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| Status | |
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)
There is disagreement whether Plautdietsch is a language or a dialect. Some classify it as a dialect of Low German (Plattdüütsch) based on mutual intelligibility. Others classify it as a language based on socio-linguistic reasons.
Arguments for a dialect:
It is primarily a spoken, not written language;
It shares grammatical and lexical similarities with other varieties of Low German;
It is intelligible to other Low German speakers after some acquaintance;
Until at least 1750 it was in strict contact with the other Low German dialects along the North Sea and Baltic coasts, forming a consistent dialectal continuum of one proper language. (Saxon/Low German)
Arguments for classifying it as a language of its own:
It has many developments and sound shifts not found in any other Low German dialect;
It has many borrowings from other languages completely adapted into Plautdietsch phonetics, which would not be understood by a speaker of other dialects;
It has many idiomatic expressions of its own and usages of particular words different from the ones in Northern (Low Saxon, Mecklenburgic) and Southern (Westphalian, Eastphalian, Märkisch) Low German. Many idiomatic expressions of Nothern/Southern Low German are not used nor understood by a Plautdietsch speaker.
[edit] Tags:Reliable Sources,Challenged,Low German,Dietsch,Cite,References Or Sources,Low Saxon,Mecklenburgic,Westphalian,Eastphalian, | |
| Varieties | |
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As one might expect from a spoken language which traditionally lacked a consistent writing system, several regional differences have developed. However, the major differences seem to have originated in the beginning of the 19th century in the two Mennonite settlements in New Russia (today Ukraine), known as Chortitza or Old Colony and Molotschna (New Colony), as noted above. Some of the major differences between these two varieties are:
Old Colony dialect
Molotschna dialect
Contemporary other Low German
meaning of word
verbs and other -en endings
räden,
räde
reden, räden
to speak, to talk
oa diphthong
Froag [freaɣ]
Froag [froaɣ]
Frag
question
u/y sound
Hus/Hüs [hys]
Hus [hus]
Hus
house
s/ts sound
Zol (Ssol) [sol]
Zol (Tsol) [tsol]
Tal
number
A few other differences sometimes related to this issue are the exact pronunciation of the IPA c sound and words as jenau/jeneiw, but according to some studies, those might be due to the level of education and the influence of Russian and German.
Some Plautdietsch speakers might show a mixture of both dialects. Those, for instance, who trace their origin to the Bergthal Colony in New Russia (Ukraine), a daughter colony of the Old Colony, show all the phonetic distinction of the Old Colony version, but they drop the final -n as the Molotschna speakers do.
[edit] Tags:Russia,Ukraine,Ipa,New Colony,Chortitza,Bergthal Colony, | |
| Comparison with related languages | |
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Plautdietsch has a Low German (Low Saxon) base, and as such, it does not show the effects of the High German consonant shift, which separated the High German dialects from the Low German dialects and all other Germanic languages. The basic distinctions between High German and Low German are:
[edit] Tags:Germanic,High German Consonant Shift, | |
| Effects of the High German consonant shift | |
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German
Low German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
High German pf, f = Low German p
Pfeife
Piep
Piep
pijp
pipe
Apfel
Appel
Aupel
appel
apple
High German z, s, ss, ß = Low German t
Zunge
Tung
Tung
tong
tongue
was
wat
waut
wat
what
essen
eten, äten
äte(n)
eten
to eat
Fuß
Foot
Foot
voet
foot
High German ch = Low German k
machen
maken, moaken
moake(n)
maken
to make
High German t = Low German d
tun
doon
doone(n)
doen
to do
Teil
Deel
Deel
deel
part (compare "dole", "deal")
High German b = Low German w (v sound), f
Leben
Lewen, Läwen
Läwe(n)
leven
life
Korb
Korf
Korf
korf
basket
English th = other Germanic languages d
danken
danken
danke(n)
danken
to thank
Like Dutch, Frisian and Low German, Plautdietsch only shows the mutation of th into d.
