Bondarenko E. Territorial Variability of Vowels and Consonants in Modern German: an Experimental Phonetic Study.

The dissertation focuses on the study of German vowel and consonant phonemes that function in prepared speech with due account for their territorial variability. It is proved that the realizations of phonemes vary throughout Germany, depending on the locality, and demonstrate the features of the Northern and Southern pronunciation patterns in the central areas of Germany. Each innovation appears in a certain place and has its zones of wide use; this can be illustrated by the change of the long open [e:] for narrow tense [e:] typical of the Northern pronunciation, where the occurence of the "clear" long [а:], peculiar to the Southern pronunciation, was registered instead of the back tense [Y:]. The zones of this or that phenomenon's wide use can be exemplified by the appearance of the compensating length of short vowels preceded by the vocalized [X]. This testifies to a tendency to a certain phonological system alteration of German and the appearance of a new class of the long open weak vowels like []:], [ќ:], [w:], [?:], [ў:], as well as falling diphthongs and triphthongs.