Reviewed by Marc Pierce, University of Texas at Austin

In many respects, Frisian has often been the Cinderella, so to speak, of Germanic linguistics. Very few universities, especially in North America, offer courses on Frisian (whether Old or Modern), and in most courses on Germanic linguistics, data from Frisian is often only touched on lightly or brushed aside entirely. One of the reasons for this relative neglect has been the lack of suitable handbooks. For Old Frisian, for instance, while the handbooks by Willem L van Helten (Altostfriesische Grammatik, Leeuwarden, A. Meijer, 1890, reprinted 1970) and Walther Steller (Abriss der altfriesischen Grammatik, Halle: Niemeyer, 1928) are certainly still valuable, there has long been a need for an up-to-date handbook of the language written in English. This need has now been met with this book.

Written by a recognized expert in Frisian, the book is divided into two parts. The first part consists of seven main chapters: ‘History: The when, where, and what of Old Frisian’ (1–19), ‘Phonology: The sounds of Old Frisian’ (21–51), ‘Morphology: The inflections of Old Frisian’ (53–86), ‘Lexicology: Word formation and loan words in Old Frisian’ (87–96), ‘Syntax: The sentence elements of Old Frisian’ (97–108), ‘Dialectology: The faces of Old Frisian’ (109–18), and ‘Two long-standing problems: The periodization of Frisian and the Anglo-Frisian complex’ (119–28). The second part of the volume is a reader (129–86), containing a wide range of Old Frisian texts with accompanying notes and commentary. The volume concludes with two glossaries (for words and names, respectively), an extensive bibliography, and an index.

While one should normally be cautious about evaluating a textbook before one has taught with it, this work seems eminently suitable as a textbook. The grammatical descriptions are clear, concise, and, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. The explanatory notes are also praiseworthy, as they will help clarify tricky passages, and the sizable glossaries only enhance this book’s value. I have also consulted it on a number of occasions to answer questions about Old Frisian. I would not hesitate to use this book to teach Old Frisian to graduate students or advanced undergraduates, and the author is to be lauded for his significant contribution to Frisian studies.