Dialect and Standard Language: Dialekt Und Standardsprache in the English, Dutch, German and Norwegian Language Areas(Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde)

Four Northern European language areas are discussed in this volume - English, Dutch, German and Norwegian. The interaction of dialect and standard language in each language area is first considered from an historical point of view and then in the context of the present day situation. Some of the issues featured are: - in the United Kingdom and in The Netherlands, dialects and standard language coalesce in a kind of Umgangssprache. - in large parts of Germany there is a gap between the dialects/Umgangssprachen continuum on the one hand and the written standard language (Hochsprache) on the other. - in Switzerland, an Umgangssprache does not exist at all and the dialects hold their strong position as in Norway. It is shown that dialects, Umgangssprachen and standard languages affect each other, in so far as this is tolerated by (and is useful to) communities that use several varieties. This volume should stimulate further research into the role of the Umgangssprache in the interaction of dialects and standard languages.

Table of Contents:
Introduction (J.A. van Leuvensteijn, J.B. Berns). The interaction between dialect and standard language, viewed from the standpoint of the Germanic languages (F. van Coetsem). Some new perspectives on the origins of standard written English (M. Benskin). The influence of the standard variety on Northern forms of British English (K.M. Petyt). Dialect and standard language in the past: the rise of Dutch standard language in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (M.J. van der Wal). Eine Kluft Zwischen Muttersprache und Vatersprache, adnominale Genusmarkierung in Dialekt und Standardsprache in den Niederlanden um 1600 (J.A. van Leuvensteijn). The relation between dialect and standard language in the Netherlands in the past as a key to the present (J. Daan). Towards the end of the standard language in the Netherlands (J.P.A. Stroop). The stability of language elements in present-day Eastern Standard-Dutch and Eastern Dutch dialects (C. van Bree). Dialekt und Standardsprache: die historische Entwicklung im ostdeutschen Raum (G. Lerchner). Monolingual - bilingual - lektal? Die Zweisprachigkeit des niederdeutschen Kulturraumes aus historischer Sicht (H. Menke). Dialekt, Umgangssprache und Standardsprache auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen DDR im 20. Jahrhundert (H. Schonfeld). Dialekt und Standardsprache. Auspragung und Gebrauch bei rheinisch-ripuarischen Sprechem (J. Macha). Zur Interaktion von Dialekt und Standardsprache in Osterreich (P. Wiesinger). Mundardt und Standardsprache in der deutschen Schweiz (W. Haas). Dialects and standards in Norway (K. Venas). Variation versus standardisation. The case of Norwegian bokmal: some sociolinguistic trends (E. Hanssen). Dialect and standard in a language contact area in Northern Norway (T. Bull).