The social versus the regional: A multivariate analysis of (morpho-)syntactic variation in Austria’s rural dialects

The chapter investigates whether and to what extent the social factors age and gender structure (morpho-)syntactic variation in the German dialects of Austria, compared to the influence of the regional factor. Based on data from an extensive survey on rural dialects in Austria, the variation of 18 (morpho-)syntactic variables is investigated in relation to gender, age, and dialect region. Results from descriptive statistics as well as multivariate and univariate statistical comparisons indicate that region is the most important factor, followed by age. Gender, in contrast, has hardly any effect on (morpho-)syntactic variation. Furthermore, there are no significant interactions between the three factors. The non-significant result for gender can be explained by the fact that (morpho-)syntactic variables do not seem to lend themselves easily to social indexicalisation, especially in rural dialect communities. Age-related variation, and thus a potential ongoing change, seems to particularly affect variables that are located at the interface of morphology and syntax. Overall, our study shows that (morpho-)syntactic variation in Austrian dialects – presumably just like variation at all other linguistic levels – is much more clearly marked by the regional factor than by social factors.