Low German (also called Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch or Plattdüütsch) is a name for the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in Northern Germany where it is officially called Niederdeutsch ('Low German'), and in Eastern Netherlands where it is officially called Nedersaksisch ('Low Saxon'). "Low" refers to the flat sea coasts and plains of north Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, as opposed to High German and the mountainous areas of central and southern Germany (including Alsatian spoken by most German-French residents of Alsace, France in addition to French), and the Alps (Switzerland and Austria). Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone meaning sound, voice) is the study of the sounds of human speech. ... Unicode is an industry standard designed to allow text and symbols from all of the writing systems of the world to be consistently represented and manipulated by computers. ... A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country, be it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. ... The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... Subdivisions Central German Upper German High German (in German, Hochdeutsch) is any of several German dialects spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France (Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania (Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, for example in... Alsatian can refer to: A person from Alsace, France The Alsatian language A German Shepherd Dog This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... (New région flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Arrondissements 13 Cantons 75 Communes 903 Statistics Land area1 8,280 km² Population (Ranked 14th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ...

Variants of Low German were widely (and are still to a far lesser extent) spoken in most parts of Northern Germany, for instance in the states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Historically, Low German was also spoken in the formerly German parts of Poland as well as in East Prussia and the Baltic States Estonia and Latvia. Northern Germany is the the geographic area of the five German states Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein in the German Lowlands known as the Northern German Plain with Low German as the historic language (see: Benrath line). ... With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... Bremen, see Bremen (disambiguation). ... Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 Bundesländer in Germany. ... Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (German: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a Bundesland (federal state) in northern Germany. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... The three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania The Baltic states refer to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. ...

Today, there are still speakers outside of Germany to be found in the coastal areas of present Poland (minority of ethnic German Pommersch speakers who were not expelled from Pomerania, as well as the regions around Braunsberg). There are also immigrant communities in several places of the world, such as Canada, the US, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and the small German immigrant community of Uruguay, where Low German is still spoken. In the Southern Jutland region of Denmark there may still be some Low German speakers in some German minority communities, but the Low German and North Frisian dialects of Denmark can be considered moribund at this time. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Germans. ... Pommersch is a group of East Low German dialects. ... Germans expelled from the Sudetenland // The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the forced migration of people considered Germans (Reichsdeutsche and some Volksdeutsche) from various European states and territories during 1945 and in the first three years after World War II 1946-48. ... Pomerania and the other Provinces of Prussia in the German Empire. ... Braniewo (until 1945 Polish: ; German: ) is a city in northeastern Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 18,068 (2004). ... United States may refer to: Places: United States of America SS United States, the fastest ocean liner ever built. ... Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland; Frisian Jutlân; Low German Jötlann) is a peninsula in northern Europe that forms the only non-insular part of Denmark and also the northernmost part of Germany, dividing the North Sea from the Baltic Sea. ... German-speaking minorities live in many countries and on all six inhabited continents: the countries of the former Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Belgium, Italy, the United States, Latin America, Namibia, Israel, and Australia. ... North Frisian is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. ...

The ISO 639-2 language code for Low German is nds since May 2000. ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ...

Disambiguation

There are three different uses of the term “Low German”:

1. A specific name of any West Germanic varieties that have neither taken part in the High German consonant shift nor classify as Low Franconian or Anglo-Frisian; this is the scope discussed in this article.
2. A broader term for the closely-related, continental West Germanic language family unaffected by the High German consonant shift, nor classifying as Anglo-Frisian, and thus including Low Franconian varieties such as Dutch.
3. A non-specific term for any non-standard variety of German; this use is only found in Germany and is considered not to be linguistic.

