Rise of Sociophonetic Studies of the English Languag e Functioning in Germany at the end of XX Century

Abstract

The article examines historical perspectives of sociophonetic studies of the English language functioning in Germany at the end of the 20th century. The present study focuses on the sociophonetic features of the use of English by those whose native language is German. Between 1975 and 1999, a number of empirical studies were conducted that were aimed at identifying the sociophonetic features of the English language functioning in Germany. In 1980, H. Fink published the most fundamental and detailed empirical study of the pronunciation of anglicisms and English names of firms. It formed the basis for subsequent investigations into the issues in the field by other scholars. W. Viereck, in his turn, determined that partial assimilation in the German language is more commonly spread among people who do not speak English, and by elderly respondents. He also found out that it was only the pronunciation of anglicism that led to its recognition and understanding by the respondents. In 1990, M. Jabłoński identified the most common forms of assimilation that the respondents demonstrated during the test. He fixed cases of sound substitution, elision, epenthesis, and accentuation in accordance with the rules of the mother tongue. The article generalises their findings with the aim of comparing them with the data collected in the 21st century.

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