Romance–Germanic encounters along the language border

Subtitle:Past, present and future

For centuries, the Low Countries have been at the intersection of Germanic and Romance cultures and languages. The French–Dutch and French–German lan- guage borders, cutting through the present-day territories of France, Belgium and Luxembourg, have given rise to often intense situations of language contact and conflict, both in situations of every-day communication and in more styl- ised domains such as literature, diplomacy and science. This has led to various degrees of societal and individual multilingualism. Whether in peaceful coexis- tence or at the heart of heated conflicts, these Romance–Germanic encounters have made their mark on the sociolinguistic landscapes of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) and have left a fascinating paper trail for (historical) sociolinguists to investigate.

ISBN:978-1-61451-583-8

Publication year:2015

Keywords:Sociolinguistics, Language contact, Germanic languages, Romance languages, Historical sociolinguistics