Many people in Northern Germany are unaware that Low German does not abruptly stop at the German-Dutch border but continues on into the Eastern Netherlands. Among those who are aware of it, a measure of estrangement (especially Dutch versus German influences and Dutch versus German based spelling), besides alleged sensitivities remaining from the German occupation in World War II, is often used as an argument in favor of ignoring the dialects of the Netherlands. The general attitude among Low German speakers in the Netherlands, however, is that the Dutch Low Saxon varieties belong to a continuum with the Low German varieties of Northern Germany. Many Low German speakers in the Netherlands are willing and happy to participate in activities organized on the German side of the border, and Dutch people have won prizes in Low German literature contests in Germany. The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... A variety of a language is a form that differs from other forms of the language systematically and coherently. ... High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... Low Franconian is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in The Netherlands, northern Belgium, and South Africa. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... West Germanic is the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages, including such languages as English, Dutch, and German. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... Low Franconian is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, and South Africa. ... A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Status with respect to German and Dutch

The question of whether Low German should be considered an independent language of its own, or merely a dialect (or a group of closely related dialects) of German or Dutch, has been a point of contention. Linguistics offer no simple, generally accepted criteria to decide this question, as it is of little academic interest. However, scholarly arguments have been put forward in favour of classifying Low German as a German dialect^[1][2]. Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ...

Some such arguments are:

• Low German lacks any meaningful standard form regarding grammar, orthography, or other aspects, that would bridge the immense regional differences within Low German and form an equivalent to the standard forms of German, French, or other generally accepted independent languages (although Northern Low Saxon serves as a common intelligible language in TV and Wireless programmes);

• Low German is not used widely anywhere, and especially not outside of colloquial oral communication. It is spoken on a daily basis by a small minority in Northern Germany. Use in the media is limited to small columns or segments that typically are specifically intended to foster and promote the language;

• Written Low German is used almost exclusively for belletristic literature, but not for technical documents, administrative or legal texts, etc.

In contrast, Old Saxon and Middle High German may have met enough of these criteria to be considered separate languages in their own rights. Northern Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nordneddersassisch or Platt) is a Low Saxon dialect. ... For other uses, see Television (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Claims to the contrary have also been made, ascribing to Low German the status of an independent language on par with German, Dutch, Danish, etc. They are often motivated by efforts to paint an uplifiting, positive picture to combat the perceived image of Low German as a dying and irrelevant idiom^[3], and show comparatively little interest in establishing objective criteria and measuring Low German by these. Instead, they focus on different points such as:

• The great differences between High and Low German; these are examined as absolutes and not compared to the differences between High German and other extreme, but established dialects (such as Swiss German), or between Low German and Dutch.
• The ostensible successes of very recent efforts (in the 1980s and 1990s) to revive Low German in the media, the schools, and in language societies.

Low German has been recognised by the Netherlands and by Germany (since 1999) as a regional language according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Within the official terminology defined in the charter, this status would not be available to a dialect of an official language (as per article 1 (a)), and hence not to Low German in Germany if it were considered a dialect of German. Advocates of the promotion of Low German have expressed considerable hope that this political development will at once lend legitimacy to their claim that Low German is a separate language and help mitigate the functional limits of the language that may still be cited as objective criteria for a mere dialect (such as the virtually complete absence from legal and administrative contexts, schools, the media, etc.)^[4]. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country, be it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. ... // The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. ...

Classification and related languages

Low German is a part of the West Germanic dialect continuum. The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. ...

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. Low Franconian is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in The Netherlands, northern Belgium, and South Africa. ...

To the South, it fades to the High German dialects of Central 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. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Central German (in German: Mitteldeutsch) is a group of German dialects spread from the Rhineland to Thuringia, south of Low German and north of Upper German. ... High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... In German linguistics, the Benrath line (German: Benrather Linie), jokingly also called the Weißwurstäquator, is an isogloss, or bundle of isoglosses, marking the border between the Northern Low German dialects and the High and Central German dialects in the south. ... Isoglosses on the Faroe Islands An isogloss is the geographical boundary of a certain linguistic feature, e. ...

To the East, it is neighboured by the Kashubian language (the only remnant of the Pomeranian language) and, since the expulsion of nearly all Germans from Pomerania following the Second World War, also by the Polish language. The Low German dialects of Pomerania are included in the Pommersch group. Kashubian or Cassubian (Kashubian: kaszëbsczi jãzëk, pòmòrsczi jãzëk, kaszëbskò-słowińskô mòwa) is one of the Lechitic languages, which are a group of Slavic languages. ... Stefan Ramułts Dictionary of the Pomeranian (Kashubian) language, published in Kraków, 1893 Pomeranian language edition of Wikipedia Pomeranian is a group of Lechitic dialects which were spoken in the Middle Ages on the territory of Pomerania, between the Oder and Vistula rivers. ... Duchy of Pomerania, ruled by the slavic dynasty of the Griffins (Polish: Gryfici, German: Greifen), was a semi-independent principality in the 17th century. ... Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is the official language of Poland. ... Pommersch is a group of East Low German dialects. ...

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. The Saterland Frisian is the only remnant of East Frisian language and is, outside East Frisia surrounded by Low German, as are the few remaining North Frisian varieties, and the Low German dialects of those regions have Frisian influences on account of Frisian substrates. Danish (dansk) is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages), a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. ... Frisian is a Germanic group of closely related languages, spoken by about half a million members of Frisian ethnic groups living on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The landscape to the north of Greetsiel, in East Frisia. ... North Frisian is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. ...

Some classify the northern dialects of Low German together with English, Scots and Frisian as the North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic languages. However, most exclude Low German from that group often called Anglo-Frisian languages because some distinctive features of that group of languages are only partially observed in Low German, for instance the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (some dialects have us, os for ‘us’ whereas others have uns, ons), and because other distinctive features do not occur in Low German at all, for instance the palatalization of /k/ (compare palatalized forms such as English cheese, Frisian tsiis to non-palatalized forms such as Low German Kees or Kaise, Dutch kaas, German Käse). The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ... Frisian is a Germanic group of closely related languages, spoken by about half a million members of Frisian ethnic groups living on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... Also referred to as Ingaevones, North Sea Germans (Ingwäonen, Nordsee-Germanen in German). ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... In historical linguistics, the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (also called the Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic nasal spirant law) is a description of a philological development in some dialects of West Germanic, which is attested in Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ...

Varieties of Low German

The Low German or Low Saxon languages indicated in yellow shades.
Low Rhenish and Limburgish / Bergish (bottom left) belong to Low Franconian (i.e. Dutch) and should therefore not be included. These varieties, together with their Dutch counterparts, are sometimes called Meuse-Rhenish.

Image File history File links Low_Saxon_dialects. ... Image File history File links Low_Saxon_dialects. ... Low Franconian language area with West Meuse-Rhenish: ([5] and [6]) Low Rhenish is the German name for the regional Low Franconian language varieties of the Low Germanic language spoken alongside the so-called Lower Rhine in the west of Germany and the adjacent regions in the Netherlands. ... Limburgish, or Limburgian or Limburgic (Dutch: Limburgs, German: Limburgisch, French: Limbourgeois) is a group of Franconian varieties, spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, near the common Dutch / Belgian / German border. ... Low Franconian is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, and South Africa. ... Meuse-Rhenish is a modern, superordinating term in the geography of the southeastern Low Franconian dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area. ...

In Germany

• West Low German
  • Northern Low Saxon
  • Westphalian language
  • Eastphalian language
• East Low German
  • Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch
  • Brandenburgisch
  • East Pomeranian
  • Low Prussian
  • Plautdietsch (Mennonite Low German, used also in many other countries)

West Low German (also known as Low Saxon, especially in the Netherlands) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in Northwest Germany and East Netherlands. ... Northern Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nordneddersassisch or Platt) is a Low Saxon dialect. ... Westphalian is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German. ... Eastphalian, or Eastfalian (in German, Ostfälisch), is a Low Saxon dialect spoken in southern parts of Lower Saxony, in Germany, including Hanover, Braunschweig, Hildesheim and Goettingen. ... East Low German is a group of Low German dialects spoken in Northeast Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. ... Brandenburgisch is a dialect spoken in Germany in the area around Berlin. ... East Pomeranian (Ostpommersch) is a East Low German dialect that is or used to be spoken in Northern Poland. ... Low Prussian (Niederpreußisch) is a dialect of East Low German, which was spoken in formerly German areas, that belong to Poland, Russia and Lithuania. ... Plautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, is a language spoken by the Mennonites, who are ethnically Dutch, but who adopted an East Low German dialect while they were refugees in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia (later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), beginning in the early-to-mid 1500s. ... The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons (1496-1561). ...

