Low German belongs to the Low Saxon language (niedersächsischen Sprache)，East lowland German (ostniederdeutschen Sprache) and lowland Frankish (niederfrä nkischen Sprache) dialects.Mainly distributed inGermanynorth,FranceNortheast,Netherlands，BelgiumOne Belt.
1. East Low German, includingBerlinThe East and West Prussian German used in places such as.
2．Low Saxon, such as those used by the German community in Kansas, North AmericaMennoniteMennonite Plautdietsch，BremenDusseldorfNorth Rhine WestphaliaLower Saxony、Shile Suyige-Most cities in Holstein and part of many provinces in the southeast of the Netherlands.
Plautdietsch or Mennonite Low German Grammar:
[1] Prepositions:
Plautdietsch preposition inventory is rich. Some of the most common:
aun→on, in: de Klock henjtaun de Waunt(he watch is hangingon the wall)
aewa→over, about
besied→beside, next to
bie→by, at
bowa→over
buta→except, besides
derch→through
en→in
fa→for
hinja, hinjaraun→ (placed at the end)
jaeajen→against
mank→among
met→with
no→to, after
onen→without
opp→on
to→to
tweschen→between
unja→under
ver
von
[2] Nouns
Mennonite Low German nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, and can be singular or plural.
Personal pronounyes:ekjfroagam,heeauntwuatmie=I ask him, he answers me
Name in strict sense: For example, Peeta frajcht Marie-en, Marie auntwuat Peetren=Peter asks Mary, Mary answers Peter
[3] Alphabet palatization:
All words with a g and k (even where it is shifted to ch in German) 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)，written gj or dj. (A similar event occurred with English, but not as generalized).
For example:
gestern=jistren=yesterday
geben=jaewen=to give
Kirche=Kjoakj=church
Bruecke=Brigj=bridge
Milch=Malkj=milk
recht=rajcht=right
3. Lowland Frankish, including standard Dutch and BelgianFlemish(The difference between it and Dutch is not dialect and standard language, but is equivalent to the difference between Taiwan's "national language" and mainland Mandarin, such as "software" in the mainland and Taiwan's "software", "information" and "information", that is, although the words used by Fu and He are different, the corresponding words have the same pronunciation), Silingborg language in the Netherlands, etc,So Dutch is actually a kind of low-lying German, but it is called Dutch independently because of political factors.General linguists believe that Low German is an independent language rather than some dialects of German.Low German has been influenced byStandard GermanThe impact is great.Low German is still widely used in northern Germany today.Lowland German has preserved some relatively primitive elements of the Germanic language family. They have the same common ground as Dutch and Old EnglishHigh GermanCloser to each other.The pronunciation of all kinds of Low German is usually soft, with more e: sounds and long sounds.
Disambig
Many people in northern Germany have not noticed that the Low German speaking area is notvirtueThe border between the Netherlands and the United States ended abruptly and extended to the east of the Netherlands.
historical background
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GermanySaxonyAlong with its language, it spread to the south, southwest and even Britain through ethnic migration.Beda Venerabilis said that the Saxons still living in Germany wereAncient Saxon, soOld SaxonIt is the oldest development stage of Low German.The ancient Saxon language expanded outward through a region, that is, today's inclusivenessHolstein(Holstein, excluding the east),Stolmann(Stormarn)，Lower Saxony ，Westphalia(Westfalen) and the eastern Netherlands.For hundreds of years, in Wendland (Saxons call WendenMrs Weisla, they saidSorbian ）There are gray areas of Slavic and Saxon.
Because the British Germanic people originally settled todayNorth Germany, so the Anglo Saxon dialect, together withold EnglishBoth have strong consistency with Low German (ancient Saxon).In the middle ages, although the original kinship was still clearly visible（Romance）Interference and EnglishGrammarThe gradual reduction has greatly reduced their similarities.So English still remainsWest Germanic The basic characteristics of.
