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Georg Wenker Lecture Series
As part of the Georg Wenker Lecture Series, the Research Center Deutscher Sprachatlas (DSA) invites you to attend academic lectures of the highest caliber. This special series of events provides a platform for our senior fellows: established and internationally renowned scientists who have been invited to visit the DSA. The lectures reflect the current research and broad spectrum of expertise of our guests and offer an excellent opportunity for scientific exchange.
2. Georg Wenker Lecture 2025
| Title | Deconstructing umlaut |
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| Speaker | Prof. Dr. Mike Putnam |
| Date | 18th June 2025, 4:15–5:45 p.m. |
| Abstract | Although philologists and linguists have invested almost 200 years of research into better understanding the development of German(ic) umlaut, interesting puzzles and controversies remain. In this presentation, I make the case for a decomposition approach to umlaut, which highlights the phonological, morphological, and in some instances, syntactic properties of umlaut and related phenomena. I explore the merits and predictions of this decompositional approach, discussing the implications of this approach in providing nuanced explanans for aspects of diachronic development, synchronic variation, and language processing. |
1. Georg Wenker Lecture 2023
| Title | Representations - Flexible Adjustment to Speaker Variation (Or: Da kammer redde wie aam der Schnabbel gewachse is) |
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| Speaker | Prof. Dr. Alexandra Jesse |
| Date | 31st May 2023, 4:00–5:45 p.m. |