In the Netherlands

The Dutch Low Saxon varieties, which are also defined as Dutch dialects, consist of: This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

• Gronings
  • Hogelandsters
  • Stadsgronings
  • Westerkwartiers
  • Oldambtsters
  • Westerwolds
  • Veenkoloniaals
  • Kollumerpomps
  • Noordenvelds (Sometimes seen as Drents)
• Stellingwerfs
• Drents
  • Midden-Drents
  • Zuid-Drents
• Twents
• Twents-Graafschaps
• Gelders-Overijssels
  • Achterhoeks
  • Sallands
  • Urkers
• Veluws
  • Oost-Veluws
  • West-Veluws

Gronings can equally be defined as a Low Saxon dialects spoken in the Netherlands province of Groningen and in some adjoining areas: one in Groningen city, four in the outlands (or Ommelanden), and Westerwolds. ... Stellingwarfs is the form of the West Low German dialect of Dutch Low Saxon spoken in Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in the Dutch province of Friesland. ... Twents (or Tweants; sometimes known as Twentsch) is a West Dutch Low Saxon dialect spoken in Twente, a Dutch region near the German border, although it is also spoken in the nearby German border regions. ... Sallands is the Dutch name for the local Low Saxon dialect of the region Salland, in the west of the province Overijssel, which is in the east of the Netherlands. ... Veluws is a Low Saxon dialect from the Dutch province of Gelderland. ... West-Veluws (also: Noord-Veluws or Noordwest-Veluws) is a West Low Saxon dialect from the Dutch province of Gelderland. ...

Elsewhere

There are several Low-German-speaking communities outside Europe. Mennonite communities use their Plautdietsch everywhere they live, especially in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Germany, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and the Americas (i.e. the Mennonite colonies in Paraguay, South America, or Chihuahua, Mexico, are said to have made Low German a "co-official language" of the community, in addition to the country's official language, Spanish). Furthermore, there are communities in the Midwest of the United States, some of them with their own dialects that developed from dialects imported from Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony in the 19th century. However, the survival of Low German in the United States is uncertain or has died out in the mid 20th century, as the country's highly numerous German-American communities were further assimilated to lost much of their ancestral culture, including fluency in Low German and other German dialects/languages. There may be some remaining speakers or speaker communities in Northern Poland and in Southern Denmark, where the Low German language is at best moribund. The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons (1496-1561). ... Plautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, is a language spoken by the Mennonites, who are ethnically Dutch, but who adopted an East Low German dialect while they were refugees in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia (later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), beginning in the early-to-mid 1500s. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1], Central America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... For other uses, see Chihuahua (disambiguation). ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ... Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 Bundesländer in Germany. ... With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... German Americans are citizens of the United States of ethnic German ancestry and currently form the largest ancestry group in the United States. ...

History

Main article: History of Low German

The history of Low German (or Low Saxon) as separate from common West Germanic is less clear than in the High German case. ...

Old Saxon

Main article: Old Saxon

Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, is a West Germanic language. It is documented from the 9th century until the 12th century, when it evolved into Middle Low German. It was spoken on the north-west coast of Germany and in Denmark by Saxon peoples. It is closely related to Old Anglo-Frisian (Old Frisian, Old English), partially participating in the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law. Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, is a Germanic language. ... The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... The Middle Low German language is an ancestor of the modern Low German language, and was spoken from about 1100 to 1500. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... Old Frisian was the West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries by the people who, from their ancient homes in North Germany and Denmark, had settled in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast in the 4th and 5th centuries. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... In historical linguistics, the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (also called the Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic nasal spirant law) is a description of a philological development in some dialects of West Germanic, which is attested in Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon. ...

Only a few texts survive, predominantly in baptismal vows the Saxons were required to perform at the behest of Charlemagne. The only literary text preserved is Heliand. A portrait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer that was painted several centuries after Charlemagnes death. ... The Heliand (IPA , ) is an epic poem in Old Saxon, written about 825. ...

