The German Linguistic Studies Series is a comprehensive and outstanding forum in its field. It has borne the name of its subject in its title since the foundation of the series in the eighth decade of the last century.The series is comprehensive in the broad spectrum of topics covered (language levels, varieties, communication forms, epochs) in the range of research perspectives (theoretical and empirical studies, fundamental research and applications, interdisciplinarity with psychology, the social sciences etc.) and methodologies (the sole criterion is quality), in the rhythm of research (trends are perceived and also set, achievements are secured) and in the forms of presentation (monographs, textbooks, collected volumes, dictionaries).Professorial theses, outstanding doctoral theses, pioneering research findings from wider contexts, but also the surprising ‛stroke of genius’ set the standards for inclusion in the series.

The dimensions of time and space fundamentally cause and shape the variability of all human language. To reduce investigation of this insight to manageable proportions, researchers have traditionally concentrated on the "deepest" dialects. But it is increasingly apparent that, although most people still speak with a distinct regional coloring, the new mobility of speakers in recently industrialized and postindustrial societies and the efflorescence of communication technologies cannot be ignored. This has given rise to a reconsideration of the relationship between geographical place and cultural space, and the fundamental link between language and a spatially bounded territory. Language and Space: An International Handbook of Linguistic Variation seeks to take full account of these developments in a comprehensive, theoretically rich way. The introductory volume examines the concept of space and linguistic approaches to it, the structure and dynamics of language spaces, and relevant research methods. A second volume offers the first thorough exploration of the interplay between linguistic investigation and cartography, and subsequent volumes uniformly document the state of research into the spatial dimension of particular language groupings.

Das Buch bietet eine umfassende „Einführung in die moderne Regionalsprachenforschung“ und damit weit mehr als nur eine „Einführung in die Dialektologie“. Behandelt wird das gesamte Spektrum regional geprägten Sprechens, welches das moderne gesprochene Deutsche prägt und das sich mitten in einem durchgreifenden Wandel befindet. Dieses Spektrum beginnt beim Dialekt, der oft noch erstaunlich stabil ist. Es umfasst außerdem die landschaftlichen Formen des Hochdeutschsprechens, die Regiolekte, die aktuell einem rasanten Umwertungsprozess unterliegen. Und es reicht bis hin zu Auflösungsformen, in denen Restregionalismen gezielt eingesetzt werden, um informelles Sprechen zu markieren (Regionalakzent bzw. Kolloquialstandard). Die Leserinnen und Leser erhalten in diesem Buch nicht nur einen grundlegenden Überblick über die Forschungsresultate, von den dialektologischen Anfängen im 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Regionalsprachenforschung der jüngsten Gegenwart. Gleichzeitig werden sie mit den aktuellen Methoden der Variationslinguistik und der Sprachdynamikforschung vertraut gemacht und dabei zu eigenen Studien angeleitet. Das Buch ist durch zahlreiche Grafiken und Farbkarten ergänzt. Jedes Hauptkapitel ist durch ein grafisch hervorgehobenes Resümee abgeschlossen. Neu entwickelte didaktische Hilfsmittel helfen den Lesern, die interaktiven Konsequenzen sprachwandelauslösender Konstellationen zu "berechnen". Das Buch wird durch eine Internetseite ergänzt, die weiteres didaktisches Material enthält.

The dimensions of time and space fundamentally cause and shape the variability of all human language. To reduce investigation of this insight to manageable proportions, researchers have traditionally concentrated on the "deepest" dialects. But it is increasingly apparent that, although most people still speak with a distinct regional coloring, the new mobility of speakers in recently industrialized and postindustrial societies and the efflorescence of communication technologies cannot be ignored. This has given rise to a reconsideration of the relationship between geographical place and cultural space, and the fundamental link between language and a spatially bounded territory. Language and Space: An International Handbook of Linguistic Variation seeks to take full account of these developments in a comprehensive, theoretically rich way. The introductory volume examines the concept of space and linguistic approaches to it, the structure and dynamics of language spaces, and relevant research methods. A second volume offers the first thorough exploration of the interplay between linguistic investigation and cartography, and subsequent volumes uniformly document the state of research into the spatial dimension of particular language groupings.