-syntactic properties of phrasal verbs. Regarding the areal distribution, there are differences between the individual locations. These differences do not correlate with the traditional dialect regions but can be traced back to the socio-demographic characteristics of the locations (number of inhabitants, transport connections, tourism etc.). Moreover, age proves to be a relevant factor: there is a statistically significant difference in both, simple verbs and phrasal verbs, with the younger informants preferring the periphrastic variants

Interactions between downslope flows and a developing cold-air pool

A numerical model has been used to characterize the development of a region of enhanced cooling in an alpine valley with a width of order (Formula presented.) km, under decoupled stable conditions. The region of enhanced cooling develops largely as a region of relatively dry air which partitions the valley atmosphere dynamics into two volumes, with airflow partially trapped within the valley by a developing elevated inversion. Complex interactions between the region of enhanced cooling and the downslope flows are quantified. The cooling within the region of enhanced cooling and the elevated inversion is almost equally partitioned between radiative and dynamic effects. By the end of the simulation, the different valley atmospheric regions approach a state of thermal equilibrium with one another, though this cannot be said of the valley atmosphere and its external environment.Peer reviewe

Global ground strike point characteristics in negative downward lightning flashes – Part 1: Observations

Information about lightning properties is important in order to advance the current understanding of lightning, whereby the characteristics of ground strike points (GSPs) are in particular helpful to improving the risk estimation for lightning protection. Lightning properties of a total of 1174 negative downward lightning flashes are analyzed. The high-speed video recordings are taken in different regions, including Austria, Brazil, South Africa and the USA, and are analyzed in terms of flash multiplicity, duration, interstroke intervals and ground strike point properties. According to our knowledge this is the first simultaneous analysis of GSP properties in different regions of the world applying a common methodology. Although the results vary among the data sets, the analysis reveals that a third of the flashes are single-stroke events, while the overall mean number of strokes per flash equals 3.67. From the video imagery an average of 1.56 GSPs per flash is derived, with about 60 % of the multiple-stroke flashes striking the ground in more than one place. It follows that a ground contact point is struck 2.35 times on average. Multiple-stroke flashes last on average 371 ms, whereas the geometric mean (GM) interstroke interval value preceding strokes producing a new GSP is about 18 % greater than the GM value preceding subsequent strokes following a pre-existing lightning channel. In addition, a positive correlation between the duration and multiplicity of the flash is presented. The characteristics of the subset of flashes exhibiting multiple GSPs is further examined. It follows that strokes with a stroke order of 2 create a new GSP in 60 % of the cases, while this percentage quickly drops for higher-order strokes. Further, the possibility of forming a new lightning channel to ground in terms of the number of strokes that conditioned the previous lightning channel shows that approximately 88 % developed after the occurrence of only one stroke. Investigating the time intervals in the other 12 % of the cases when two or more strokes re-used the previous lightning channel showed that the average interstroke time interval preceding a new lightning channel is found to be more than twice the time difference between strokes that follow the previous lightning channel.</p

Pollutant dispersion in a developing valley cold-air pool

Pollutants are trapped and accumulate within cold-air pools, thereby affecting air quality. A numerical model is used to quantify the role of cold-air-pooling processes in the dispersion of air pollution in a developing cold-air pool within an alpine valley under decoupled stable conditions. Results indicate that the negatively buoyant downslope flows transport and mix pollutants into the valley to depths that depend on the temperature deficit of the flow and the ambient temperature structure inside the valley. Along the slopes, pollutants are generally entrained above the cold-air pool and detrained within the cold-air pool, largely above the ground-based inversion layer. The ability of the cold-air pool to dilute pollutants is quantified. The analysis shows that the downslope flows fill the valley with air from above, which is then largely trapped within the cold-air pool, and that dilution depends on where the pollutants are emitted with respect to the positions of the top of the ground-based inversion layer and cold-air pool, and on the slope wind speeds. Over the lower part of the slopes, the cold-air-pool-averaged concentrations are proportional to the slope wind speeds where the pollutants are emitted, and diminish as the cold-air pool deepens. Pollutants emitted within the ground-based inversion layer are largely trapped there. Pollutants emitted farther up the slopes detrain within the cold-air pool above the ground-based inversion layer, although some fraction, increasing with distance from the top of the slopes, penetrates into the ground-based inversion layer.Peer reviewe

Interactions between the night time valley-wind system and a developing cold-air pool

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Boundary-Layer Meteorology following peer review. The version of record [Arduini, G., Staquet, C & Chemel, C., ‘Interactions between the night time valley-wind system and a developing cold-air pool’, Boundary-Layer Meteorol (2016) 161:1 (49-72), first published online June 2, 2016, is available at Springer online at doi: 10.1007/s10546-016-0155-8The Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) numerical model is used to characterize the influence of a thermally-driven down-valley flow on a developing cold-air pool in an idealized alpine valley decoupled from the atmosphere above. Results for a three-dimensional (3D) valley, which allows for the formation of a down-valley flow, and for a two-dimensional (2D) valley, where the formation of a down-valley flow is inhibited, are analyzed and compared. A key result is that advection leads to a net cooling in the 2D valley and to a warming in the 3D valley, once the down-valley flow is fully developed. This difference stems from the suppression of the slope-flow induced upward motions over the valley centre in the 3D valley. As a result, the downslope flows develop a cross-valley circulation within the cold-air pool, the growth of the cold-air pool is reduced and the valley atmosphere is generally warmer than in the 2D valley. A quasi-steady state is reached for which the divergence of the down-valley flow along the valley is balanced by the convergence of the downslope flows at the top of the cold-air pool, with no net contribution of subsiding motions far from the slope layer. More precisely, the inflow of air at the top of the cold-air pool is found to be driven by an interplay between the return flow from the plain region and subsidence over the plateaux. Finally, the mechanisms that control the structure of the cold-air pool and its evolution are found to be independent of the valley length as soon as the quasi-steady state is reached and the down-valley flow is fully developed.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio