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| Language family | |
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Luxembourgish belongs to the West Central German group of High German languages and is the primary example of a Moselle Franconian language.
[edit] Tags:Luxembourg,High German,West Central German,Moselle Franconian,German,High German Language,High German Languages,Moselle, | |
| Usage | |
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Luxembourgish is the national language of Luxembourg and one of three administrative languages (along with French and Standard German).[2]
Luxembourgish is also spoken in the Arelerland of Belgium, in the (Province of Luxembourg), France (in small parts of Lorraine).
In the German Eifel and Hunsrück regions and in Lorraine similar local Moselle Franconian dialects of German are spoken. Furthermore, the language is spoken by a few descendants of Luxembourg immigrants in the United States, and another similar Moselle Franconian dialect is spoken by ethnic Germans long settled in Transylvania, Romania (Siebenbürgen).
Moselle Franconian dialects outside the Luxembourg state border tend to have far fewer French loan words, and these mostly remain from the French occupation under Napoléon Bonaparte.
[edit] Tags:Belgium,France,French,National Language,Standard German,Arelerland,Province Of Luxembourg,Lorraine,Eifel,United States,Similar Moselle Franconian Dialect,Transylvania,Romania,Napoléon Bonaparte, | |
| Varieties | |
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There are several distinct dialect forms of Luxembourgish including Areler (from Arlon), Eechternoacher (Echternach), Kliärrwer (Clervaux), Miseler (Moselle), Stater (Luxembourg), Veiner (Vianden), Minetter (Southern Luxembourg) and Weelzer (Wiltz). Further small vocabulary differences may be seen even between small villages.
Increasing mobility of the population and the dissemination of the language through mass media such as radio and television are leading to a gradual standardisation towards a "Standard Luxembourgish" through the process of koineization.
[edit] Tags:Arlon,Echternach,Clervaux,Vianden,Southern Luxembourg,Koineization, | |
| Surrounding languages | |
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There is no distinct geographic boundary between the use of Luxembourgish and the use of other closely related High German dialects (for example Lorraine Franconian); it instead forms a dialect continuum of gradual change.
Spoken Luxembourgish is relatively hard to understand for speakers of German who are generally not familiar with Moselle Franconian dialects, though they can usually read the language. For those Germans familiar with Moselle Franconian dialects, it is relatively easy to understand Luxembourgish, but more difficult to speak it properly because of the French influence. Even literary German, as it is written in Luxembourg, tends to include many French words and phrases.
There is limited intelligibility between Luxembourgish and French or any of the Romance dialects spoken in the adjacent parts of Belgium and France.
Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, President of the Christian Social People's Party of Luxembourg 1995-2003, was active in promoting the language beyond Luxembourg's borders.
[edit] Tags:Lorraine Franconian,Erna Hennicot-schoepges, | |
| Standardisation | |
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A number of proposals for standardising the orthography of Luxembourgish can be documented, going back to the middle of the 19th century. There was no officially recognised system, however, until the adoption of the "OLO" (ofizjel lezebuurjer ortografi) on 5 June 1946.[3] This orthography provided a system for speakers of all varieties of Luxembourgish to transcribe words the way they pronounced them, rather than imposing a single, standard spelling for the words of the language. The rules explicitly rejected certain elements of German orthography (e.g., the use of "ä" and "ö",[4] the capitalisation of nouns). Similarly, new principles were adopted for the spelling of French loanwords.
fiireje, rééjelen, shwèzt, veinejer (cf. German vorigen, Regeln, schwätzt, weniger)
bültê, âprê, Shaarel, ssistém (cf. French bulletin, emprunt, Charles, système)
This proposed orthography, so different from existing "foreign" standards that people were already familiar with, did not enjoy widespread approval.
A more successful standard eventually emerged from the work of the committee of specialists charged with the task of creating the Luxemburger Wörterbuch, published in 5 volumes between 1950 and 1977. The orthographic conventions adopted in this decades-long project, set out in Bruch (1955), provided the basis of the standard orthography that became official on 10 October 1975.[5] Modifications to this standard were proposed by the Conseil permanent de la langue luxembourgeoise and adopted officially in the spelling reform of 30 July 1999.[6] A detailed explanation of current practice for Luxembourgish can be found in Schanen & Lulling (2003).
