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Low German (also called Plattdeutsch, Plattdüütsch or Low Saxon) is a name for the regional language varieties of the Low Germanic languages spoken mainly in northern Germany, southern Denmark and eastern Netherlands. Also, there are some speakers in the coastal areas of Poland, and immigrant communities in several places of the world, for instance in Canada.
Sometimes, Low German is used to refer to any German dialect which differs from the standard German language, but this is not linguistic use. It tends to lead to confusion when discussing the German language: in such use many dialects called 'Low German' are actually High German dialects.
Sometimes, Low German is used to refer to the whole group of the Low Germanic languages. However, this leads to the confusion between that group of languages and one of its constituents, Low German.
The ISO 639-2 language code for Low German is nds since May 2000.
Official status
Since 1999, Low German has been recognised by Germany as a regional language according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
Dialects
The Northern Low Saxon language serves as a common intelligible language in TV and Wireless programmes.
Classification and related languages
Low German is a part of the West Germanic dialect continuum.
To the West, it fades to the Low Franconian languages which distinguish two plural verbal endings, opposed to a common verbal plural ending in Low German.
To the South, it fades to the High Germanic dialects of Middle German that have been affected by the High German consonant shift. The division is usually drawn at the Benrath line that traces the maken – machen isogloss.
To the East, it is neighboured by the Polish language.
To the North and Northwest, it is neighboured by the Danish language and by the Frisian language. Note that in Germany, Low German has replaced the Frisian in many regions so that the Saterland Frisian is entirely surrounded by Low German.
Some classify the northern dialects of Low Saxon together with English and Frisian as the North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic languages. However, most exclude Low German from that group often called Anglo-Frisian languages.
History
Old Saxon was the ancestor of Low German recorded from about 800 to 1100.
Middle Low German was the ancestor of Low German recorded from about 1100 to 1500. It was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League, spoken all around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
Sound Change
Low German has commonality with the English language, the Scandinavian languages and Frisian in that it has not been influenced by the High Germanic sound shift. Therefore a lot of Low German words sound similar to their English counterparts.
For instance: water , later , bit , dish , ship , pull , good , clock , sail , he , storm .
The table below shows the relationship between English and Low German consonants which were unaffected by the High German consonant shift and gives the modern German counterparts, which were affected by the sound shift.
| Low Germanic Consonant | High Germanic Consonant | Low German | English | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| k | ch | ik | I | ich |
| koken | to cook | kochen | ||
| maken | to make | machen | ||
| d | t | Dag | day | Tag |
| t | s | dat, wat, eten | that, what, eat | das, was, essen |
| t | z | Tied, Timmermann | No cognate (Engl. time and carpenter) | Zeit, Zimmermann |
| t | tz | sitten | sit | sitzen |
| p | f | slapen | sleep | schlafen |
| Schipp | ship | Schiff | ||
| p | pf | Peper | pepper | Pfeffer |
| v, w, f | b | Wief, Wiewer | wife | Weib, Weiber |
| leev, leewer | ove | lieb, lieber |
Grammar
The grammar also shows similarities to the English language. Low German declination has only three cases.
Verbs
In Low German verbs are conjugated for person, number and tense. Verb conjugation for person is only differentiated in the singular. There are five tenses in Plattdüütsch: Present tense, Preterite, Perfect, Past Perfect, and Future.
Example verb conjugation: slapen - to sleep
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | ik slaap | wi slaapt/slapen |
| 2nd Person | du slöppst | ji slaapt/slapen |
| 3rd Person | he, se, dat slöppt | se slaapt/slapen |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | ik sleep | wi slepen |
| 2nd Person | du sleepst | ji slapen |
| 3rd Person | he, se, dat sleep | se slepen |
Unlike Dutch, German and southern Low German, the northern dialects from the participle without the prefix ge-, like the Scandinavian languages and English. This particple is formed with the auxiliary verb hebben 'to have'.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Person | ik hebb slapen | wi hebbt slapen |
| 2nd Person | du sleepst | ji hebbt/hebben slapen |
| 3rd Person | he, se, dat sleep | se hebbt/hebben slapen |
It should be noted that e- is used instead of ge- in most Southern (below Groningen in the Netherlands + Westphalia) dialects, though often not when the participle ends with -en or in a few often used words like 'west' (been).
Syntax
The syntax on the other hand is more like German syntax, though there are some differences.
Trivia
The Low German greeting formula Moin and its duplication MoinMoin gave the name for the WikiWiki MoinMoin Project http://moin.sourceforge.net/
There are plans to create a computer vocabulary for Low German in order to translate Desktop environments such as KDE and GNOME.
Resources
There is a lot of information about Low German to be found online. A selection of these links can be found on this page, which will provide a good frame work to understand the history, current situation and features of the language.
Information:
- What is Low Saxon? An introduction article to Low German;
- Ethnologue report for Low Saxon (kind of unprecise, but Ethnologue are not planning an update any time soon)
- List of links, provided by the Lowlands List;
- Streektaal.net, information in and about various Low German dialects;
- Nu is de Welt platt! All known resources in and about Low German;
- Niederdeutsch/Plattdeutsch in Westfalen, by Olaf Bordasch;
- Mönsterlänner Plat, by Klaus-Werner Kahl;
- Tizárrio's Veluywse websyde, by Tizáriio Ilaino;
Organizations:
- Van Deinse Instituut (Twente, the Netherlands)
- IJsselacademie (Overijssel and Veluwe, the Netherlands)
- Staring Instituut (Achterhoek, the Netherlands)
- Oostfreeske Taal (Eastern Friesland, Germany)
- Drentse Taol (Drenthe, the Netherlands)
- Stichting Stellingwarver Schrieversronte (Friesland, the Netherlands)
- SONT (General, the Netherlands)
- Institut für niederdeutsche Sprache e.V. (General, Germany)
If your organisation isn't listed here, feel free to add it.
Writers:
- Gertrud Everding (Northern Low Saxon - Hamburg, Germany)
- Marlou Lessing (Northern Low Saxon - Hamburg, Germany)
- Clara Kramer-Freudenthal (Northern Low Saxon - Norderstedt, Germany)
- Johan Veenstra (Stellingwarfs - Friesland, the Netherlands)
Musicians:
- Skik (Drents/Dutch - Drenthe, the Netherlands)
- Jan Cornelius (East Frisian - Ostfriesland, Germany)
- Törf (Gronings - Groningen, the Netherlands)
- Eltje Doddema (Veenkoloniaals - Groningen, the Netherlands)
- Boh foi toch (Achterhoeks - Gelderland, the Netherlands)
Unorganized links:
Category: