Ithaca College

James Pfrehm (Modern Languages) has published article in Journal of Germanic Linguistics entitled, "The Pluricentricity of German: Perceptions of the Standardness of Austrian and German Lexical Items."

The article explores the theory of pluricentricity from an empirical perspective. With a particular focus on the written lexicon, and using questionnaires and statistical analysis, it examines how native speakers from Austria and Germany rated the standardness of a set of lexical items designated as representing either Austrian Standard German (ASG) or German Standard German (GSG). Analyses of quantitative data offer preliminary empirical support for the pluricentricity of the German language. Ultimately, the study a) justifies the need for more extensive empirical research on perceptions of standardness among native speakers in Austria; b) demonstrates the value of eliciting attitudes of non-linguists to assess the validity of theories posited by linguists; and c) provides an initial model for investigating coexisting standard varieties which, it is hoped, future researchers will adopt and improve on.