[edit] Tags: | |
| Alphabet | |
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The Luxembourgish alphabet consists of the 26 Latin letters plus three modified letters: "é", "ä", and "ë". In loanwords from French and High German, other diacritics are usually preserved:
French: Boîte, Enquête, Piqûre, etc.
German: blöd, Bühn (but German Bühne), etc.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Eifeler Regel | |
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It has been suggested that Eifeler Regel be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2011.
A striking phonological process in Luxembourgish causes the deletion of final [n] in certain contexts. This phenomenon was originally documented in the late 19th century for the dialect of the Eifel region, hence the name Eifeler Regel (Eifel Rule).[7]
Since Luxembourgish orthography strives for phonetic accuracy, this deletion of n is also reflected in writing. Nowadays the Eifeler Regel is presented as a spelling rule, but its correct application still depends on a knowledge of spoken Luxembourgish. The rule targets words ending in -n or -nn, and since this is an extremely common ending for verbs, plural nouns, and function words (e.g. articles, pronouns, prepositions) in Luxembourgish, its effects are widespread. The basic rule can be described as follows (see Schanen & Lulling 2003):
Final -n(n) is deleted before another consonant.
(between words) den + Ball → de Ball ("the ball"), wann + mer ginn → wa mer ginn ("when we go")
(in compound words) Dammen + Schong → Dammeschong ("women's shoes")
It is not deleted, however:
before the consonants n, d, t, z, or h.
den Tuerm ("the tower"), wann hien drénkt ("when he drinks")
Gromperenzalot ("potato salad"), fënnefandrësseg ("35")
before a vowel
den Apel ("the apple"), wann ech ginn ("when I go")
Ouerenentzündung ("ear infection")
at the end of a sentence or before a punctuation mark
Ech hunn (wéi gëschter) vill geschafft. ("I have (like yesterday) done a lot of work.")
Deletion is optional before the following function words beginning in s: säin, si/se/s', sech, seng, sou (and perhaps others).
It is important to know that many words ending in -n or -nn are not affected by the Eifeler Regel:
proper nouns: Schuman, Johann, München
loanwords: Roman, Maschin(n), nouns ending in -ioun
the prefix on-: onvergiesslech ("unforgettable")
many nouns and adjectives (for historical reasons): Mann (man), dënn (thin), Kroun (crown), Loun (salary), blann (blind), Reen (rain), …
In fact, n as a stem consonant (as opposed to part of a grammatical ending) is generally stable in content words, with notable exceptions such as Wäi(n) (wine), Stee(n) (stone), geschwë(nn) (soon).
When final -n is dropped from a plural noun whose singular form also ends in -e, a diaeresis must be used to distinguish the plural:
Chance (singular), Chancen (plural, full form), Chancë (plural + Eifel Rule)
[edit] Tags: | |
| Vowels | |
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Spelling
IPA
Example
a
a
Kapp
aː
Kap
aa
waarm
ä
ɛ
Käpp
e
Decken
ə
liesen
ë
hëllefen
é
e
drécken
ee
eː
Been
i
i
Gitt
iː
siwen
ii
Kiischt
o
ɔ
Sonn
oː
droleg
ɔː
So
oo
Sprooch
u
u
Hutt
uː
Tut
uu
Luucht
Spelling
IPA
Example
