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Varieties of German in Contact Settings
Studies in honor of William D. Keel
This volume pays homage to the legacy of William D. Keel and the significant impact of his research on German in contact settings from myriad perspectives and traditions. It includes structural and sociolinguistic studies focusing on varieties of German spoken throughout the world, including Midwestern varieties of Low German, Pennsylvania Dutch, Texas German, Zarzer German in Slove-nia, and the use of different varieties of Standard German in the second language classroom. The contributions span multiple domains of linguistic inquiry, such as phonology, morphosyntax, syntax, and second language acquisition. Collectively, they contribute to ongoing research on contact varie-ties of Germanic language and how they impact sociolinguistic and generative/theoretical theory as well as pedagogical choices involving varieties of German in instructed second language acquisition. The contributions thus are a fitting tribute to William D. Keel’s far-reaching legacy in research on bilingualism and, in particular, German-Sprachinseln throughout the world.
[Studies in Germanic Linguistics, 10] 2025. vi, 275 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 27 November 2025
Published online on 27 November 2025
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1. A lasting legacy: Honoring William D. Keel’s contributions to language contact researchB. Richard Page and Michael T. Putnam | pp. 1–6
- Chapter 2. Varieties of Standard German in the L2 German language classroomJörg Meindl | pp. 7–30
- Chapter 3. Heritage German across generations in Eau Claire, WisconsinJoshua R. Brown and Luca Ciletti | pp. 31–61
- Chapter 4. Language change came when our people were ready for it: A sociolinguistic history of the East Frisian community in Grundy County, IowaMaike H. Rocker | pp. 62–92
- Chapter 5. Fast forward: Community development among recent Mennonite immigrants in KansasNora Vosburg | pp. 93–114
- Chapter 6. “And the cow jumped over … the fence?”: On the development and origin of a German American linguistic legendMark L. Louden | pp. 115–130
- Chapter 7. Avoiding (total) collapse: On the potential role of maintaining differences between heritage language phonological systemsRobert Klosinski and Katharina S. Schuhmann | pp. 131–156
- Chapter 8. The for … zu construction in Texas GermanHans C. Boas and Marc Pierce | pp. 157–184
- Chapter 9. Language contact and relative clause formation: The case of wenn and lež in Zarzer GermanAndrew D. Hoffman | pp. 185–206
- Chapter 10. Optimizing gender of English loanwords in Pennsylvania DutchB. Richard Page and Ashley Roccamo | pp. 207–237
- Chapter 11. A spanning approach to bilingual representations: Initial explorationsDavid Natvig, Erin Pretorius, Michael T. Putnam and Matthew T. Carlson | pp. 238–274
- Subject index | p. 275