Die Sprachreform in Österreich in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts : eine Analyse morphologischer Aspekte in den zeitgenössischen Grammatiken / von Paul Roessler

• VerfasserIn: Roessler, Paul
• Place / Publishing House: 1996
• Year of Publication: 1996
• Language: German
• Physical Description: 286 Bl.; Ill.

eng: This thesis is a contribution to the investigation of the reform of the written German standard language in Austria in the second half of the 18th century. It proves that the process to the standardization of the written German language, which was essentially influenced by the contemporary philologists, was marked by several different points of view concerning grammatical aspects and language planning. Especially the analysis of morphological aspects in the grammar books, which were published in Austria at that time, in comparison with the contemporary grammatical standard work, Johann Christoph Gottsched's 'Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst' (1748), shows numerous differences particularly in detail questions. Despite those different statements to detailed morphological aspects and despite the polemic discourse between some exponents of the reform period (e.g. Gottsched versus Popowitsch) this study confirms Gottsched's influence on linguists in the Mariatheresian and Josephinian Empire and his decisive role in getting through a written German standard language predominantly based on the 'Meissnisch', a German variety used in the middleeastern parts of the German-speaking area. Including a survey of the external course of the reform, biographic informations of its representatives and their impact on the contemporary public as well, this study not least presents an insight into one sphere of the Austrian enlightenment.