ai
ai
Gebai
ei
deier
éi
ei
Schnéi
au
au
Mauer
ɛːu
Maul
äi
ɛːi
räich
oi
ɔi
Moien
ou
ou
Kou
Spelling
IPA
Example
ae
aːə
Aen
ie
iːə
liesen
oe
oːə
Joer
ue
uːə
Buedem
äe
ɛːə
Päerd
[edit] Tags:Ipa, | |
| Pronunciation for English-Speaking Learners by Alphabetical Reference | |
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Letter(s) and context
IPA and English language references
A
father (long)
Ä
ε = get (or longer)
ÄE/ÄER/ÄR
εə = bear (with an unpronounced R)
AI
aɪ = eye
ÄI
ε:ɪ = pay (with a long A)
AU
aʊ = cow
B (at beginning/middle of syllable)
b = ball
B (at the end of a syllable)
p = pay
C (not before E/I/Y)
k = key
C (before E/I/Y)
s = set
CH (before E/I)
ç = (voiceless variant of j, similar to ship)
CH (after A/AU/O/U)
x = (Scottish loch, Spanish hijo)
CH (at the beginning of a word, but not before E/I)
k = key
CHS
ks = fax
CK
k = key
D (at beginning/middle of syllable)
d = day
D (at the end of a syllable)
t = tea
E
ε = get (short) / ə = action (unstressed) / e = French été (long)
É/Ê
ε = get (short)
EEË
eə = (German Ehe)
ËEE
əe = (German geebnet)
EI
aɪ = eye
ÉI
εɪ = pay
ER (at end of a word with more than 1 syllable)
gangsta
F
f = fair
G (in general)
g = go
G (sometimes when preceding E or I)
ʒ = vision
G (at end of word)
ç/x = (pronounced like CH at the end of a word)
G (when preceding EG/EN/ER/ESCH)
j = yes
G (at the end of a syllable)
k = key
H (not behind a vowel)
h = house
H (behind a vowel)
(silent)
I
ɪ = hit (short) / i = meet (long)
IE/IER/IR
iə = beer (with an unpronounced R)
IG (at end of word, but not in compounds)
iç = (like Luxembourgish -ich)
IGT (at end of word)
içt = (like Luxembourgish -icht)
J
j/ʒ = yes / vision
K
k = key
L
l = love
M
m = moon
N
n = no
NG
ŋ = sing
NK
ŋk = bank
O
ɔ = hot (short), law (long)
Ö
ø = French euro (long, in German loan words)
OI
ɔɪ = boy
OU
oʊ = low
P
p = pay
PH
f = photo
QU
kw = quick (Q never occurs alone)
R (in general)
ʀ = rain (BUT—actually a uvular trill or voiced fricative)
R (behind a vowel and preceding a consonant)
gangsta
RH/RRH
ʀ = (pronounced like the letter R)
S (not at end of syllable)
z = zoo
S (at the end of a syllable)
s = see
SCH
ʃ = ship
SP (at beginning of word)
ʃp = fish-pond
ST (at beginning of word)
ʃt = fish-tank
T
t = tea
TH
t = tea
TI (in words of Latin origin if the I is unstressed and it comes before a vowel)
ʦj = suits-you
TZ
ʦ = nuts
U
ʊ = put (short) / u = fool (long) / y = French pure (long)
UE/UER/UR
uə = sure (with an unpronounced R)
V (in general)
f = fair
V (in foreign words)
v = vet
W
v = vet
X
ks = fax
Y (in general)
rounded variant of hit (short) / y = French pure (long)
Y (sometimes before a vowel)
j = yes
Z
ʦ = nuts
This pronunciation guide was derived largely from the pronunciation chart presented at the "Unilang"-Wiki site on Luxembourgish pronunciation, available at http://www.unilang.org/wiki/index.php/Luxembourgish_pronunciation
[edit] Tags: | |
| Nominal syntax | |
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Luxembourgish has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and has three cases (nominative, accusative, and dative). These are marked morphologically on determiners and pronouns. As in German, there is no morphological gender distinction in the plural.
