S0251 · leopold_1968_german_dialects · registry identity
The Decline of German Dialects
Bears on
Canonical propositions this source was matched as evidence for.
How Hirsch uses it
Every occurrence, grouped by book and chapter, with the claim it was linked to support and (where the extraction regenerated one) the underlying warrant.
1977 · The Philosophy of Composition
W.F. Leopold's 1959 study of German dialect areas showing dialects receding at a surprisingly fast rate before the standard language.
direct The strengthening of the standard language is the most significant linguistic development in modern German-speaking territories.
Warrant (implicit): The rapid recession of diverse local dialects in favor of a single national norm identifies that norm's expansion as the primary driver of linguistic change in that region.
could fail ifObservation of dialect recession might be a localized phenomenon in urban centers or border regions that does not reflect the linguistic reality of the broader rural population.
Observation of German children using standard German in street play, where previously dialect would have been expected as a form of escape from restraint.
direct The peer-group language of children in technically advanced countries is increasingly likely to approximate the grapholectic standard rather than parental speech due to television and family mobility.
Warrant (implicit): When children utilize a standard language during informal peer-play rather than the domestic dialect of their home, mass media and mobility have replaced the family as the primary linguistic influence.
could fail ifCode-switching behavior means children may use the standard in 'public' play while still retaining and prioritizing parental dialect for intimate or domestic communication.
Observations of German children in the street using pure standard German despite previous dialectal traditions.
direct The peer-group language of children in technically advanced countries is increasingly likely to approximate the grapholectic standard rather than parental speech due to television and family mobility.
Warrant (implicit): Direct observations of children's public speech patterns provide a reliable indicator of whether a national standard is superseding regional dialects in the next generation.
could fail ifPublic 'street play' is a performance of social identity that may favor the prestige language (Standard German) without proving that the dialectal tradition has actually been abandoned.
Endnote numbers seen
Raw book:chapter:endnote references collected during endnote backfill.
poc:1:12
Raw source_reference strings seen
As they appeared before normalization/consolidation into this source identity.
Leopold (1959)W. F. Leopold, 'The Decline of German Dialects' (1968)W. F. Leopold, 'The Decline of German Dialects,' in Readings in the Sociology of Language (1968)