Das Fränkische Wörterbuch als Quelle für Untersuchungen zur Dialektsyntax: Potentiale und Grenzen

Abstract

This article investigates the potential and limitations of the Fränkisches Wörterbuch [WBF] as a source for systematic descriptions and analyses of morphosyntactic variation. A pilot study of the verbal complex, based on the example sentence Er hat tüchtig bezahlen müssen ‘He really had to pay up’, reveals considerable morphosyntactic variation in non-finite forms that is systematically distributed geographically. The distribution of the Ersatzinfinitiv (‘substitute infinitive’) in the WBF largely corresponds to findings from the Bayerischer Sprachatlas; the boundary between suffixless and suffixed forms coincides with the so-called Bamberger Schranke. Verb Raising [VR] is found predominantly in the Lower East Franconian region north of the Main line, particularly with verbs realized without a suffix. Although the material constitutes a valuable source, syntactic analysis is complicated by the fact that the surveys focused on lexical variation and largely lack the corresponding annotations. Moreover, only around 30% of the extensive WBF data collection has so far been incorporated into the freely accessible database, making the further exploitation of the archival materials essential for dialectological research.