Art.147. Contatti linguistici: tedesco e Italoromània / Alpi orientali - Sprachkontakte: Deutsch und Italoromania sowie Ostalpenraum

This article discusses the linguistic contact between German and Romance languages spoken in the Italian and Oriental Alps from the year 1000 until the present day. The complexity of the German-speaking area during the Medieval and Modern Ages is demonstrated. This complexity is explained as the consequence of diachronic and diatopic variation and of the relevance of National Standard Languages: therefore linguistic contact took place between the Italian speaking area and different ‚German languages‘. It is also suggested that diamesic variation may play a role for some loanwords; the role of onomastics in the reconstruction of linguistic contatct is highlighted