Dictionary of National and Regional Variants

Research project P 14449 Dictionary of National and Regional Variants Hans MOSER 08.05.2000 Modern languages are often `pluricentric` (e.g. British English, American English, Australian English). Standard German also has national and regional variations, above all in pronunciation and vocabulary (cf. Switzerland, Austria, the German Republic, or Northern Germany, Southern Germany, South Tirol). In collaboration with a German and a Swiss Team of linguists the members of this project examine the national (or regional) differences in German vocabulary for the first pluricentric dictionary of a European language, giving equal weight to all varieties. The starting point was the systematic utilization of a represantive corpus of texts since 1970 (newspapers, periodicals, non-fiction works, novels, public speeches, etc.) from all German-speaking countries and regions. The innovation lies in the cooperation between the various national groups: The Swiss and German research teams register all elements in Austrian texts that are not used in their country or region (the search phase) and pass them on to the Austrian team for lexicographical treatment and compilation. In the same way Swissisms and `Teutonisms` are registered and compiled. The results of this research are entered into a database which forms the basis for writing the items, the internet is used broadly. Finally, the dictionary will contain about 10.000 items.