Middle Low German

Main article: Middle Low German

The Middle Low German language is an ancestor of modern Low German. It was spoken from about 1100 to 1500, splitting into West Low German and East Low German. The neighbour languages within the dialect continuum of the West Germanic languages were Middle Dutch in the West and Middle High German in the South, later substituted by Early New High German. Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League, spoken all around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Based on the language of Lübeck, a standardized written language was developing, though it was never codified. The Middle Low German language is an ancestor of the modern Low German language, and was spoken from about 1100 to 1500. ... August 5 - Henry I becomes King of England. ... 1500 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... West Low German (also known as Low Saxon, especially in the Netherlands) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in Northwest Germany and East Netherlands. ... East Low German is a group of Low German dialects spoken in Northeast Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. ... A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. ... The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... Linguistically speaking, Middle Dutch is no more than a collective name for closely related languages or dialects which were spoken and written between about 1150 and 1500 in the present-day Dutch-speaking region. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ... Early New High German, or Early Modern German, is the direct ancestor of the modern German language, and was used from 1350 to 1750. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... Carta marina of the Baltic Sea region (1539). ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. ... Lübeck ( pronunc. ...

Contemporary

After mass education in Germany in the 19th and 20th century the slow decline which Low German was experiencing since the end of the Hanseatic league turned into a free fall. Today efforts are made in Germany and in the Netherlands to protect Low German as a regional language. Various Low German dialects are understood by 10 million people, and native to about 3 million people all around northern Germany. Most of these speakers are located in rural villages and are often senior citizens. Carta marina of the Baltic Sea region (1539). ... A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country, be it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. ... Look up native in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Sign in a rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China An artists rendering of an aerial view of the Maryland countryside: Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank, 1918-1986), Aerial Series: Ploughed Fields, Maryland, 1974, acrylic and mixed materials on apertured double canvas, 52... The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ...

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 German consonant shift except for old /ð/ having shifted to /d/. Therefore a lot of Low German words sound similar to their English counterparts. One feature that does distinguish Low German from English is final devoicing of obstruents, as exemplified by the words 'good' and 'wind' below. This is a characteristic of Dutch and German as well and involves positional neutralization of voicing contrast in the coda position for obstruents (i.e. t = d at the end of a syllable.) The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... Frisian is a Germanic group of closely related languages, spoken by about half a million members of Frisian ethnic groups living on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. ...

For instance: water [wɒtɜ, watɜ, wætɜ], later [lɒːtɜ, laːtɜ, læːtɜ], bit [bɪt], dish [dis, diʃ], ship [ʃɪp, skɪp, sxɪp], pull [pʊl], good [gout, ɣɑut, ɣuːt], clock [klɔk], sail [sɑil], he [hɛi, hɑi, hi(j)], storm [stoːrm], wind [vɪˑnt], grass [gras, ɣras], hold [hoˑʊl(t)], old [oˑʊl(t)].

Low German is a West Germanic language of the lowlands and as such did not experience the High German consonant shift. The table below shows the relationship between English and Low German consonants which were unaffected by this chain shift and gives the modern German counterparts, which were affected by the sound shift. High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... In the study of phonetic changes, a chain shift is a type of sound shift in which a group of sounds all change at about the same time, with some sounds taking the place of others. ...

Note: The correct translation for "wife" in Dutch and German is vrouw and Frau respectively; using wijf or Weib for a human is considered archaic in German and derogatory in Dutch, comparable to "bitch". The English equivalent to Frau/vrouw does not exist. Look up bitch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Grammar

Generally speaking, Low German grammar shows similarities with the grammars of Dutch, Frisian, English and Scots, but the dialects of Northern Germany share some features (especially lexical and syntactic features) with German dialects. For the surname, see Grammer. ... For the surname, see Grammer. ... Frisian is a Germanic group of closely related languages, spoken by about half a million members of Frisian ethnic groups living on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ... Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Syntax (disambiguation). ...

Nouns

Low German declension has only three morphologically marked noun cases, where accusative and dative together constitute an objective case. In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate such features as number (typically singular vs. ... Noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ... The term accusative may be used in the following contexts: A form of morphosyntactic alignment, as found in nominative-accusative languages. ... Dative has several meanings. ... An objective pronoun in grammar functions as the target of a verb, as distinguished from a subjective pronoun, which is the initiator of a verb. ...