[edit] Tags:Dutch, | |
| Vowel Shifts in various Germanic languages | |
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Original vowel sound
German
Low German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
iː
Wein [vaɪn]
Wien [viːn]
Wien [viːn]
wijn [ʋɛin]
wine [wain]
yː
Feuer [fɔʏɐ]
Füür [fyːɐ]
Fia [fiːɐ]
vuur [vyːr]
fire [faɪɚ]
uː
Haus [haʊ̯s]
Huus [huːs]
Hus [huːs] (Mol), [hyːs] (OCol)
huis [ɦœʏ̯s]
house [haʊs]
As shown, while Dutch, English and German have experienced similar vowel shifts, Plautdietsch has only merged the old Germanic /yː/ sound with /iː/, while long /uː/ is retained in the Molotschna dialect. The Old Colony variety has fronted it to the now vacant /yː/.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Vowel lowering | |
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High German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
/ɪ/ to /ɛ/
Fisch, dünn
Fesch, denn
vis, dun
fish, thin
/ɛ/ to /a/
helfen, rennen
halpe(n), rane(n)
helpen, rennen
to help, to run
/ʊ/ to /ɔ/1
Luft, Brust
Loft, Brost
lucht, borst
air (Latinate root; cf. Eng. "lift", "loft"), breast
/aː/ to /au/
Mann, Hand
Maun, Haunt
man, hand
man, hand
This shift is still active, as some speakers { including a few from Hague} still retain the older pronunciation.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Vowel unrounding | |
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High German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
grün, schön
jreen, scheen
groen, mooi/schoon
green, beautiful {compare archaic sheen}
to ei [ɛ]
Heu, rein
Hei, rein
hooi, schoon
hay, clean
/œ/ to e, a
Götter
Jetta
goden
gods
[edit] Tags: | |
| Diphthongization before g, k, ch [IPA x] and r, with possible loss of r | |
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High German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
Herz
Hoat
hart
heart
machen
moake(n)
maken
to make
fragen
froage(n)
vragen
to ask (compare Old English fraegn)
hoch
huach
hoog
high
Horn, Hörner
Huarn, Hieena
hoorn, hoorns
horn, horns
The deletion of r has been completed in most final positions, after front vowels and before alveolar consonants, but is still retained in the infinitive of verbs, after short vowels, and sometimes after back vowels as seen in the example Huarn, Hieena.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Various other vowel equivalences | |
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Proto-Germanic
High German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
/a/ = /o/
*watraz, *fadar, *namōn
Wasser, Vater, Name
Wota, Voda, Nomen
water, vader, naam
water, father, name
/ai/ = ee [ɔɪ]
*saiwalō, *ainaz, *twai
Seele, eins, zwei
Seel, eent, twee
ziel, een, twee
soul, one, two
/æ/ /au/ = oo [ɔʊ]1
*raudas, *hattuz
rot, Hut
root, Hoot
rood, hoed
red, hat
/æ/ shifted to /au/ before voiced consonants.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Palatalization | |
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All words with a /g/ or /k/ preceding or following a front vowel (/e/ or /i/, not counting schwa) have been shifted to /j/ and /c/ (the latter has been written as kj or tj), even if there is another consonant between the vowel and the consonant. An intervocalic /g/ is palatalized as /ɟ/, written gj or dj. (A similar event occurred with English, but not as generalized). Where an /e/ or /i/ has been sunken to /a/, the palatalized sound is retained. Also where German has a /ç/ sound, Plautdietsch retains it even after lowering a front vowel.
German
Plautdietsch
Dutch
English
gestern
jistren
gisteren
yesterday
geben
jäwen
geven
to give
Kirche
Kjoakj
kerk
church
Brücke
Brigj
brug
bridge
Milch
Malkj
melk
milk
recht
rajcht
recht
right
[edit] Tags:Schwa, | |
| German | |
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Most Anabaptists that settled in the Vistula Delta were of Dutch or northern German origins, and were joined by refugees from different parts of Germany and Switzerland, who influenced their developing language. After almost two centuries in West Prussia, German replaced Dutch as church, school and written language and has become a source from where words are borrowed extensively, especially for religious terms. Many of these words show the effects of the High German consonant shift (something you would not expect in a Low German dialect), even though they are otherwise adapted into Plautdietsch phonetics. Compare:
Plautdietsch
High German
Low German
Dutch
English
hinja
hinter
achter
achter
behind (after)
Zol
Zahl
Tall
tal
number (compare "(to) tell" as in "I can't tell how many there are".)
