> One more BTW: on German TV yesterday I heard another 'mit die <adj>
> <noun>' with acc. 'die' for correct 'den'. How common is this 'error'
> in colloquial German (after eg. 'mit')?
>
> Torsten
Quite common, but only in certain regions. I can't tell you which of
them exactly, but one of them is the Ruhr basin area (Ruhrgebiet).
OTOH: not everywhere is a <die> (sg.) and <sie/Sie> (sg./pl.) an
accurate [di:] and [si:/zi:], but (in various dialectal regions) rather
[de] and [se/s@/ze/z@]. (e.g. <Sagen Sie> ['sa:(g)nse]; in Bavaria and
Austria even more contracted: <Sagen S'!> ['so:(g)ns])
Thus, in various areas <mit de> is possible ([de] anyway very close to
fem. <der> ['d@], ['de@], [da]) ([wos hostn in da toSn?] or [in 'dera
toSn], where the emphasized <der> means "that", i.e. "in that pocket/in
that bag")
In northern dialects (including Ruhrgebiet), there is a tendence <in> +
<der> => <inner> ['inne/'inna/'inn@], e.g. [de@ hat niks 'inne 'birne],
similar to <international> AE [,inn@(r)'næS@...@l].
g