Peter Auer

Peter Auer (born 1954) is a German linguist and Professor Emeritus of Germanic Linguistics at the University of Freiburg. He is known for his work in sociolinguistics, code-switching, multilingualism, dialectology, and conversation analysis.

Early life and education

Auer was born in 1954 in Regensburg, West Germany. He studied General Linguistics, German Linguistics, Sociology, and Psychology at the University of Cologne, the University of Konstanz, and the University of Manchester.

He completed his doctoral dissertation (Promotion) at the University of Konstanz in 1983, titled "Zweisprachige Konversationen. Code-Switching und Transfer bei italienischen Migrantenkindern in Konstanz" (Bilingual Conversations: Code-Switching and Transfer among Italian Migrant Children in Constance). He subsequently completed his post-doctoral dissertation (Habilitation) at the same institution in 1988. Co-director of the European Science Foundation Network on "Convergence and Divergence of Dialects in a Changing Europe"

Research areas

Auer's scholarly contributions include work in the following areas:

Code-switching and bilingualism: His research on code-switching in conversation has been influential in understanding how bilingual speakers alternate between languages in social interaction. Conversation analysis: His studies on spoken interaction have contributed to discourse research, including work on turn-taking, prosody, and the temporal organization of talk. Online syntax: Pioneering work analyzing the psychological and interactional processes involved in real-time language production.

Research projects

Auer has served as principal investigator on 15 externally funded research projects supported by organizations including the German Research Foundation (DFG), Volkswagen Foundation (VW-Stiftung), and Thyssen Foundation (Thyssen-Stiftung).

Awards and honors

In 2011, Auer received the Baden-Württemberg State Research Prize for his work on regional language varieties. The prize recognized his innovative approaches combining traditional dialectology with modern theories of variational dynamics, migration, language contact, stereotype research, globalization, and urbanization.

Selected publications

Auer has authored six monographs, edited thirteen books and journal issues, and written approximately 100 research articles.

Books