jreessen
grüßen
gröten
groeten
to greet
kjamfen
kämpfen
vechten; kempen
vechten
to fight
This is the case particularly on nouns made out of verbs. The verb normally shows the unshifted consonant, whereas the noun has a shifted Germanized consonant: schluten, Schluss; bräakjen, Bruch (to close, closure; to break, a break)
[edit] Tags:Germany,Vistula, | |
| Dutch | |
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The first half of the 16th century was the onset of the rule of terror by the Duke of Alba in the Spanish Low Countries during the Dutch revolution (aka Eighty years war), that was centered on religious freedom for the Protestants. As a result, many Mennonites and Reformed left the country. This continued in the 17th century, when the Dutch Reformed Church became the official religion, being less than indulgent to other types of Protestantism, let alone the types perceived as radical (non-violent, no bearing of arms, no recognition of worldy authorities). In the Low German language area, they left their language traces in particular at the lower Vistula, around Danzig and Elbing, and up the river towards Toruń.
The Mennonites for a long time maintained their old language. In Danzig, Dutch as the language of the church disappeared about 1800. As a spoken language, the Mennonites took up the Vistula Low German, the vocabulary of which they themselves had already influenced. As a written language, they took up High German. It was this Vistula Low German or Weichselplatt that the Mennonites took with them and kept while migrating to Russia, Canada and elsewhere.[4]
[edit] Tags:Canada,Mennonites,Low Countries,Spanish,Duke Of Alba,Dutch Revolution,Eighty Years War, | |
| Russian or Ukrainian | |
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Wherever Mennonites settled, they found new foods and other items they were not familiar with, and when that happened, they took the name that local people used for those items. Following words are claimed to be from Russian or Ukrainian origin:
Plautdietsch
High German
English
Bockelzhonn
Tomate
tomato
Arbus/Erbus/Rebus
Wassermelone
watermelon
Schisnikj
Knoblauch
garlic
[edit] Tags: | |
| English | |
| 3>
As Mennonites came into contact with new technology, they often adapted the names for the technologies they encountered. For those who had settled in North America in the 1870s, all new words were borrowed from English, and even though many left for South America only 50 years after their arrival, they kept and sometimes adapted these words into the Mennonite Low German Phonetics:
English word
Adapted PD word
IPA
alternate word
bicycle
Beissikjel
bɛsɪcl
Foaraut
highway
Heiwä
hɛve
Huachwajch
truck
Trock
trɔk
-
Particularly words for auto parts are taken from English: hood, fender, brakes (along with the more Low German form Brams), spark plugs (pluralized Ploggen), but also words like peanuts, belt, tax.
A special case is the word jleichen. It is an adaption of the English verb "to like", but taken from the German adverb gleich (equivalent of the English adverb "like", as in "This is like joking").
[edit] Tags:North America, | |
| Spanish | |
| 3>
Plautdietsch speakers living in Spanish speaking countries use many words of Spanish in their daily speech, especially in business and communication (telephone, for instance) vocabulary. Two examples of words which are completely adapted into Mennonite Low German are Burra (Mexican Spanish burro, donkey) and Wratsch (Mexican Spanish huarache, sandal). Both have a Low German plural: Burrasch, Wratschen. The pure Low German words Äsel and Schlorr are seldom used in Mexico.
[edit] Tags:Mexico, | |
| Spelling | |
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The spelling of Plautdietsch has also been controversial. The main criteria for spelling systems have been:
Spelling should be as phonetic as possible.
German spelling rules should be applied whenever possible.
One problem has been what letters to use for sounds that do not exist in German, such as the palatal /c/ and /ʝ/ sounds, which are both pronounced and spelled differently in various dialects of Plautdietsch. Old Colony speakers pronounce these sounds by striking the middle of the tongue against the palate. Others, especially speakers of the Molotschna dialect, instead strike the tongue against the alveolar ridge and spell them <tj> and <dj>. Most Plautdietsch speakers' ears are not accustomed to realize these subtle, if not trivial, differences, and will often confuse one with the other.[citation needed]
Other problematic areas: use or non-use of v for some words with f sound, use or non-use of Dehnungs-h, when to double consonants and when not to.
When comparing different writers, one must take into account the dialect of that writer. The most famous Plautdietsch writer, Arnold Dyck, wrote in the Molotschna dialect, though his origins were from the Old Colony. During his life he made many changes in his spelling system. His developments are the basis for the various spellings used today. In the following table, only his final system is taken into account, as used in his famous Koop enn Bua series, along with Herman Rempel (Kjennn Jie noch Plautdietsch?), Reuben Epp (Plautdietsche Schreftsteckja), J. Thiessen (Mennonite Low German Dictionary), J. J. Neufeld (Daut niehe Tastament) and Ed Zacharias (De Bibel). The latter two claim to write in the Old Colony dialect, as seen in their verb endings, while the other three use the Plautdietsch as spoken by the descenders of the Bergthal Colony, i. e. the Old Colony dialect with a loss of -n endings.
