In 2016, the North German Science Award was given to the project Language Variation in Northern Germany (Sprachvariation in Norddeutschland, SiN). This collaborative project (2008–2012), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), united linguists from the universities of Kiel, Hamburg, Frankfurt (Oder), Bielefeld, Münster and Potsdam.
The objective of the project was to record and evaluate the linguistic diversity of northern Germany – from Low German dialects to standard spoken language – in a systematic manner. For this purpose, a comprehensive language corpus was compiled. Various aspects of regional and individual language variation were examined in six sub-projects. Kiel and Frankfurt (Oder) documented characteristics from 18 dialect regions in the ‘North German Language Atlas’ (Norddeutscher Sprachatlas, NOSA). In Potsdam, the perception of linguistic differences was analysed, while Hamburg and Bielefeld focused on speaker typologies and their linguistic repertoires. In Münster, researchers investigated when and why people switch between dialect and standard German in everyday life.
The selection committee emphasised the high relevance of the project for northern Germany as well as the diversity and quality of the methods used. It offers a strong basis for future social and scientific developments.
Among the participants were Prof. Dr. Michael Elmentaler (Kiel), Prof. Dr. Ingrid Schröder (Hamburg), Dr. Peter Rosenberg (Frankfurt/Oder), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Macha (Münster), Prof. i. R. Dr. Joachim Gessinger (Potsdam) and Prof. i. R. Dr. Jan Wirrer (Bielefeld).
The award ceremony will take place on 25 November 2016, starting at 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the main university building, University of Rostock.