The forms of the articles and of some selected determiners are given below:
nominative/accusative
singular
plural
masculine
feminine
neuter
definite
den
d'
d'
d'
def. emphatic
deen
déi
dat
déi
demonstrative
dësen
dës
dëst
dës
indefinite
en
eng
en
—
negative
keen
keng
keen
keng
"his"
säin
seng
säin
seng
"her/their"
hieren
hier
hiert
hier
dative
singular
plural
masculine
feminine
neuter
definite
dem
der
dem
den
def. emphatic
deem
där
deem
deenen
demonstrative
dësem
dëser
dësem
dësen
indefinite
engem
enger
engem
—
negative
kengem
kenger
kengem
kengen
"his"
sengem
senger
sengem
sengen
"her/their"
hirem
hirer
hirem
hiren
Distinct nominative forms survive in a few nominal phrases such as der Däiwel ("the devil") and eiser Herrgott ("our Lord"). Rare examples of the genitive are also found: Enn des Mounts ("end of the month"), Ufanks der Woch ("at the beginning of the week"). The functions of the genitive are normally expressed using a combination of the dative and a possessive determiner: e.g. dem Mann säi Buch (lit. "to the man his book", i.e. "the man's book"). This is known as a periphrastic genitive, and is a phenomenon also commonly seen in dialectal and colloquial German, and in Dutch.
The forms of the personal pronouns are given in the following table (unstressed forms appear in parentheses):
nominative
accusative
dative
1sg
ech
mech
mir (mer)
2sg
du (de)
dech
dir (der)
3sgm
hien (en)
hien (en)
him (em)
3sgf
si (se)
si (se)
hir (er)
3sgn
hatt (et)
hatt (et)
him (em)
1pl
mir (mer)
äis/eis
äis/eis
2pl
dir (der)
iech
iech
3pl
si (se)
si (se)
hinnen (en)
The 2pl form is also used as a polite singular (like French vous, see T-V distinction); the forms are capitalised in writing. Women and girls can be referred to with forms of the neuter pronoun hatt:
Dat ass d'Nathalie. Hatt ass midd, well et vill a hirem Gaart geschafft huet. ("That's Nathalie. She is tired because she has worked a lot in her garden.")
[edit] Tags:Dutch, | |
| Adjectives | |
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Luxembourgish morphology distinguishes two types of adjective: attributive and predicative. Predicative adjectives appear with verbs like sinn ("to be"), and receive no extra ending:
De Mann ass grouss. (masculine, "The man is tall.")
D'Fra ass grouss. (feminine, "The woman is tall.")
D'Meedchen ass grouss. (neuter, "The girl is tall.")
D'Kanner si grouss. (plural, "The children are tall.")
Attributive adjectives are placed before the noun they describe, and change their ending according to the grammatical gender, number, and case:
de grousse Mann (masculine)
déi grouss Fra (feminine)
dat grousst Meedchen (neuter)
déi grouss Kanner (plural)
Interesting to note is how the definite article changes with the use of an attributive adjective: feminine d goes to déi (or di), neuter d' goes to dat, and plural d' changes to déi.
The comparative in Luxembourgish is formed analytically, i.e. the adjective itself is not altered (compare the use of -er in German and English; tall → taller, klein → kleiner). Instead it is formed using the adverb méi: e.g. schéin → méi schéin
Lëtzebuerg ass méi schéi wéi Esch. ("Luxembourg is prettier than Esch.")
The superlative involves a synthetic form consisting of the adjective and the suffix -st: e.g. schéin → schéinst (compare German schönst, English prettiest). Attributive modification requires the emphatic definite article and the inflected superlative adjective:
dee schéinste Mann ("the most handsome man")
déi schéinst Fra ("the prettiest woman")
Predicative modification uses either the same adjectival structure or the adverbial structure am+ -sten: e.g. schéin → am schéinsten:
Lëtzebuerg ass dee schéinsten / deen allerschéinsten / am schéinsten. ("Luxembourg is the most beautiful (of all).")
Some common adjectives have exceptional comparative and superlative forms:
gutt, besser, am beschten ("good, better, best")
vill, méi, am meeschten ("much, more, most")
wéineg, manner, am mannsten ("few, fewer, fewest")
[edit] Tags: | |
| Word-order | |
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Luxembourgish exhibits "verb second" word order in clauses. More specifically, Luxembourgish is a V2-SOV language, like German and Dutch. In other words, we find the following finite clausal structures:
the finite verb in second position in declarative clauses and wh-questions
Ech kafen en Hutt. Muer kafen ech en Hutt. (lit. "I buy a hat. Tomorrow buy I a hat.)
Wat kafen ech haut? (lit. "What buy I today?")
the finite verb in first position in yes/no questions and finite imperatives
Bass de midd? ("Are you tired?")
