Kiezdeutsch as a multiethnolect

This paper deals with Kiezdeutsch, a way of speaking that emerged among adolescents in multiethnic urban neighbourhoods of Germany. We argue for a view of Kiez­deutsch as a multiethnolect, based on a recognition study that tested the acceptability and evaluation of such features by adolescents from a multiethnic and a monoethnic neighbourhood of Berlin. Our results support a view of Kiez­deutsch as a linguistic system of its own, with features that establish a distinct way of speaking that is associated with multiethnic neighbourhoods, where it cuts across ethnicities, including speakers of non-migrant background.