WEST GERMANIC LANGUAGES

Distribution of the Germanic languages in Europe. group of Germanic languages that developed in the region of the North Sea, Rhine-Weser, and Elbe. Out of the many local West Germanic dialects the following six modern standard languages have arisen: English, Frisian, Netherlandic (Dutch-Flemish), Afrikaans, German, and Yiddish. Additional reading Frisian General works with discussions of historical and dialectal developments are Thomas L. Markey, Frisian (1981); Bo Sjlin, Einfhrung in das Friesische (1969); and Paolo Ramat, Il Frisone: Introduzione allo studio della filologia frisone (1967). Old Frisian grammars with reading selections are Wilhelm Heuser, Altfriesisches Lesebuch mit Grammatik und Glossar (1903, reprinted 1972); and Walther Steller, Abriss der altfriesischen Grammatik (1928). Modern standard West Frisian is described in Pieter Meijes Tiersma, Frisian Reference Grammar (1985); J. Anglade, Petit manuel de Frison moderne de l'ouest (1966); and K. Fokkema, Beknopte friese Spraakkunst, 2nd ed. (1967). Netherlandic General discussions of the language are B.C. Donaldson, Dutch: A Linguistic History of Holland and Belgium (1983); Pierre Brachin, The Dutch Language: A Survey (1985; originally published in French, 1977); and C.G.N. de Vooys, Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Taal, 5th rev. ed. (1952, reissued 1975). Historical grammars of the language are Moritz Schnfeld, Schnfelds Historische grammatica van het Nederlands, 8th ed., edited by A. van Loey (1970); Jan Goossens, Historische Phonologie des Niederlndischen (1974); C. van Bree, Historische grammatica van het Nederlands (1987); and Jozef van Loon, Historische fonologie van het Nederlands (1986). Discussions of the earliest stage of Netherlandic are in Rolf H. Bremmer, Jr., and Arend Quak (eds.), Zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Altniederlndischen (1992); and Anthony F. Buccini, Onstaan en vroegste ontwikkeling van het Nederlandse taallandschap, Taal en tongval, 48 (Themanummer 8):866 (1995). Middle Dutch is treated in Colette M. Van Kerckvoorde, An Introduction to Middle Dutch (1993); Johannes Franck, Mittelniederlndische Grammatik, 2nd rev. ed. (1910, reissued 1971); A. van Loey, Middelnederlandse spraakkunst, 8th improved ed., 2 vol. (1976); and F.A. Stoett, Middelnederlandsche spraakkunst: Syntaxis, 3rd rev. ed. (1923). Grammars of the modern standard are B.C. Donaldson, Dutch Reference Grammar, 3rd ed. (1987); M.C. Van Den Toorn, Nederlandse grammatica, 9th rev. ed. (1984); and G. Geerts et al. (eds.), Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunst (1984). Afrikaans A comprehensive grammar of the standard language is B.C. Donaldson, A Grammar of Afrikaans (1993). Treatments of the language's historical development are Fritz Ponelis, The Development of Afrikaans (1993); and Edith Raidt, Einfhrung in Geschichte und Struktur des Afrikaans (1983). German The history of the language is covered in W.B. Lockwood, An Informal History of the German Language, with Chapters on Dutch and Afrikaans, Frisian, and Yiddish, new ed. (1976); R.E. Keller, The German Language (1978); John T. Waterman, A History of the German Language, rev. ed. (1976, reissued 1991); C.J. Wells, German: A Linguistic History to 1945 (1985); and Hugo Moser, Deutsche Sprachgeschichte, 6th rev. ed. (1969). Concise overviews of grammatical developments are Charles V.J. Russ, Historical German Phonology and Morphology (1978), Richard von Kienle, Historische Laut- und Formenlehre des Deutschen, 2nd rev. ed. (1969); Gnther Schweikle, Germanische-deutsche Sprachgeschichte im berblick, 3rd improved and enlarged ed. (1990); and Ingerid Dal, Kurze deutsche Syntax auf historischer Grundlage, 3rd improved ed. (1966). Treatments of older stages of the language are Wilhelm Braune, Althochdeutsche Grammatik, 14th ed., rev. by Hans Eggers (1987); Stefan Sonderegger, Althochdeutsche Sprache und Literatur, 2nd rev. and enlarged ed. (1987); and Hermann Paul, Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, 23rd ed., rev. by Peter Wiehl and Siegfried Grosse (1989). Grammars of the modern standard are Gerhard Helbig and Joachim Buscha, Deutsche Grammatik, 16th ed. (1994); and Gnther Drosdowski et al. (eds.), Der Duden in 10 Bnden, 10 vol. in various editions (198491). Further useful works on the modern language are Charles V.J. Russ, The German Language Today: A Linguistic Introduction (1994); and Anthony Fox, The Structure of German (1990). Descriptions of various dialects are found in Charles V.J. Russ (ed.), The Dialects of Modern German (1989). Sociolinguistic aspects of German are discussed in Stephen Barbour and Patrick Stevenson, Variation in German: A Critical Approach to German Sociolinguistics (1990). Old Saxon and Low German A historical overview of linguistic developments in northern Germany is Willy Sanders, Sachsensprache, Hansesprache, Plattdeutsch: sprachgeschichtliche Grundzge des Niederdeutschen (1982). Historical stages and dialects are described in Jan Goossens (ed.), Niederdeutsche: Sprache und Literatur, vol. 1, Sprache (1973). Grammars of older stages are Irmengard Rauch, The Old Saxon Language (1992); Johan Hendrik Galle, Altschsische Grammatik, 3rd ed. (1993); and Agathe Lasch, Mittelniederdeutsche Grammatik, 2nd ed. (1974). William G. Moulton Anthony F. Buccini Yiddish Uriel Weinreich, Yiddish Language, in Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 16 (1971), columns 789798; Solomon A. Birnbaum, Yiddish: A Survey and a Grammar (1979); and Max Weinreich, History of the Yiddish Language (1980; originally published in Yiddish, 1973), provide overviews. The main works up to 1958 are listed in Uriel Weinreich and Beatrice Weinreich, Yiddish Language and Folklore: A Selective Bibliography for Research (1959). Significant works include For Max Weinreich on His Seventieth Birthday: Studies in Jewish Languages, Literature, and Society (1964); compilations of studies in language, folklore, and literature, all titled The Field of Yiddish, 1st collection ed. by Uriel Weinreich (1954), 2nd collection, ed. by Uriel Weinreich (1965), 3rd collection, ed. by Marvin I. Herzog, Wita Ravid, and Uriel Weinreich (1969), 4th collection, ed. by Marvin I. Herzog et al. (1980), and 5th collection, ed. by David Goldberg (1993); Joshua A. Fishman, Yiddish in America: Socio-linguistic Description and Analysis (1965); and Marvin I. Herzog, The Yiddish Language in Northern Poland: Its Geography and History (1965). Uriel Weinreich, Modern English-Yiddish, Yiddish-English Dictionary (1968, reissued 1990); Yuda A. Yofe (Judah A. Joffe) and Yudl Mark (Yudel Mark) (eds.), Groyser erterbukh fun der Yidisher shprakh (1961 ); and Marvin I. Herzog (ed.), The Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry (1992 ), are useful reference works. Marvin Irving Herzog