The Early New High German Dictionary is an alphabetically-ordered sense dictionary of the varieties of High German from the 14th to 17th century. Its entries are arranged as follows: Each headword is followed by concise information on the inflectional morphology and (in the case of etymologically isolated words or words that are difficult to classify) brief references to the etymology. This is followed by the core of each entry, namely, the explanation of the various senses of a word, which have been numbered. References to time, region and text type provide important information about the dimensions in which each sense of a word was used. The cumulative naming of semantically-related words and typical syntagmatic contexts provide insight into the structural, lexical correlations. A detailed block of examples per sense demonstrates the word in its original usage.

This second edition of a study first published in 1999 has been thoroughly revised and enlarged. With reference to the latest research literature it presents a comprehensive survey of the present-day stance on German dialectology while at the same time paying appropriate attention to the historical dimension.

The 3rd edition of this basic work on German dialectology has been broadly revised, expanded, and updated. By incorporating the latest research literature, the new edition presents a comprehensive picture of contemporary German dialectology, giving due attention to its historical dimension.