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Konstantin Niehaus: Areale Variation in der Syntax des Standarddeutschen. Ergebnisse zum Sprachgebrauch und zur Frage Plurizentrik vs. Pluriarealität 

In this contribution, we will argue that more empirical work must be carried out on the description of Standard German and its areality. Currently, this pertains to the grammatical domain, in particular syntax. This is necessary particularly since the choice between a pluricentric and a pluriareal model is indeed brought up again and again; however, that the former enjoys a consensus has not always been based on empirical studies. Rather, there are political implications favoring a pluricentric model, which makes scientific examination difficult (cf. SCHEURINGER 1997, 339; REIFFENSTEIN 2001, 87; ZEMAN 2005, 291). The project “Regional Variation in the Grammar of Standard German” (“Variantengrammatik”) would like to fill this research gap by collecting data on the areality of Standard German for the first time (cf. DÜRSCHEID / ELSPASS / ZIEGLER 2011) as well as demonstrating variation-theoretical and methodological advantages of the pluriareal perspective. After a short explanation on how Standard German can be viewed as the standard of use and how it is manifested in regional (online) newspapers, some results on syntax will be presented. In the course of this, indeed, some national differences will become manifest as they would be in the pluricentric sense; secondarily, however, differences within a single country or similarities across national borders also become manifest. Disregarding the question as to the acceptance, the pluriareal – or regionalcentric – view will prove itself to be a more flexible and a more appropriate approach to linguistic use than the pluricentric view.