We go through each interview in order to describe exactly how different structures pattern. We also compare different language items across different groups of speakers within a community. For example, we may look at how a particular type of sentence structure or even a single vowel is produced by older people, middle-aged people, and younger people to see how the language is changing over time. Some of the things that can be done with a tape recording are pretty amazing. For example, we can isolate a vowel in a particular word and enter it into a computerized program that measures exactly the physics of the sound waves that result in a particular production. The idea behind all the analysis is to describe honestly and exactly how Texas German works.
