Danish and German as European neighbour languages: An international conference on language contact in border zones and multilingual cities

In 2020 Denmark and Germany celebrated the 100th anniversary of the current Danish-German political border, which appeared on the European map as a result of a referendum held within the border region. This event is known as “Genforeningen” (“the reunification”) in Danish historiography. Other European regions were also affected by a shift of political borders in the aftermath of World War I. These borders have in common that they divided multilingual territories which are characterized by long-lasting language and dialect contact. At the same time many European cities have increased their multilingual character due to immigration, seeing the emergence of new neighbourhoods, sometimes definable within micro-geographical borders.

With our conference we wish to shed light on the significance of borders for the contact varieties used in multilingual territory, both in a structural and a sociolinguistic perspective. We aim to improve our understanding of possible common and unique features in different contact situations.

Registration

If you would like to take part in the conference, please register before 15 August. Max capacity 50 participants, participation is free, but enrollment is necessary. 

Register for the conference here.

Preliminary programme

Tuesday, 24 August 2021

12.00 – 13.00: Arrival and registration

13.00 – 14.00: Lunch

14.00 – 17.30:

Section A - The dynamics of neighbour languages in the Danish-German border zone (incl. coffee break)

 Wednesday, 25 August 2021

 9.00 – 12.30:

Section B - Contact between neighbour languages in a European perspective (incl. coffee break)

Section C - Language contact with new neighbours: Effects in urban areas, local borders?

12.30 – 13.30: Lunch

13.30 – 16.15:

Section C (continues) (incl. coffee break)

 16.30: Farewell