Language has always been a major marker of cultural identity in the German-speaking world, and the reunification of Germany, with its dramatic political and cultural consequences, has led to an upsurge of interest in contemporary German. In this collection of essays, German linguists consider a wide range of topics, including language change, language in political discourse, language in Berlin after the wall, language and gender, the speech styles of youth subcultures, and language and television.

• The Study of Real Language: Observing the Observers


• To What Extent is German an International Language?


• Germanness: Language and Nation


• Norms and Reforms


• Directions of Change in Contemporary German


• After the Wall: Social Change and Linguistic Variation in Berlin


• Theories of Sociolinguistic Variation in the German Context


• Language in Intercultural Communication


• Critical Linguistics and the Study of Institutional Communication


• Political Discourse: The Language of Right and Left in Germany


• Evaluation of Language use in Public Discourse: Language Attitudes in Austria


• Language and Gender


• Jugendsprachen: Speech Styles of Youth Subcultures


• Language and Television