Gëff mer deng Hand! ("Give me your hand!")
the finite verb in final position in subordinate clauses
Du weess, datt ech midd sinn. (lit. "You know, that I tired am.")
Non-finite verbs (infinitives and participles) generally appear in final position:
compound past tenses
Ech hunn en Hutt kaaft. (lit. "I have a hat bought.")
infinitival complements
Du solls net esou vill Kaffi drénken. (lit. "You should not so much coffee drink.")
infinitival clauses (e.g., used as imperatives)
Nëmme Lëtzebuergesch schwätzen! (lit. "Only Luxembourgish speak!")
These rules interact so that in subordinate clauses, the finite verb and any non-finite verbs must all cluster at the end. Luxembourgish allows different word orders in these cases:
Hie freet, ob ech komme kann. (cf. German Er fragt, ob ich kommen kann.)
Hie freet, ob ech ka kommen. (cf. Dutch Hij vraagt of ik kan komen.)
This is also the case when two non-finite verb forms occur together:
Ech hunn net kënne kommen. (cf. Dutch Ik heb niet kunnen komen.)
Ech hunn net komme kënnen. (cf. German Ich habe nicht kommen können.)
Luxembourgish (like Dutch but unlike German) allows prepositional phrases to appear after the verb cluster in subordinate clauses:
alles, wat Der ëmmer wollt wëssen iwwer Lëtzebuerg
(lit. "everything what you always wanted know about Luxembourg")
[edit] Tags: | |
| Vocabulary | |
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Luxembourgish has borrowed many French words. For example, the name for a bus driver is Buschauffeur (also Dutch), which would be Busfahrer in German and Chauffeur de bus in French.
Some words are different from High German but have equivalents in German dialects. An example is gromperen (potatoes - German: Kartoffeln). Other words are exclusive to Luxembourgish.
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| Selected common phrases | |
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Listen to the words below. (help·info) Note: Words spoken in sound clip do not reflect all words on this list.
Jo. Yes.
Neen. No.
Vläicht. Maybe.
Moien. Hello.
Gudde Moien. Good Morning.
Gudde Mëtteg. Good Afternoon.
Gudden Owend. Good Evening.
Äddi. Goodbye.
Merci. Thank you.
Firwat? Why
Ech weess net. I don't know.
Ech verstinn net. I don't understand.
Watgelift? or Entschëllegt? Excuse me?
Metzleschjong. Butcher's son.
Schwätzt dir Däitsch/Franséisch/Englesch? Do you speak German/French/English?
Wéi heeschs du? What is your name?
Wéi geet et? How are you?
Politeschen Anstand. Political Decency
Sou. So.
Fräi. Free.
Heem. Home.
Ech. I.
An. and/in.
Mäin. my.
Iesel. donkey.
Mat. With.
Kand. Kid/Child.
Wee. Way.
Gromper. Potato.
Brout. Bread.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Neologisms | |
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Neologisms in Luxembourgish include both entirely new words, and the attachment of new meanings to old words in everyday speech. The most recent neologisms come from the English language in the fields of telecommunications, computer science, and the Internet.
Recent neologisms in Luxembourgish include:[8]
direct loans from English: Browser, Spam, CD, Fitness, Come-back, Terminal, hip, cool, tip-top
also found in German: Sichmaschinn (search engine, German: Suchmaschine), schwaarzt Lach (black hole, German: Schwarzes Loch), Handy (mobile phone), Websäit (webpage, German: Webseite)
native Luxembourgish
déck as an emphatic like ganz and vill, e.g. Dëse Kuch ass déck gutt! ("This cake is really good!")
recent expressions, used mainly by teenagers: oh mëllen! ("oh crazy"), "en décke gelénkt" ("you've been tricked") or "cassé" (French for "(you've been) owned")
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| Academic projects | |
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Between 2000 and 2002, the Luxembourgish linguist, Jérôme Lulling, compiled a lexical database of 125,000 word forms as the basis for the very first Luxembourgish spellchecker (Projet C.ORT.IN.A).
