Guide to the Steven Lasswell/Peter Tiersma Frisian research archive Mss 321
Finding aid prepared by Catherine Chen and Zachary Liebhaber, 2016; revised by Beaudry Allen and Kovin Sherrod, 2016.
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara 93106-9010
special@library.ucsb.edu
2016 June 7
Title: Steven Lasswell/Peter Tiersma Frisian research archive
Identifier/Call Number: Mss 321
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
Multiple languages
Physical Description:
9.5 linear feet
(3 cartons, 4 document boxes, 3 flat boxes, 71 audiocassettes)
Creator:
Lasswell, Steven Theophilos, 1952-
Creator:
Tiersma, Peter Meijes
Date (inclusive): 1926-2016
Date (bulk): 1980-2016
Abstract: Materials created and collected by the linguist Steven Lasswell in the course of writing his 1998 dissertation
An Ecological Reference Grammar of Sölring North Frisian as well as materials by and from the legacy of the late Peter Tiersma, Frisian linguist and professor of law.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
Language of Material:
The collection is in English, Frisian, various dialects of German, Plautdietsch, Dutch, and Danish.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Steven Lasswell/Peter Tiersma Frisian research archive, Mss 321. Department of Special Research
Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Additions acquired by Special Research Collections, as a gift by Steven Lasswell, in 2016, with an additional increment in
2016.
Processing Information
File names retain the creator's naming convention.
Scope and Content
The Frisian Research Archive comprises materials used by the linguist Steven Lasswell in producing his 1998 dissertation
An Ecological Reference Grammar of Sölring North Frisian as well as materials by and from the legacy of the late Peter Tiersma, Frisian linguist and professor of law. The Ecological
Reference Grammar is particularly significant as not only the sole English-language treatment of Sölring, but also as the
only exhaustive study of the language ever made – a language that is one of the most closely related to English and is thus
of special interest historically.
Given the 'ecological' perspective of the dissertation for which it served as basis and Lasswell's pan-Frisian approach to
his subject, the archive has much more than a purely grammatical orientation. With the term
ecological here signifying the broadest possible approach to language, including knowledge of society, culture, and history of the speech
community, the materials used encompass both academic and non-academic treatments of issues that bear on the functioning of
the speech community on Söl (German Sylt), the North Sea island that is the home of the variety of North Frisian that is the
focus of the study. Accordingly, there are manuscript and printed writings in Sölring, including an extensive body of correspondence
between the author and inhabitants of the island; many of the published materials written by the Sölring islanders themselves;
and several of the pedagogical works being used in schools to try to promote the language to a new generation. Of major importance
is the collection of the newspaper
Fuar Söl'ring Lir published during 1926-1939 and 1953-1970 in Sölring by Hermann Schmidt. Unique is the manuscript translation (in photocopy)
of the entire New Testament by Peter Michael Clemens (1804-1870), from which the four Gospels were finally published in Germany
and the Netherlands by Hindrik Brouwer in 2008. At the heart of the collection are approximately twenty-one hours of conversation
with speakers of Sölring that were recorded by Lasswell on research trips in 1992 and 1993.
In addition to looking at the grammar and other structural characteristics of Sölring, Lasswell devoted much attention in
his dissertation and other writings to the issue of language endangerment, language maintenance, and language revitalization,
and the archive contains a number of source documents on these subfields of sociolinguistics which were emerging in the 1990s
and which continue to be important in the face of widespread language loss around the world.
In conducting his research, Lasswell maintained close contacts throughout the historical area of the three Frisias (north,
east, and west), and there are language materials in and about not only Sölring, but also Fering-Öömrang, the other insular
variety of North Frisian; Freesk, Mooring, Frasch and Halunder (mainland varieties); and Seeltersk (East Frisian). Frysk,
centered in the Frysian province of the Netherlands and the most widespread variety of Frisian, is also represented in the
archive, and it is in fact to the "West Frisians" that Lasswell and many Frisianists look for inspiration in today's efforts
at measures for maintaining and revitalizing the much smaller varieties of North and East Frisian, which are structurally
changing and rapidly disappearing under unrelenting pressure from Standard German as the most viable and useful mode of communication
in society in Germany. A large number of research materials are in German; further studies in Dutch, and Danish and other
Scandinavian tongues round out the selection of foreign languages present in the archive.
Additional material was acquired in later half of 2016 (Boxes 7-10) and is comprised of correspondence, newspapers, magazines,
academic papers and related research materials, books, and notes. The correspondence relates to conferences, article publishing,
and general correspondence amongst the academic community. The research materials are in English, German, and Danish. Beyond
correspondence, many of the records relate to writing, publishing, and conferences Lasswell participated in from the mid 1990s
to early 2000s.
