Forschung

On the Dynamics of Constructional Idioms. A Micro-Diachronic Approach to the Entrenchment and Conventionalization of Lexico-Grammatical Patterns in German

Sören Stumpf Abstract Various studies have shown that lexico-grammatical patterns can emerge through creative modification of fully lexicalized multi-word expressions, especially through lexical substitution (e.g., X oder nicht X/Y, das ist hier die Frage [Engl. ‘To X, or not to X/Y, that is the question’]). Following the latest research, we ask how the development from lexically fixed idioms via modification to semi-schematic idioms (so-called constructional idioms), a process which happens over a shorter period, can...

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Syntaktische Negation in Verschwörungstheorien: Eine diskursgrammatische Untersuchung der Inexistenz-Konstruktion [es gibt kein X]

Sören Stumpf Abstract This paper examines syntactic negation in conspiracy theories from a discourse and constructionist perspective. A corpus study provides an overview of the use of negation in different conspiracy theories, where it can serve to deny the official version, i.e., the visible plot, in order to present the conspiracy theory (the invisible plot) as more believable. The corpus linguistic approach reveals a syntactic pattern of negation, which can be considered a form-meaning pair...

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Dialect Classification and Everyday Culture: A Case Studyfrom Austria

Philip C. Vergeiner Abstract Considering dialect areas as cultural areas has a long tradition in dialectology. Especially in the first half of the 20th century, researchers explored correspondences between dialect variation and other elements of everyday culture such as traditional clothing and customs. Since then, however, few studies have compared dialect variation with everyday culture, and virtually none have used quantitative methods. This study addresses this issue by employing a multivariate, dialectometric approach. It examines...

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Erasmus+-Projekt KA220-HED (Cooperation partnerships in higher education)

Forscher*innen: Lars Bülow (LMU München), Philip C. Vergeiner (LMU München), Johannes Schneider (Universität Liechtenstein), Rene Pilz (Universität Liechtenstein), Stephanie Gross (Österreichisches Forschungsinstitut für Artificial Intelligence), Lorenz Gutscher (Österreichisches Forschungsinstitut für Artificial Intelligence) Zeitraum: 01. September 2025 bis 31. August 2027Kooperationsnummer: 2025-1-LI01_KA220_HED-000352190 KurzbeschreibungThe project aims to document and preserve Upper German dialects, promoting their learning via an AI-enhanced online platform. It seeks to create a scalable workflow for dialect support across Europe, making linguistic data accessible for research Weiterlesen…

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Revisiting the role of the Accessibility Hierarchy for variation in relativizability and relativizers: An integrative approach of i-, p-, and s-factors (IPS)

DFG-Projekt Forscher*innen: Tabea Reiner (LMU München) und Lars Bülow (LMU München) in Kooperation mit Sonja Quehenberger (LMU München) und Karen V. Beaman (Universität Tübingen) Zeitraum: 01. April 2026 bis 31. März 2029 Förder-Kennzeichen: RE 5531/1-1; BU 4162/4-1Projektnummer: 566740447 KurzbeschreibungDas Projekt untersucht die Variation und den Wandel bei der Einleitung von Relativsätzen in den bairischen Dialekten Bayerns. Es zielt darauf ab, interne linguistische (i-), psychologisch-kognitive (p-) und soziostilistische (s-) Faktoren systematisch zu erfassen, die für die Variation Weiterlesen…

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Wortbildung in Verschwörungstheorien: Diskursmorphologische Zugänge zu heterodoxem Wissen

Sören Stumpf Abstract This paper provides an insight into the study of word formation in transtextual discourses. It discusses the state of research and presents two approaches for discourse-linguistic examination of word formations using conspiracy theories. The first case study on conspiracy theories related to the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack shows how corpus linguistic queries for morphemes can be used to identify word formation patterns that serve to construe a narrative that deviates from Weiterlesen…

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Cool, cooler, Clooney – A corpus-based and relevance-theoretic analysisof the superlative heading construction in German

Sören Stumpf and Fabio Mollica Abstract This article focuses on the intensifying schematic construction [[adjIpositive] [adjIcomparative] [NP]] that is strongly related to headings, as our corpus analysis reveals. A characteristic of the construction is that, although it structurally exhibits the paradigm of the German adjective comparison, it has a slot for a noun phrase in the third position, where an adjective in the superlative form would normally occur (e. g., Stark, stärker, Dante, ‘Strong, stronger, Weiterlesen…

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Explaining morpho-syntactic variation and change: the case of subjunctive II in the Bavarian dialects of Austria

Lars Bülow* and Philip C. Vergeiner Abstract This paper aims to explain recent empirical findings on subjunctive II formation in the Bavarian dialects of Austria from both functional and formal per- spectives. For this purpose, the explanatory power of the functional principles of natural morphology (NM) is compared with the formal framework of constructional morphology (CxM). It is argued that the two approaches complement each other. Thus, it is shown that the key concepts of Weiterlesen…

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Geolinguistic structures of dialect phonology in the German-Speaking Alpine region. A dialectometric approach using crowdsourcing data.

Vergeiner, Philipp C. & Lars Bülow Abstract The Alpine region stands out in the German-speaking world for its well-preserved traditional dialects, which continue to play a significant role in daily life. However, the vast geographical range of the Alpine region and the limitations imposed by national and regional borders have hindered comprehensive investigations of the entire Alpine area. To overcome these obstacles, this study utilizes crowdsourcing data from the VerbaAlpina project to investigate phonological and Weiterlesen…

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Effects and perception of multimodal recontextualization in political Internet memes. Evidence from two online experiments in Austria

Bülow, Lars & Johann, Michael Abstract Internet memes are an integral part of social media communication and a popular genre for humorous engagement in online political discourses. A meme is a collective of multimodal signs that refer to each other through shared formal, content-related, and/or stance-related characteristics and can be recontextualized on different levels: (1) language, (2) mode of presentation, and (3) humor. In this paper, we examine the perceptions and effects of recontextualization in Weiterlesen…

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