This volume considers the Low German variety of East Frisia (Ostfriesland), a region in northwestern Germany located on the North Sea bordering the Netherlands to the west. East Frisia is one of the few regions in northern Germany in which Low German is still widely spoken. It also boasts a complex linguistic history in which Frisian, Low German, Dutch, and Standard German have played an important role. Concentrating on the small village of Campen located west of Emden, the region's largest city, Reershemius provides an excellent description of the language of the region, embedded in an understanding of the competing social, economic, and political forces that have shaped and continue to shape its development. The linguistic analysis is based on extensive field research including the compilation of a corpus of taperecorded conversational data. Questionnaire data are also employed to consider the current status of Low German in the region, and to evaluate the stability of current patterns of language use.

The first chapter of the book introduces East Frisia and provides a brief overview of previous linguistic research, while the second chapter details the political and linguistic history of the region. Originally settled by Frisian speaking tribes, Low German became an increasingly important language in the region beginning in the 14th century. Although trade initially motivated the use of Low German by Frisian speakers, political developments beginning in the middle of the 14th century resulted in an influx of Low German speakers. By the 16th century, Low German had become the dominant spoken and written language in East Frisia, though Frisian is presumed to have been spoken somewhat longer than it is attested in written records.

The dominance of Low German as a written language was short lived. With the arrival of the Reformation, the region was split into predominantly Calvinist areas, in which Dutch became the dominant written language, and Lutheran areas, in which the High German Standard was dominant. Frisian and Dutch influence on East Frisian Low German is seen most clearly in a large number of lexical items unique to the Low German of the region. Dutch influence in Calvinist areas persisted until the middle of the 19th century, followed by a period in which East Frisian Low German existed in a diglossic relationship with Standard German. In the middle of the 20th century, changing economic circumstances, the increasing influence of mass media, and population shifts following the Second World War destabilized this diglossic situation, so that Standard German has begun to displace East Frisian Low German.

The third chapter provides a linguistic description of East Frisian Low German based on conversational data collected from native speakers in the village of Campen. The chapter begins with a thorough overview of the phonological system, noteworthy for a large set of diphthongs (17) and triphthongs (two). The phonological system is also considered from a historical perspective with comparisons to Old Saxon and Middle Low German. The section on morphology describes all major inflectional classes, though comparatively little information is provided on historical developments. Syntax receives a very short treatment; examples of basic sentence patterns are provided with no consideration of historical developments.

In the fourth chapter, Reershemius considers the current status of East Frisian Low German based on questionnaire data collected in the same village in which she conducted field research. The questionnaire, returned by 24% of the village residents, indicates that East Frisian Low German still plays an important role in the village with more than 70% of respondents reporting Low German or both Low German and Standard German to be their native language. However, closer examination of results shows patterns reminiscent of Low German language use in other regions, with knowledge of East Frisian Low German being strongest among the oldest residents of the village. The 41–50 age group is identified as crucial to understanding the changing status of language use in the village. Most members of this age cohort are Low German speakers. However, they employ Low German in fewer domains than older residents, and have generally not employed Low German in the home with their children—a decision that has greatly reduced the number of Low German speakers in the youngest generations.

The fifth chapter considers the effects of bilingualism in the community. Using conversational data from speakers of all age groups, Reershemius illustrates the various ways in which code switching and borrowing play a role in the linguistic repertoire of bilinguals, and are used as communicative resources in discourse. She also identifies some changes in the structure of East Frisian Low German that appear to be the result of language contact with Standard German, for example, the replacement of [s] by [∫] in initial consonant clusters.

In the final chapter, Reershemius summarizes the main findings of the study and considers the future prospects of East Frisian Low German. Low numbers of speakers in the younger generations would seem to point to the eventual death of the variety. However, recent developments, such as the establishment of bilingual child care centers, promotion of Low German in the school system, and a general shift in attitudes so that Low German is increasingly regarded as an important aspect of the regional culture could be signs of language revitalization. The chapter also considers ways in which Low German influence can be seen in the High German speech of younger residents who are not active speakers of Low German, but make use of Low German words or expressions as markers of regional identity. An appendix provides a corpus of Low German conversational data consisting of transcriptions of conversations recorded during field research. The questionnaire used to gather data for the fourth chapter is also given in the appendix.

With this volume, Reershemius provides an excellent study of a regional dialect that will appeal to readers interested in Low German, as well as to those with a more general interest in the status and development of regional varieties. The book is well organized, clearly written, and carefully researched. The author is also to be commended for the skill with which she has drawn upon various linguistic subfields in her approach to this topic, blending descriptive analysis with insights from historical linguistics, dialectology, sociolinguistics, language contact, and discourse analysis. The one drawback to such a broad approach is that some readers may wish for a more detailed or extensive account in some areas.