EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE AND ITS DIALECTS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the evolutionary development of the German language and its dialects (Bavarian and Swabian — Alemannic). The relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that, despite the dominance of the Standardsprache on the territory of modern Germany, local dialects are also sufficiently widespread in it, which have recently gained more and more prestige, especially among young people. The purpose of this study is to analyze the linguistic features of southern German dialects (Bavarian and Swabian — Alemannic) and to identify their genetic links with the modern German language — Standarddeutsch / Standardsprache. Texts (artistic and newspaper) in the specified dialects and identical in Standarddeutsch, dialect maps (atlases) of the German language, ancient and modern dictionaries served as research material. The work uses descriptive and comparative-historical methods. The object of research is German southern dialects (Bavarian and Swabian — Alemannic). The subject of the study is the linguistic characteristics of southern German dialects and their connection with the modern German language. Using the example of the development of German dialects (Bavarian and Swabian-Alemannic) and their interaction with Standarddeutsch, it can be argued that the German language, based on the laws of linguistic synergy, is a complex open information system that is constantly developing, but at the same time preserves information about its former states, and the combination of past and present knowledge provides an opportunity to identify the future development prospects of the system. The results of the study make it possible to predict further changes in the modern German language at all its levels (phonetic, lexical, grammatical), taking into account various dialectological features that are introduced into the German language system. The obtained data on the evolutionary development of the German language and its dialects (Bavarian and Swabian — Alemannic) is of certain importance for the study and teaching of «History of the German Language», «Introduction to Germanic Philology», dialectology, as well as a practical course of the German language.