Date of Award

12-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Languages and Cultures

First Advisor

John D. Sundquist

Committee Chair

John D. Sundquist

Committee Member 1

Myrdene Anderson

Committee Member 2

Daniel J. Olson

Abstract

Swiss German dialects contribute to the social identity of a speaker, especially on a local level (Christen, 1995). Many dialects of Switzerland are associated with a common stereotype which relates to the identity of the speakers (Rash, 2002). This research looks at these notions and investigates concepts of identity ascription and stereotyping that arise between and from the dialects of canton Aargau and canton Zürich, in Switzerland. The generation of a definition of identity for the project, drawing off existing identity theories in sociolinguistics, and stereotyping theories, allow for an investigation of how the Aargau and Zürich dialects fit into these concepts. These ideas were investigated through a language questionnaire which was distributed at three educational institutions in the Aargau and Zürich dialect speaking areas. The questionnaire included open ended questions, for the generation of qualitative data, and questions assessing the dialects on Likert-Scales, for the generation of quantitative data. From the data, it was found that identity constructs, generating an ascription of identity, and stereotypes exist between the dialect pairing. These themes contribute to aspects of ‘self’ and ‘other’ between the speakers of the Aargauer and the Zürcher dialect.

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