R-ynfoeging yn it Wangereagersk

Abstract

In this article I will show that a number of phenomena mentioned by Ehrentraut in his description of the extinct East Frisian dialect of the island of Wangerooge (the inflectional ending -ert, the particle 'er preceding the clitic 't, the definite article der), can be given a unifying account, if we assume that the language once had a phonological rule inserting an r in certain contexts. I will present a detailed survey of the relevant data and discuss the somewhat problematic status of r-insertion in Wangerooge Frisian.