Dative dan

In most modern dialects, the nominative and the objective cases are primarily distinguished only in the singular of masculine nouns. In some Low German dialects, the genitive case is distinguished as well (e.g. varieties of Mennonite Low German.) It is marked in the masculine gender by changing the masculine definite determiner 'de' from de to dän. By contrast, German distinguishes four cases; nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative. So, for example, the definite article of the masculine singular has the forms: der (nom), den (acc), des (gen), and dem (dat.) Thus case marking in Low German is simpler than German's. The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun. ... An objective pronoun in grammar functions as the target of a verb, as distinguished from a subjective pronoun, which is the initiator of a verb. ... In linguistics, grammatical number is a morphological category characterized by the expression of quantity through inflection or agreement. ... The word masculine can refer to: the property of being biologically male masculinity, a traditionally male gender role the masculine grammatical gender This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ...

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 Low German: Present tense, Preterite, Perfect, and Pluperfect and in Mennonite Low German a tense whose name I don't know but it signals a remaining effect from a past finished action. For example 'Ekj sie jekomen'-'I am come'-means that the speaker came and he is still at the place to which he came as a result of his coming there. The present tense is the tense (form of a verb) that is often used to express: Action at the present time A state of being A habitual action An occurrence in the near future An action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present There are two... The preterite (also praeterite, in American English also preterit, or past historic) is the grammatical tense expressing actions which took place in the past. ... The perfect tenses are verb tenses showing actions completed at or before a specific time. ... The pluperfect tense (from Latin: plus quam perfectum more than perfect) is a perfective tense that exists in most Indo-European languages, used to refer to an event that has completed before another past action. ...

Unlike Dutch, German and southern Low German, the northern dialects form the participle without the prefix ge-, like the Scandinavian languages and English. Compare to the German past participle geschlafen. This past participle is formed with the auxiliary verb hebben 'to have'. It should be noted that e- is used instead of ge- in most Southern (below Groningen in the Netherlands) dialects, though often not when the past participle ends with -en or in a few often used words like west (been). The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In linguistics, a participle is a kind of verbal adjective; it indicates that the noun it modifies is a participant in the action that the participle refers to. ... In linguistics, a participle is a kind of verbal adjective; it indicates that the noun it modifies is a participant in the action that the participle refers to. ... In linguistics, an auxiliary (also called helping verb, auxiliary verb, or verbal auxiliary) is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it. ... The flag of Groningen Groningen is the northeast province of the Netherlands with a typical dialect (Gronings) with regional nuances. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ... In linguistics, a participle is a kind of verbal adjective; it indicates that the noun it modifies is a participant in the action that the participle refers to. ...

The reason for the two conjugations shown in the plural is regional: dialects in the central area use -t while the dialects in East Frisia and the dialects in Mecklenburg and further east use -en. The -en suffix is of Dutch influence. The landscape to the north of Greetsiel, in East Frisia. ... The name Mecklenburg derives from a castle named Mikilenburg (Old German: big castle), located between the cities of Schwerin and Wismar. ...

In Mennonite Low German, some verbs inflect into two moods: Declarative and Imperative.For the verb 'jäwen'-to give,for example, the Imperative form is 'jefs'.

There are 26 verb affixes.

Phonology

Here are some phonemes from some Low German dialects: Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ...

Vowels

• a- the tongue is put right between the mouth's bottom and mouth's top and right behind the mouth's teeth and mouth's bach, and hum
• a- just below and behind the sound just mentioned, and hum
• ä- like in date,plain,ray
• air- like in fairy
• e- like in death
• e- a schwa
• e- the tongue is put a little further forward than right in the center, and hum
• ie- like in heat, teeth, she
• i- like in hit
• o- like in story
• o- like in boat
• oo- like in tooth
• ur- like in hurry
• u- like in book
• u- like in pluck
• ü- the tongue is put between the teeth and right behind them and hum

Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean: An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in any language, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel. ...

