Die sprachliche Zweifaltigkeit Laufenburgs. Eine soziolinguistische Studie am Hochrhein

This socio-dialectological study is intended to add a further piece to the linguistic research carried out so far along the German-Swiss border, in particular between southern Baden and northern canton Aargau. The subject of the analysis are the twin towns Laufenburg Baden and Laufenburg Aargau, which lie on opposite sides of the High Rhine. Having belonged to Anterior Austria for six centuries, Laufenburg was divided following the Treaty of Luneville in 1801, which stipulated the cession of all Habsburg territories to the left of the Rhine in favour of revolutionary France. Incorporated into the nascent Helvetic Confederation, Laufenburg on the left bank of the Rhine was from then on confronted with a new linguistic and cultural environment. A similar fate befell Laufenburg on the right bank, which, after the Peace of Presburg in 1805, would first become part of the Grand Duchy of Baden and later of united Germany. The aim of the investigation is to determine the change that took place in the High Alemannic dialect of the inhabitants of the two Laufenburgs after the split, to follow its divergent development in relation to the standard languages of their respective countries during the 19th and 20th centuries, and to field-test the current linguistic, cultural and social relations between the localities. In the introductory diachronic section of the work, we will identify the main events that led to the splitting of the small town and the different development of its halves within new state realities. We will explain the fundamental reasons why the conditions for the development of a diaglossic language system in southern Germany and a diglossic one in German-speaking Switzerland arose as early as the beginning of the 19th century. By comparing the transcriptions of the Wenkerbögen of the two Laufenburgs, we will also highlight the quality and quantity of the first dialect change that occurred among the residents after the loss of the political and linguistic unity enjoyed under the Habsburgs. Finally, we will dwell on the more questionable aspects of the ethnolinguistic policies of the German Empire as well as of the Third Reich, on the resistance put up by the German-speaking Swiss with the ‘Spiritual national defence’ from the 1930s onwards, and on the consequent maturation of the current linguistic identity of both nations. The conspicuous synchronic section of the paper will instead host the results and evaluations of a comprehensive survey conducted among the population of the two Laufenburgs.* The questionnaires distributed in one and the other town are essentially identical, similarly composed of two dozen questions designed primarily to detect the habits followed by the twin communities in their verbal interaction. The roles attributed to dialect and German in communication in public and private spheres, the choice of language variety in conversation with people from the opposite shore, and the sense of belonging or not belonging to a crossborder cultural and social communion, will be among the main topics to which the questions will attempt to provide answers. The overall picture inferred from the opinions expressed by the respondents will reveal the degree of perceived otherness of the citizens of the respective Laufenburgs, and will show the extent to which the bifid metamorphosis that began just over two hundred years ago has come to fruition. * www.erhebung-laufenburg.org

Grantor dc:publisher

Università degli studi di Trento

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Trento, Massimo

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ricci Garotti, Federica
• Moroni, Manuela Caterina

Statement dc:rights

• info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
• license:Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
• license uri:iris.PRI01

Language dc:language

ger

Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.15168/11572_452230
10.15168/11572_452230

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:iris.unitn.it:11572/452230