A. Dyck
H. Rempel
R. Epp
J. Thiessen
J. J. Neufeld
Ed Zacharias
word meaning
verb endings
saje
saje
saje
saje
sajen
sajen
to say
c sound
Tjoatj
Kjoakj
Kjoakj
Tjoatj
Kjoakj
Kjoakj
church
Dehnungs-h
ahm
am
ahm
ahm
am
am
him
oa diphthong
Froag
Froag
Froag
Froag
Fruog
Froag
question
ia/iə diphthong
Lea, learen, jeleat
Lea, learen, jeleat
Lea, learen, jeleat
Lea, learen, jeleat
Lea, learen, jeleat
Lia, lieren, jelieet
teaching, learn, learned
u/ü
du
dü
du
du
du
du
you
consonant doubling
rollen, jerollt, Golt
rollen, jerollt, Golt
rollen, jerollt, Golt
rollen, jerollt, Golt
rollen, jerollt, Gollt
rollen, jerolt, Golt
to roll, rolled, gold
ua/ya diphthong
Wuat, Buak
Wuat, Büak
Wuat, Büak
Wuat, Büak
Wuut, Buuk
Wuat, Buak
word, book
[s/ts] sound
Zocka
Ssocka
Zocka
Zocka
Tsocka
Zocka
sugar
[f] sound
von
fonn
von
von
fonn
von
from
[edit] Tags: | |
| Phonetics | |
| 2>
Mennonite Low German has many sounds, including a few not found in any other related language.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Consonants | |
| 3>
IPA chart Mennonite Low German consonants
Bilabial
Labio-
dental
Alveolar
Post-
alveolar
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
Nasal
m
n
ɲ 3
ŋ 4
Plosive
p b
t d
c ɟ1
k ɡ
ʔ 2
Fricative
f v 5
s z 6
ʃ ʒ 7
ç j 8
x ɣ 9
h
Flap
ɾ 10
Approximant
ɹ 10
Lateral
l ɫ 11
Where symbols for consonants occur in pairs, the left represents the voiceless consonant and the right represents the voiced consonant. Observations: According to the spelling system of De Bibel these sounds are spelled as follows:
<kj> and <gj> as in Kjoakj ('church') and Brigj ('bridge')
no letter, but has to be used if a word that begins with a vowel or a prefix is added to a word which by itself starts with a vowel: ve'achten (to despise)
<nj> as in Kjinja ('children')
<ng> as in Hunga ('hunger')
/f/ could be written <f> or <v>: Fada ('male cousin'), Voda ('father'). The only criteria is the spelling of these words in German. /v/ is spelled <w> as in German: Wota ('water')
at the beginning of a word and between vowels /z/ is written <s>: sajen ('to say'), läsen ('to read'). The /s/ sound is written <z> at the beginning of a word (where some speakers pronounce it [ts]), <ss> between vowels and final after a short vowel: Zocka ('sugar'), waussen ('to grow'), Oss ('ox'). At the end of a word after a long vowel or consonant both are written <s>, the reader has to know the word to pronounce the correct sound: Hos /hoz/ ('rabbit'), Os /os/ ('carrion'). The combination of a short /ɔ/ and a voiced <s> adds still more confusion to this, as in the word Kos /kɔz/ ('goat').
<sch> and <zh> as in School ('school') and ruzhen ('rush'). <sp> and <st> represent /ʃp/ and /ʃt/ at the beginning of a word and if a prefix is attached to a word starting with <sp> or <st>: spälen ('to play') bestalen ('to order').
<j> as in Joa ('year'). The /ç/ sound is written <ch> after consonants, <e>, <i> and <äa>: Erfolch ('success'), Jesecht ('face'), Jewicht ('weight'), läach ('low'). After <a>, it is written <jch> to differentiate it from /x/: rajcht ('right')
/x/ is written <ch>, only occurs after back vowels: Dach ('day'), Loch ('hole'). [ɣ] (an allophone of /ɡ/) is represented by <g> between vowels and final: froagen ('to ask'), vondoag ('today'). At the beginning of a word and before consonants, g has the [ɡ] sound.
