Eugen Dieth

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Eugen Dieth (1893–1956) Anglicist, dialectologist, “Dieth-Schrift”, grave in the Witikon cemetery, Zurich
Grave in the Witikon cemetery , Zurich

Eugen Dieth (born November 18, 1893 in Neukirch an der Thur , † May 24, 1956 in Zollikon ) was a Swiss Anglicist and dialectologist . He is known by name for his contributions to German-speaking phonetics , as the creator of a system of dialect scripts named after him ( Dieth spelling ) and as the founder of the Linguistic Atlas of England .

Life

Eugen Dieth, a citizen of the city of St. Gallen , was born as the son of a pastor in the rural canton of Thurgau . He studied general linguistics , English and German at the Universities of Zurich and Geneva . In 1919 he received his doctorate in Zurich on a topic of Middle English syntax . From 1922 to 1927 he was a lecturer in German in Aberdeen ( Scotland ). In 1927 he became an associate professor, in 1947 a full professor of English philology , Old Norse and general phonetics at the University of Zurich . From 1927 to 1936 he was - as successor to Eduard Schwyzer - in addition to his work at the university, he was also an editor at the Swiss Idiotikon in Zurich ; a position he had to give up due to the dictionary's tight financial situation. From 1934 to 1956 he was President of the phonogram archive of the University of Zurich , which was mainly active in dialectology , and in 1935 he founded the Phonetic Laboratory there. Dieth died of a stroke in 1956 at the height of his work.

Dieth's wife Hilde was the only daughter of the professor of German studies and long-time editor-in-chief of the idiot Albert Bachmann .

power

phonetics

Dieth did very basic things in phonetics. He founded experimental phonetics in Switzerland, and his vademecum on phonetics , published in 1950, became a textbook and classic of German-language phonetics of the 20th century.

Swiss German

In addition, Dieth campaigned for Swiss German both scientifically and politically . In 1938, together with Adolf Guggenbühl , he founded the Bund Schwyzertütsch (today the Swiss German Association ). As head of the phonogram archive and the phonetic laboratory, he published several large publications on the Swiss dialects in sound and writing. In 1938 his book Schwyzertütschi Dialäktschrift was published, in which he drafted a standard for the writing of Swiss-German dialects , which is still used today . The basis of this orthography , known as the Dieth spelling , is that the individual words are written as one hears them, without regard to the usual typeface of the written language ( e.g. faare, spaare [for ɑːrə ʃp « rə] for “drive”, “save”); Word and morpheme boundaries remain visible as in standard language (e.g. d woman, not, as actually spoken, Pfrau [pfræʊ] ). Since it is therefore in principle a phonetic spelling is, the characteristics and volume differences can of her Alemannic dialects are represented.

English and Scottish dialectology

Dieth's achievements as an English studies specialist are less well known in the German-speaking world. His habilitation thesis description of the dialect of Buchan is considered one of the most profound contributions to the Scottish dialects . But his life's work should have been the Linguistic Atlas of England , which he founded together with Harold Orton ; however, his early death did not even let him experience the appearance of his first volume on the phonetic geography of northern England. This dialect atlas - itself inspired by the language atlas of German-speaking Switzerland - ultimately became the benchmark for all English language atlases .

Dieth received the Doctor honoris causa from the University of Aberdeen in 1951 .

Publications (selection)

Fonts
  • Flexiv and syntactic about the pronoun in the Ancren Riwle. A contribution to Middle English syntax. Phil. Diss. Univ. Zurich. Aschmann & Scheller, Zurich 1919.
  • A Grammar of the Buchan Dialect (Aberdeenshire). Descriptive and Historical. Habil. Univ. Zurich. Heffer, Cambridge 1932.
  • Schwyzertütschi dialect script. Guide to a uniform spelling for all dialects. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1938. Revised by Christian Schmid-Cadalbert . Sauerländer, Aarau 1986 (Lively Dialect 1).
  • A New Survey of English Dialects. In: Essays and Studes 23, 1946, pp. 74-104.
  • Phonetics Vademecum. Phonetic foundations for the scientific and practical study of languages. Francke, Bern 1950 [and other editions].
  • [with Harold Orton]: A Questionnaire for a Linguistic Atlas of England. Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, Leeds 1952.
  • numerous articles in the Swiss Idiotikon, volumes IX (completed 1929) and X (completed 1939).
Text-accompanied audio publications
  • Soo talked s dihäi. Swiss German dialects on records. Phonogram archive of the University of Zurich, Zurich 1939. New edition as audio CD 2012.
  • Voices of home. Swiss dialects on records. Phonogram archive of the University of Zurich, Zurich 1939. New edition under the title Voices of Switzerland as an audio CD 2012.
  • Swiss German dialects. Issues 1–2 of the Swiss dialect series in text and tone . Huber, Frauenfeld 1951.
  • The talking atlas. Record text in various Swiss dialects: “Conversation on New Year's Day” in 24 dialects. Phonogram archive of the University of Zurich, Zurich 1952. New edition as audio CD 2000.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dieth, Eugene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss English studies specialist, phonetician and dialectologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Neukirch an der Thur
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1956
Place of death Zollikon