Consonants

• b- like in bear
• b- like in ebb
• d- like in door
• d- like in bed
• ch- the tongue's top's middle is struck against the mouth's roof's middle but is not released
• f- like in fairy
• g- like in gate
• g- like in egg
• h- like in hat
• k- like in candy
• k- like in sick
• l- the tongue is put flat against the mouth's roof and hum
• l- the tongue is put against the mouth's roof and is curled up a little and hum
• m- like in marry
• n- like in not
• ng- like in thing
• p- like in pat
• p- like in hip
• r- rolled r
• r- the tongue is put midway through the mouth,close to the top, does not touch the roof nor the bottom, and hum
• s- like in s
• sch- like in share
• t- like in take
• t- like in bit
• w- like in vain,vex
• j- like in yes, yank
• z- like in zap
• zh- like in measure,

See also consonance in music. ...

Writing system

Low German is written using the Latin alphabet. There is no true standard orthography, only several locally more or less accepted orthographic guidelines, those in the Netherlands mostly based on Dutch orthography, and those in Germany mostly based on German orthography. This diversity—being the result of centuries of official neglect and suppression—has a very fragmenting and thus weakening effect on the language as a whole, since it has created barriers that do not exist on the spoken level. Interregional and international communication is severely hampered by this. Having been created by persons with little or no phonological understanding, most of these systems aim at representing the phonetic (allophonic) output rather than underlying (phonemic) representations, thus call for superfluous and confusing detail. Furthermore, many writers follow guidelines only roughly. This adds numerous idiosyncratic and often inconsistent ways of spelling to the already existing great orthographic diversity. The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ... In human language, a phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. ...

Trivia

The Low German (specifically German Platt) greeting formula Moin and its duplication MoinMoin gave the name for the WikiWiki MoinMoin Project http://moin.sourceforge.net/ Moin is a Frisian-language greeting from East Frisia, the eastern Netherlands, North Frisia and Flensburg, meaning hello. ... MoinMoin is a wiki engine implemented in Python. ...

There are plans to create a computer vocabulary for Low German in order to translate Desktop environments such as KDE and GNOME. [1] KDE (K Desktop Environment) (IPA: ) is a free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use desktop environment. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

See also

• Meuse-Rhenish
• Moin
• 1614 Low German Bible

Meuse-Rhenish is a modern, superordinating term in the geography of the southeastern Low Franconian dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area. ... Moin is a Frisian-language greeting from East Frisia, the eastern Netherlands, North Frisia and Flensburg, meaning hello. ... A rare treasured 1614 Low German Bible is on permanent display under glass at the Boerne Public Library in Texas. ...

Resources

Low German (Germany) edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Low Saxon (Netherlands) edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1058x1058, 477 KB) aa Wikipedia logo, version 1058px square, no text Wikipedia logo by Nohat (concept by Paullusmagnus); compare Wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Arabic language Talk:Anarcho-capitalism Talk:Algorithm Talk:Anno Domini Talk:The... Wikipedia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1058x1058, 477 KB) aa Wikipedia logo, version 1058px square, no text Wikipedia logo by Nohat (concept by Paullusmagnus); compare Wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Arabic language Talk:Anarcho-capitalism Talk:Algorithm Talk:Anno Domini Talk:The... Wikipedia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Information:

• Mennonite Low German-English Dictionary
• Ethnologue report for Low German (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! International 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;
• Plattdeutsch heute
• Building Blocks of Low Saxon (Low German), an introductory grammar in English and German

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:

• http://www.plattmaster.de/
• http://www.platt-online.de/
• http://www.zfn-ratzeburg.de/
• http://www.radiobremen.de/nachrichten/platt/
• http://www.deutsch-plattdeutsch.de/

References

1. ^ Sanders, W: "Sachsensprache — Hansesprache — Plattdeutsch. Sprachgeschichtliche Grundzüge des Niederdeutschen, Göttingen 1982
2. ^ J. Goossens: Niederdeutsche Sprache. Versuch einer Defintion, in: J. Goossens (ed.), Niederdeutsch. Sprache und Literatur, I, Neumünster 1973
3. ^ Examples here (in English) or here (German)
4. ^ http://www.ins-bremen.de/Geschichte/charta.htm