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Chapter 31 - The West Germanic Dialect Continuum

from Part V - Language Contact and Nonstandard Varieties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2020

By
William D. Keel
Edited by
Michael T. Putnam  and
B. Richard Page
Michael T. Putnam
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
B. Richard Page
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
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Summary

The continental West Germanic dialect continuum roughly encompasses the territory of modern-day Germany, Austria, the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the Netherlands, the northern half of Belgium (Flanders), Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and South Tyrol, in northern Italy. The dialectal varieties in this region differ and are classified on the basis of phonological, morphological, and lexical distinctions. The varieties of Netherlandish and Frisian represent the northernmost part of the continuum. The remaining area, in which Standard German can be viewed as the high variety, is traditionally divided into subdialects utilizing consonantal and vocalic innovations, e.g., the High German consonant shift. The German dialects also differ in terms of noun case distinctions, plural verb morphology, and lexical variation.

Keywords

Low GermanMiddle ‘Central’ GermanUpper GermanHigh German Consonant ShiftNHG diphthongizationNHG monophthongizationapocopePräteritumsschwund ‘loss of simple preterite’unrounding of front rounded vowelsFrisianNetherlandish
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Germanic Linguistics , pp. 736 - 760
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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