Arrangement
The collection has been divided into four series: Series I. Research Files, Series II. Newspapers and Manuscripts, Series
III. Additions, and Series IV. Audio.
Related Material
Books on the Frisian Language from the libraries of Steven Lasswell and Peter Tiersma have been separated from the collection
and cataloged. These may be accessed via the UCSB Library catalog under Steven Lasswell/Peter Tiersma Collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Frisian language
Frisian language -- Dialects
Linguistics
Letters (correspondence)
Manuscripts (document genre)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Sound recordings
Series I.
Research Files
1990s
Box 1
Addenda re Lexik, Lasswell, and Materials on Frisian
circa 1990s
Box 1
Boie, Margarete, Der Sylter Hahn (copy)
Box 1
Bosma-Banning, Bûter, Brea en Griene Tsiis (copy) (Frysk)
Box 1
Codeswitching in Sölring North Frisian
Box 1
Clemens, Bibelübersetzungsarbeit
Box 1
Clemens, Dit helig Evangilje van Lukas (notes)
Box 1
Correspondence (Academic)
Box 1
Degn, Christian Von - Schleswig-Holstein
Box 1
Danish West Frisian, West Frisian Danish outline grammars
Box 1
Outline grammars of Sölring: Nann Mungard (1909), Peter Saxild (1846), Hermann Schmidt (ca. 1961)
Box 1
Early Sölring Literature: C.P. Hansen's Uald Söld'ring Tialen (1858), Jap Peter Hansen's Di Gitshals of di Söl'ring Pidersdai
& Di lekkelk Stjüürman (1896), Boy Peter Möller's Söl'ring Leesbok (1909)
Box 1
Economic Text - Original and Translation, Lexical Elaboration
Box 1
Feitsma, Vernacular and Identity; Die Friesen und ihre Sprache
Box 1
Fering - Öömrang (insular N. Fris.)
Box 1
Frasch / Freesk - Mainland N. Frisian
Box 1
Fridsma, Bernard J. Sr., Introduction to Frisian (copy)
Box 1
Friesische Bewegung - Language Movement
Box 1
Frisian allgm. (Hoekstra/Tiersma)
Box 1
Frysk Diminutives (D. Hoffmann)
Box 1
Glasgow, ESSE Papers: Sociolinguistic Factors...English/N. Frisian
Box 1
Handwritten Grammatical Notes, Lasswell
Box 1
Halunder - N. Frisian / Helgoland
Box 2
History Schleswig - Holstein/Slesvig/Denmark
Box 2
Jørgensen, Über die Herkunft der Nordfriesen
Box 2
Jørgensen, Peter, Phonetics/Phonology
Box 2
Kalendarium (Eider, Wiedau)
Box 2
Kööp, Karl-Peter, Quellen und Materialien zur Nordfriesischen Geschichte
Box 2
Language Maintenance, Education, Politics
Box 2
Lasswell, An Ecological Reference Grammar of Sölring North Frisian (Dissertation - Final)
Box 2
Lasswell, An Ecological Reference Grammar of Sölring North Frisian (Dissertation - Preliminary Ver.)
Box 2
Lasswell - Articles and Lecture Notes
Box 2
Lasswell - Directed Reading Fall 1992
Box 2
Lasswell - Linguistics 252 Fall 1994
Box 2
Lasswell, North Frisian Dialectalization or Demise [1]
Box 2
Lasswell, North Frisian Dialectalization or Demise [2]
Box 2
Lasswell, North Frisian Language Management and Planning
Box 2
Maps, Calendars, Landeskunde
Box 3
Miscellaneous - Frisian 1
Box 3
Miscellaneous - Frisian 2
Box 3
Miscellaneous - Frisian 3
Box 3
(N)Frisian Varieties (Texts)
Box 3
Schmidt, Hermann, Index to
Fuar Söl'ring Lir [1]
Box 3
Schmidt, Hermann, Index to
Fuar Söl'ring Lir [2]
Box 3
Seeltersk - East Frisian (Saterland)
Box 3
Sölring Contemporary Texts
Box 3
Sölring Grammar/Orthography/Texts
Box 3
Sölring/N. Frisian Landeskunde
Box 3
Transcriptions - Kairem/Söl
Box 3
Transcriptions - (Litj-) Muasem/Söl
Box 3
Transcriptions - Weesterlön/Söl
Series II.
Newspapers and Manuscripts
Flat-box 4
Clemens,
Dit helig Evangilje van Lukas (copy of manuscript)
2008
Scope and Content
Manuscript translation (in photocopy) of the entire New Testament by Peter Michael Clemens (1804-1870), from which the four
Gospels were finally published in Germany and the Netherlands by Hindrik Brouwer in 2008.
