On everyone´s minds and lips - German in Austria

The citizen science project On everyones mind and lips German in Austria (IamDiÖ) addresses the diversity of the German language in Austria. This linguistic diversity is certainly apparent in the use of words. For example, comfortable, warm slippers are often called Schlapfen in the eastern parts of Austria and Patschen in the western regions of Austria. We may find even more designations of these slippers in Austrian dialects. However, Austria does not only boast a high lexical diversity but also different ways of pronunciation. The pronunciation of the German language and its varieties (e.g. dialects) may differ significantly between Austrian regions. A typical example is the distinct pronunciation of -ck, such as in Speck (bacon) in the Austrian province of Tyrol. To make the diversity of the German language in Austria more accessible, participants can collect and examine the regional use of words and their corresponding pronunciation in a speaking online dictionary for Austria. This dictionary is a valuable addition to already existing Austrian dialect dictionaries created by amateur researchers. Together with the main project German in Austria. Variation - Contact - Perception (FWF F60), IamDiÖ aims at building a bridge between these dictionaries and dictionaries that were created according to the principles of lexicography. For this purpose, platforms and aids will be developed together with the participants. These tools include an online platform for creating and publishing dictionaries, a platform for collecting, geolocating and checking the regional pronunciation of words and sentences, as well as a dialect guessing game in which the regional origin of a speaker has to be guessed from audio cues. Therefore, IamDiÖ makes participants familiar with the basics of lexicography, i.e. the design, compilation, use and evaluation of dictionaries. The innovative aspect of IamDiÖ is that participants conduct studies on (dialect) vocabulary, pronunciation, perception of and attitude towards the diversity of the German language in Austria. Especially the creation of own (thematic) dictionaries in connection with a pronunciation component as well as the mutual review of the dictionaries contents in combination with a dialect guessing game are not only a new approach in the field of linguistics but also in citizen science. This should support participants in acquiring a critical understanding of their language use and attitudes towards German in Austria.

The citizen science project On everyone's mind and lips - German in Austria (IamDiÖ) addressed the diversity of the German language in Austria. This linguistic diversity is certainly apparent in the use of words. For example, comfortable, warm slippers are often called Schlapfenin the eastern parts of Austria and Patschen in the western regions of Austria. We may find even more designations of these slippers in Austrian dialects. However, Austria does not only boast a high lexical diversity but also different ways of pronunciation. The pronunciation of the German language and its varieties (e.g. dialects) may differ significantly between Austrian regions. A typical example is the distinct pronunciation of -ck,such as in Speck (bacon) in the Austrian province of Tyrol. To make the diversity of the German language in Austria more accessible, participants collected and examined the regional use of words in an online dictionary for Austria. This dictionary is a valuable addition to already existing Austrian dialect dictionaries created by amateur researchers. Together with the main project German in Austria. Variation - Contact - Perception (FWF F60), IamDiÖ built a bridge between these dictionaries and dictionaries that were created according to the principles of lexicography. For this purpose, platforms and aids were developed. These tools include an online platform for creating and publishing dictionaries as well as a dialect guessing game in which the regional origin of a speaker has to be guessed from audio cues. Therefore, IamDiÖ made participants familiar with the basics of lexicography, i.e. the design, compilation, use and evaluation of dictionaries. The innovative aspect of IamDiÖ is that participants conduct studies on (dialect) vocabulary, perception of and attitude towards the diversity of the German language in Austria. Especially the creation of own (thematic) dictionaries in connection with a pronunciation component as well as the mutual review of the dictionaries' contents in combination with a dialect guessing game are not only a new approach in the field of linguistics but also in citizen science. This supported participants in acquiring a critical understanding of their language use and attitudes towards German in Austria.