The research unit Linguistics bundles all linguistic activities of the ACDH and aims to promote and strengthen research in the context of digital linguistics at the OeAW (and beyond). This is done in the context of various research foci, including in particular language dynamics research, language contact research, lexicography, and corpus linguistics, with both contemporary and historical aspects playing a role. 

The long-term project Language Dynamics in Austria (DynAT) is one of five long-term humanities projects based at the ACDH. The aim of the project is to document and analyze processes of language variation and language change in Austria in the 20th and 21st centuries.

As far as the department’s language portfolio is concerned, there is a particular focus on languages in the context of Austria (above all German and Slavic languages), which is extended to include other language families and language contact constellations (see, for example, the projects on Arabic, Hebrew, Zargari and others). 

In close cooperation with the other three research units (unit DH Research & Infrastructure in particular), the research unit Lingustics is involved in the development and expansion of language-related resources, which primarily include (spoken and written) language corpora, linguistically oriented tools for data processing and analysis, digital dictionaries, and language-related information platforms.