Flat-box 5-6
Fuar Söl'ring Lir (Newspaper)
1926-1970
Scope and Content
Collection of the newspaper
Fuar Söl'ring Lir produced during 1926-1939 and 1953-1970 in Sölring by Hermann Schmidt.
Related Material
For comprehensive index to this publication, see Schmidt, Hermann, Index to
Fuar Söl'ring Lir (Box 3).
Series III.
Additions
1991-2006
Scope and Content
This series, constituting an addition to the Lasswell/Tiersma Frisian Research Archive, comprises correspondence and research
files acquired from a number of later acquisitions.
Arranged in original order and retains original folder titles of the creator with added english translations when applicable.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Frisian language
Frisian language -- Dialects
Linguistics
Box-folder 7:1
Sölring Umschriften (Sölring Transcriptions)
1995 June 9 - 1997 April 1
Other Descriptive Information
Steven Lasswell dissertation colloquium.
Box-folder 7:4
Intro/Preview 1
1997-1999
Box-folder 7:5
Unity in diversity, the lesser used languages of Europe
undated
Box-folder 7:8
[Correspondence]
1998-2001
Box-folder 7:9
[Correspondence]
1997-2006
Box-folder 8:1
Correspondence
1991 - 1995
Box-folder 8:4-5
Postcards/Letters
1993-1999
Frisian conference
1998 - 1999
Scope and Content
Regarding presentation on Frisian grammar at a Frisian conference. Also includes correspondence.
Box-folder 7:11
Notes/address book
1995 March 5
Box-folder 8: 4
Hans Hoeg dechtings [poems].
1993
Box-folder 9:4
Academic Journals, includes correspondence
1996-1997
Box-folder 9:5
Dissertation colloquium/Conference papers
1997-1999
Box-folder 9:6
Germanic/European Histories
undated
Box-folder 9:9
Dissertation von Steven Lasswell
1999
Box-folder 9:10
Academic papers, includes correspondence
1994 - 1995
Box-folder 9:11
NF Handouts en: me elev jaar
1995
Box-folder 10: 2
Fering lidj an leewent, by Peter Paulsen
1993
Box-folder 10:3
Mein Sylt Ein Lesebuch Von Hinrich Matthiesen
1992
Box-folder 10:4
Hans Hoeg (plus Min Jest Duusend: Uurter Sölring by Heather Amery)
2011-12
Series IV.
Audio
Scope and Content
This series contains twenty-one hours of conversation with speakers of Sölring that were recorded by Lasswell on research
trips in 1992 and 1993, and includes recordings in Öömrang and in mainland varieties of N. Frisian.
item A27209/CS
Arnold/Brunhilde Voss (Muasem) and Hans Hoeg
item A27221/CS
Borgfeld/Golatic, dill 4/4
item A27226/CS
Christoph, Kaarten/Bartling
item A29627/CS
Frysk 1-8 (Butter Brea Griene Tsiis)
item A27231/CS
Hiir Sölring, Liir Sölring
item A27232/CS
Hogreve; Andresen, Tadsen (Öömrang)
item A27235/CS
Jacobsen, Borgfeld and Golatic/T. Hansen
item A27236/CS
Kamp (töjen); Michelsen, Simonsen and NÅ
1996
item A27239/CS
M. Kieckbusch ; E-U Schrahé, Herm. Lorenzen
item A27240/CS
Krogmann ; Gantzel ; Schneider M. Kamp
item A27243/CS
Neeli-most "üp raisin" Sölring komeedi fan Erich Johannsen
1934
item A27246/CS
Moore, Dachte Foon E. (Freesh)
item A27248/CS
Öömrang: Weithas, Quedens Martinen, Gerretz
item A27249/CS
Paula Schneider and Alastair Walker
item A29630/CS
Sangschaw and Penny Wheep by Huch MacDiarmid (The Boonie Broukit Bairn)
item A27256/CS
Siemens Fiirstön, Brer'ep
item A27260/CS
Sölring: Abelingo ; Bartels/Hoeg
item A27261/CS
Sölring: E. Hansen / U. Holst
item A27262/CS
Sölring: Irene Bartels (3, 4)
item A27263/CS
Sölring: Ossenbr/Lade; Schröders
item A27264/CS
Sölring: P. Hansen ; Abelings
item A27268/CS
Thaysens (ual) ; Bencsiks
item A27270/CS
Thiele, Gieppner - Carstensen
item A27272/CS
Voss (Kiil) ; Krogmann (inkl. Eke Nepekken)
item A27275/CS
Wilh. Siemens last ain Steken