The LaF (Lëtzebuergesch als Friemsprooch – Luxembourgish as a Foreign Language) is a set of four language proficiency certifications for Luxembourgish and follows the ALTE framework of language examination standards. The tests are administered by the Centre de Langues Luxembourg, which is a member of the ALTE.
The "Centre for Luxembourg Studies" at the University of Sheffield was founded in 1995 on the initiative of Professor Gerald Newton. It is supported by the government of Luxembourg which funds an endowed chair in Luxembourg Studies at the university.[9]
[edit] Tags: | |
| See also | |
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Multilingualism in Luxembourg
Literature of Luxembourg
Swadesh List of Luxembourgish Words
Erna Hennicot-Schoepges
[edit] Tags: | |
| Footnotes | |
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^ "Ethnologue report for Luxembourgeois". http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ltz. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
^ Mémorial A no. 16 (27 February 1984), pp. 196–197: "Loi du 24 février 1984 sur le régime des langues".
^ [1] Mémorial A no. 40 (7 September 1946), pp. 637–641: "Arrêté ministériel du 5 juin 1946 portant fixation d'un système officiel d'orthographe luxembourgeois".
^ "Et get kèèn ä geshriven. […] Et get kèèn ö geshriven." (p. 639)
^ Mémorial B no. 68 (16 November 1976), pp. 1365–1390: "Arrêté ministériel du 10 octobre 1975 portant réforme du système officiel d'orthographe luxembourgeoise".
^ [2] Mémorial A no. 112 (11 August 1999), pp. 2040–2048: "Règlement grand-ducal du 30 juillet 1999 portant réforme du système officiel d'orthographe luxembourgeoise".
^ Kiehl, Johannes. (2001) Regularität und Variabilität der n-Tilgung im Lëtzebuergeschen ("Eifeler Regel"). Ein unüberwachtes, induktives Lernverfahren. Magisterarbeit im Fach Computerlinguistik, Universität Trier.
^ Lulling, Jérôme. (2002) La créativité lexicale en luxembourgeois, Doctoral thesis, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier III.
^ "Centre for Luxembourg Studies". http://shef.ac.uk/luxembourg-studies. Retrieved 11 September 2011
[edit] Tags: | |
| References | |
| 2>
Bruch, Robert. (1955) Précis de grammaire luxembourgeoise. Bulletin Linguistique et Ethnologique de l'Institut Grand-Ducal, Luxembourg, Linden. (2nd edition of 1968)
Schanen, François and Lulling, Jérôme. (2003) Introduction à l'orthographe luxembourgeoise. (text available in French and Luxembourgish)
[edit] Tags: | |
| In English | |
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NEWTON, Gerald (ed.), Luxembourg and Lëtzebuergesch: Language and Communication at the Crossroads of Europe, Oxford, 1996, ISBN 0-19-824016-3.
[edit] Tags: | |
| In French | |
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BRAUN, Josy, et al. (en coll. avec Projet Moien), Grammaire de la langue luxembourgeoise. Luxembourg, Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle 2005. ISBN 2-495-00025-8.
SCHANEN, François, Parlons Luxembourgeois, Langue et culture linguistique d'un petit pays au coeur de l'Europe. Paris, L'Harmattan 2004, ISBN 2-7475-6289-1.
SCHANEN, François / ZIMMER, Jacqui, 1,2,3 Lëtzebuergesch Grammaire. Band 1: Le groupe verbal. Band 2: Le groupe nominal. Band 3: L'orthographe. Esch-sur-Alzette, éditions Schortgen, 2005 et 2006.
[edit] Tags: | |
| In German | |
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BRUCH, Robert, Grundlegung einer Geschichte des Luxemburgischen, Luxembourg, Publications scientifiques et littéraires du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, 1953, vol. I; Das Luxemburgische im westfränkischen Kreis, Luxembourg, Publications scientifiques et littéraires du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, 1954, vol. II.
MOULIN, Claudine and Nübling, Damaris (publisher): Perspektiven einer linguistischen Luxemburgistik. Studien zu Diachronie und Synchronie., Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg, 2006. This book has been publishe Tags: | |
zote monety |