Similar Sound Change, but Different Linguistic Repertoires: Increasing Aspiration of Initial Fortis Stops in Austrian and Swiss Standard German

The phonetic realization of word-initial stops used to diverge between Austrian and Swiss Standard German, and neither pattern closely aligned with that of German Standard German (GSG). Recently, however, it has been reported to be undergoing change in both varieties. Of particular interest is that this change has unfolded in the same direction, converging on realizations characteristic of GSG, despite two key differences: (1) the two standard varieties differed in their realization of aspiration in the stop contrast (scarcely vs. variably aspirated fortis stops) and (2) Austrian German and Swiss German have evolved within different linguistic repertoires, each associated with distinct pathways of sound change. Based on read speech data from ten university students in each country, the present study investigated the ongoing phonetic differentiation of initial stops in the two national varieties and the cross-repertoire effects on this change. Results showed that Austrian and Swiss speakers actively employed voice onset time to signal the contrast of initial stops, without relying on closure duration. Yet, Austrian speakers patterned more closely with German speakers than did Swiss speakers. Sociolinguistically, Austrian speakers appear to regard the oral standard of GSG as an upper-standard variety relative to Austrian Standard German, whereas Swiss speakers may treat it as an oral standard newly incorporated into the traditionally written-centric standard variety.