I had never heard this word before, but encountered it today at
The Big Think. First, a definition of an "isogloss" map:
"an isogloss map shows the geographical borders between linguistic features, be they related to syntax, semantics or pronunciation. They can focus on one particular element (like this time-telling one) or show the boundary between a complex of features (e.g. the borders between different dialects)."
Excerpts from a discussion of the map:
If it's 10:15 in the germanosphere, you'll have at least four options of expressing that particular moment. Those four options are all regional variants, so that, in German, you can tell with some degree of certainty which general area someone hails from by the way they tell the time at quarter past ten...
This isogloss map shows that in a large part of north-western Germany, from the Danish to the French border, the preferred option is viertel nach zehn ('quarter after ten'). This viertel is considered a fixed point in time, and its point of reference is the previous full hour...
In what used to be East Germany, the same clock time is referenced as viertel elf ('quarter eleven'). This viertel is not a point in time, but a period of time, i.e. one-fourth of the next hour. This area doesn't stop at the former German-German border, but extends into northern Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
An option limited to German-speaking Switzerland is to call this particular time viertel ab zehn ('quarter from ten'). Like the first viertel, this one is distanced from the previous hour by a preposition, albeit not a unidirectional one. In theory, this moment could both be before or after ten. Common usage will probably make such confusion improbable...
More at the link. This reminds me of
the U. S. map of "pop," soda," and "coke."
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