Kiezdeutsch as a test case for the interaction between grammar and information structure

  • This paper deals with Kiezdeutsch, a way of speaking that emerged among adolescents in multiethnic urban neighbourhoods of Germany. We show that, in Kiezdeutsch, we find evidence for both grammatical reduction and new developments in the domain of information structure, and hypothesise that this points to a systematic interaction between grammar and information structure, between weakened grammatical constraints and a more liberal realisation of information-structural preferences. We show that Kiezdeutsch can serve as an interesting test case for such an interaction, that this youth language is a multiethnolect, that is, a new variety that is spoken by speakers from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds, including German, and forms a dynamic linguistic system of its own, thus allowing for systematic developments on grammatical levels and their interfaces with extragrammatical domains.

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Search Google Scholar Statistics
Metadaten
Author details:Heike WieseGND, Ulrike Freywald, Katharina Mayr
URN:urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-38376
Publication series (Volume number):Interdisciplinary studies on information structure : ISIS ; working papers of the SFB 632 (12)
Publication type:Monograph/Edited Volume
Language:English
Publication year:2009
Publishing institution:Universität Potsdam
Release date:2009/11/25
Tag:acceptability study; focus particle; interface between grammar and information structure; left periphery; multiethnolect
RVK - Regensburg classification:ER 300
Organizational units:Zentrale und wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen / Sonderforschungsbereich 632 - Informationsstruktur
DDC classification:4 Sprache / 40 Sprache / 400 Sprache
Collection(s):Universität Potsdam / Schriftenreihen / Interdisciplinary studies on information structure : ISIS ; working papers of the SFB 632, ISSN 1866-4725
License (German):License LogoKeine öffentliche Lizenz: Unter Urheberrechtsschutz
Accept ✔
This website uses technically necessary session cookies. By continuing to use the website, you agree to this. You can find our privacy policy here.