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Due to the long history of mutual language contact, Slavic languages have had a considerable influence on German and attitudes towards multilingualism in Austria. With regard to the multilingual setting in the Habsburg state and its repercussions to this day, this article outlines the basic assumptions, the methodological toolkit as well as the main general findings of the special research programme "German in Austria. Variation – Contact – Perception", especially its task cluster on language contact. The opinion paper concludes with an overview of the methodological lessons learnt and the possible implications for further sociolinguistic research in historical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the notion of pluricentricity fails to capture the multitude of sociolinguistic contexts in which a language may have two or more standards, which is due to the fact that it was invented with a particular context in mind (that of emerging nation-states). The notion also suffers from a reliance on an undefined and unclear (perhaps metaphorical) notion of a centre (and a periphery). A more neutral term such as multi-standard language therefore appears more useful. It is also argued that pluriareality is not a notion that can fruitfully replace pluricentricity, as the two presuppose different approaches to standardisation: one usage-based, the other normative. This is demonstrated with reference to the on-going discussion of the Austrian variety of German. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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