<r> is a flap (like the Spanish r), or depending on the person, even a trill (like Spanish rr), before vowels: root ('red'), groot ('big'), Liera ('teacher'); /r/ pronounced as an approximant (English r) before a consonant, at the end and in the -ren endings of Old Colony speakers: kort ('short'), ar ('her'), hieren ('to hear'). The uvular German r [ʀ] is not heard in Plautdietsch.
[ɫ] is an allophone of [l] that occurs after vowels in words like Baul and well.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Vowels | |
| 3>
The vowel inventory of Plautdietsch is large, with 13 simple vowels, 10 diphthongs and 1 thriphthong.
Front
Central
Back
Close
i y1
u
Near-close
ɪ
ʊ
Close-mid
eː
ə
oː
Open-mid
ɛ
ɔ
Open
æ2
aː
ɑ
/y/ is rounded and is heard only in the Old Colony and Bergthal groups.
/æ/ is an allophone of /a/ preceding an /l/ or a palatal consonant.
Plautdietsch Vowels with Example Words
Symbol
Example
IPA
IPA
orthography
English translation
ɪ
bɪt
bitt
'(he) bites'
i
bit
Biet
'piece'
y
byt
but
'(he) builds'
ɛ
ʃɛp
Schepp
'ship'
eː
beːt
bät
'bit'
æ
pæl
Pell
'pill'
ə
də
de
'the'
ɑ
bɑl
Baul
'ball'
aː
baːd
Bad
'bed'
ɔ
bɔl
Boll
'bull'
oː
roːt
Rot
'advice'
u
rua
Rua
'tube, pipe'
ʊ
bʊk
Buck
'stomach'
ɔɪ
bɔɪt
Beet
'beet'
ɔʊ
bɔʊt
Boot
'boat'
ia
via
wia
'(he) was'
iə
viət
wieet
'worth'
ea
vea
wäa
'who'
oa
boa
Boa
'bear'
ua
vua
wua
'where'
uə
vuət
Wuat
'word'
ya
bya
Bua
'farmer'
yə
byək
Buak
'book'
ɔɪa
bɔɪa
Bea
'beer'
The /u/ sound has been shifted to /y/ in the Old Colony dialect, leaving the sound only as part of the ua diphthong. However, in certain areas and age groups, there is a heavy tendency to shift /o/ sound up to [u].
Pronunciation of certain vowels and diphthongs vary from some speakers to others; the diphthong represented by ee for instances is pronounced [oi] or even [ei] by some. Likewise the long vowels represented by au and ei might have a diphthong glide into [ʊ] and [ɪ], respectively.
English sound equivalents are approximate. Long vowels ä and o do not have a diphthong glide.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Grammar | |
| 2>
Low German grammar resembles High German, as the syntax and morphology is nearly the same as High German's. Over the years, Low German has lost many inflections, resulting in a greatly simplified Mennonite Low German. It is still moderately inflectional, having two numbers, three genders, two cases, two tenses, three persons, two moods, two voices, and two degrees of comparison.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Articles | |
| 3>
Even though Low German has three genders, in the Nominative case it has only two definite articles (like Dutch and Low Saxon); masculine and feminine articles are homophonous. However, masculine and feminine indefinite articles are still different (like German) and thus, the three genders can still be perfectly established. In the Objective case, the masculine has a special definite article, making it once more different from the feminine, which, like the neuter, does not change. In the plural number, all gender identification is lost (as in German, Dutch and Low Saxon); all plural determiners and adjective endings are homophonous with the feminine singular.
Definite
Indefinite
Number
Singular
Plural
Singular
Gender
masc
fem
neuter
all
masc
fem
neuter
Nominative
de
de
daut
de
een
eene
een
Objective
dän
eenen*
In colloquial speech the indefinite article is reduced practically to a "n", or "ne" if feminine. If used so, there is no case distinction. However, when used as a numeral, meaning "one", the diphthong "ee" is heavily stressed and the objective of the masculine gender is used. There is no indefinite plural article; een has no plural.
Some Plautdietsch writers try to use a three case system with the definite articles, without much consistency. The system looks somewhat like this, some might use the dative neuter articles, others might not:
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
masc
fem
neut
all
Nominative
de
de
daut
de
Accusative
dän
Dative
däm
däm
[edit] Tags: | |
zote monety |