Theorien vom Ursprung der Sprache Ed. by Werner Enninger, Joachim Raith, and Karl-Heinz Wandt (review)

Abstract

650 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 67, NUMBER 3 (1991) a general linguistic audience are mixed with articles of interest for the specialist reader only. However, all the articles fit into the (probably too general) frame 'Writing system and orthography '. An unfortunate feature of the book is the absence of addresses and affiliations of the contributors. The editors' full addresses are given as Peking, China, and Kleve, Germany. [Jürgen Tesak, University of Freiburg.] Studies on the languages and the verbal behavior of the Pennsylvania Germans II. (Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik, Beiheft 64.) Ed. by Werner Enninger, Joachim Raith, and Karl-Heinz Wandt. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1989. Pp. 170. Paper DM 54.00. This is the second volume of a collection of essays, the earlier volume, edited by Werner Enninger alone, appeared in 1986 in the same series. In the preface to Vol. I Enninger states that, 'although the linguistic varieties of the Pennsylvania Germans are among the best-documented and most widely explored languages of all ethnic minorities in the United States, the picture is far from complete' (ix). He observes further that Pennsylvania German offers a particularly good model for the study of such phenomena as substratum interference of LI and L2, of borrowing from L2 into Ll, and of language decay and death. There have been numerous earlier publications on Pennsylvania German, and some contributors to this volume have published widely on this subject elsewhere. The present volume, as well as a number of others, have received their impetus from the Essen Delaware Amish Project Team. in this collection of eleven papers, some are markedly weaker either in style or in content. Jonathan Watt's 'Ll interference in written L2: A comparison between the Pennsylvania German and Koine Greek situations' (103-15) contributes little of importance regarding Pennsylvania German. Rudolf Post's 'The lexicography of Palatinate German: Its relevance for Pennsylvania German research' (71-9) reads very much like an oral presentation. Heinz Kloss' death obviously precluded a more polished version of 'Sociolinguistic parallels between the Mennonite speakers of Pennsylvania German (or Pennsylfaanisch) and of Plautdietsch ' (117-24). Of the remaining articles, I found three particularly interesting: John Costello's 'Innovations increasing syntactic complexity in the native language of bilingual children from 5 to 10: The case for Pennsylvania German' (3-16); Marion Lois Huffines' 'The convergence of language death: The case of Pennsylvania German ' (17-28); and 'Rules of speaking and their mediation: The case of the Old Order Amish' (137-68). by Werner Enninger. John A. Hostetler, Joachim Raith, and Karl-Heinz Wandt. Costello demonstrates that, influenced by English (L2). the Pennsylvania German (Ll) of children shows an increased complexity in syntax rather than simplification. He finds that these new structures seem to become permanent in the children's Ll and explains this by the fact that linguistic variation in Pennsylvania German is considered normal by speakers, so parents don't correct any 'innovations'. Their main concern seems to be that children learn the dominant language, English, well. Huffines argues that the Pennsylvania German community has two linguistic norms for case usage, one among nonsectarians and another among the Amish and Mennonites. Among the nonsectarians the dative is being maintained, but Pennsylvania German itself is dying Among the sectarians the dative has been lost—not necessarily due to a convergence towards English, but rather from an internal development similar to the one in some Low German varieties. The article by Enninger et al. tries, from an ethnography -of-communication point of view, to shed light on the speaking rules in an Old Order Amish context, and to illustrate 'that speaking is rule-governed but subject to culture-specific constraints' (166). Apart from a few typographical errors and a line of text missing on p. 77. this is a well-edited volume which is interesting because of its varied subject matter. Judging by the rate ofpublishing on the topic and the fact that this area of investigation is far from exhausted, we can expect further collections edited by one or all of the present editors. [Wolfgang P. Ahrens, York University, Toronto.] Theorien vom Ursprung der Sprache. 2 vols. Ed. by Joachim Gessinger and Wolfert von Rahden. Berlin...