Old Frisian is the youngest among the Old Germanic languages and has perhaps not always attracted the attention it deserves. The present volume testifies to the many challenges which the language, literature and culture of the medieval Frisians pose to the modern researcher. Reading the contributions of the twenty-plus authors, it becomes clear that approaches range from traditional to modern, from practical to theoretical, from syntax to etymology, from diachronic to synchronic, from orality to Latinity – in short, all of them aspects that can be subsumed under the term ‘philology’. Like its three predecessors, this special volume brings together veterans and newcomers, Frisians and scholars from all over the world, together reflecting the enthusiasm and learning they bring to the subject. Innovative, explorative, provocative – whatever qualification the reader wants to apply, what the authors above all show are directions for Old Frisian philology which future students in the field may take with profit.
What reviewers had to say about earlier volumes on Old Frisian Philology (Aspects of Old Frisian Philology [vol. 31/32, 1990], Approaches to Old Frisian Philology [vol. 49, 1998], and Advances to Old Frisian Philology [vol. 64, 2007]):
"Insgesammt ist dies ein aufschlussreicher und reichhaltiger Sammelband auf anspruchsvollem Niveau, und es ist zu wünschen das es bei dieser dritten Sammlung nicht bleibt." – Elmar Seebold, in: NOWELE 56/57 (2009)
"Taken the anthology as a whole, these essays offer an intriguing picture both of Frisian particularity and of the interactions of the Frisians with their Dutch, Low and High German-speaking neighbours within the West Germanic dialect continuum." – Sheila Watts, in: Modern Language Review 106 (2011)
"Der vorliegende Sammelband verbindet die Frisistik an den niederländischen und friesischen Forschungseinrichtungen mit der internationalen Mediävistik und Altgermanistik. Dies ist für beide ein großer Gewinn." – Horst Heider Munske, in: Us Wurk 58 (2009)
"In summary, one may say that the present volume will stand as a collection of worthwhile contributions to the study of Old Frisian language and culture and its position in Germanic Studies." – Kurth Goblirsch, in: Journal of English and Germanic Philology 109 (2010)
List of Abbreviations “Introduction”, Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. “The Orality of Old Frisian Law Texts”, Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. “Old Frisian kede, kathene, keten: Latin Chains and Frisian Bondage”, Kees Dekker “Glimpses of the Hereafter in the Late-Medieval Thet Freske Riim”, Concetta Giliberto “Between Saxon, Franconian, and Danish: the Obstruents of Frisian”, Kurt Goblirsch “Two Aspects of Nominal Style in the Seventeen Statutes and Twenty-four Landlaws”, Colin J. Grant “Die schwachen Verben der dritten Klasse im Altfriesischen – eine Spurensuche”, Mirjam Marti Heinzle “kenna~kanna: the e/a- Variation in Old Frisian and Its Modern Frisian Reflexes”, Jarich Hoekstra & Geart Tigchelaar “Old Frisian Personal Pronouns: Morphology and Change”, Stephen Howe “Zur Rekonstruktion der altinselnordfriesischen Phonologie”, Martin Joachim Kümmel “The Downfall of Dental Fricatives: Frisian Perspectives on a Wider Germanic Trend”, Stephen Laker “Glossing the Old Frisian Psalter: Pragmatics and Competence”, Patrizia Lendinara “Nae collatie metten principale. Ist sprachwissenschaftliche Erforschung altfriesischer Urkunden auch auf der Grundlage von Abschriften vertretbar?”, Henk D. Meijering “Voraltfriesisch -u im Nominativ und Akkusativ Singular der maskulinen a-Stämme”, Robert Nedoma “Old Frisian: a Legal Language in Principle”, Anne Tjerk Popkema “Zur Endung runisch-altfriesisches -u und zur Entwicklung der Endung nom.sg.m. a-St. urgermanisches *az”, Roland Schuhmann “Particle and Prefix Verbs: Insights from the History of Frisian and Other West Germanic Languages”, Laura Catharine Smith “Stability and Change in Strong Verb Inflection between Old and Early Modern Frisian”, Oscar Strik “Codex Unia: Edition and Reconstruction of a Lost Old Frisian Manuscript”, Johanneke Sytsema “Dutch eiland ‘island’: Inherited or Borrowed?”, Michiel de Vaan “Corpus Size and Composition: Evidence from the Inflectional Morphology of Nouns in Old English and Old Frisian”, Arjen P. Versloot & El¿bieta Adamczyk “Thet is ac londriucht. Landrechte und Landrecht im mittelalterlichen Friesland”, Oebele Vries List of Contributors