Along with the eastward movement (eastern colonization), the ancient lowland German also expanded.Then, until 1225, the medieval lowland German continued to spread to the east.A new language kaleidoscope has emerged:Mecklenburg(Mecklenburgisch)、Bomo language(Pommersch)、Nanmec（Brandenburg，Südmärkisch / Brandenburgisch）、Lower Prussian(Niederpreuß isch, notthe BalticOfOld Prussian ）, Baltic Coast orScandinaviaThe lowland German of cities and farms.In addition, the mediaeval lowland German also successfully integrated Danish andNorthern Frisian The distribution ofEastern Frisianpush towardEast Frisland(Ostfriesland)。All new Low German speaking areas are calledcolonizationwritten languageOr colonial dialects with unique grammar and vocabulary.Therefore, there are still dialects in this area todayverbchangerules on pronunciationThe same phenomenon, such as high German, western low German, and in the eastShile Suyige(Schleswiger Platt) andEast Frisian(Ostfriensischen Platt) Low German for the verb "do"personcomplexThe changes of are as follows:
High German
Western Low German
Eastern Low German
chinese
wir mach-en
wi maak-t
wi mak-en
We do
ihr mach-t
ji maak-t
ji mak-en
You do
sie mach-en
se maak-t
se mak-en
They do
Historically, Low German was widely used in the NetherlandsGerman EmpireLow German speaking areas and Poland before 1945.
afterLower Frankish(Niederfrä nkisch)BelgiumAs a symbol of an independent country in written and cultural languageStandard GermanorStandard DutchThe form of the German dialect in Germany and the Netherlands gradually degenerated.Today, only in rural areas will this language be used as a daily communication.
The continuous decline of Low German can be divided into two stages.About 16seventeenth centuryAt the turn of the century, the written language was first replaced by standard German.Educated citizens obeyed the rulers of cities and fiefs and used standard German in written language.Although most North German residentsoral languageShanghai still uses Low German, but the language continues to lose its function and importance, so that with the passage of time, this social class accepted the standard German used by other classes.Finally, the ancient regional language has essentially become the daily language of a few people, especially the rural people.
With the modernization of the society, the chances of the development and survival of Low German are getting smaller and smaller.19. The process of social development in the 20th century forced it to become a popular language that was not valued.Industrialization andurbanizationIt not only greatly limits the opportunities for people to use lowland German, but also promotes the decline and disintegration of local languages that should have a place in regional popular languages.Through the popularity of schools and education and social lifebureaucratization And educationDemocratizationIt is the time to promote and stabilize the popular language used by the public into standard German.
For a long time, Low German was excluded from church, school, politics, literature and science, and from the family in the 20th century.Second World WarFrom other sourcesDialect areaOur people are also accomplices to the erosion of this language in the past 50 years.Regional attempts to revive the language are also due tomass mediaPushing the slope to help the rapid progress of the mountain is more than enough.
Low German was once an important written languageHanseatic LeagueThe language used and the common language of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea for a long time.Language researchers call the development period of these language histories the Middle Low German (about 1200 to 1600 AD).Low German was not only written language, but alsodiversificationIt is difficult to reconstruct today.Even so, the written language of Middle Ancient Low German can still be seen in documents, books and certificates until modern times.The language center at that time was located in the big city of Hanseatic LeagueLubeck ；After the collapse of the city alliance, Low German continued to be used at the regional level.
The writing of the lowland German in North Germany was continuously threatened by the standard German and fell to the level of dialect.Hamburg andWerder BremenUntil ten years ago, the everyday language of Lowland German was more noble against the background of other rural dialects, and it was the last remnants of the elegant written language of the past.
etymology
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During the period of Old Low German, there was no unified name for Old Low German in China.The form of address in Saxony can be found in Latin texts.In the middle ancient low German stage, the low German was called d ü desch or d ü de, which was especially used to distinguishLoanwordsAnd Latin.Therefore, in the 15th century, many cities in North Germany had such a language to compare with the Latin language learned in schools.
If you want to distinguish your own language from high or low German, you can use the above language (unse d ü desch, sassesch d ü desch or moderlike spray).15. In the 16th century, the most commonly used concept was the Saxesch language, also known as the sassche spray, or with a prefix, it became the neighbor sassesch.Since the 16th century, there have also been appellations of "nedderd ü desch" and "nedderlendesch" (Low German).
In the 17th century, Plattdeutsch (Low German) appeared, and the names of sassesch and others were replaced by Niederdeutsch (Low German).The new name of Low German derives from Dutch.The earliest evidence can be found in the NetherlandsDelftThis can be seen in the New Testament printed in the city.In the title and preface, it means that the book is written in Low German, that is, in clear and excellent Mandarin (compared with school language that few people can understand).The adjective plat in Lowland German does not mean that it has not caught up with high German or lowlandvowelTransfer refers to a clear and well-known meaning.The dialect variant is called Platt, which is not only gradually popular in Low German, but also in West and Central German.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the lowland language was still called Nederduitsche Taal, and the sects reformed by the lowland language were still recognized as the sects reformed through the lowland language (Nederduitsch Hervarmde/Hereformeerde Kerk) until the middle of the 20th century.Protestant churches have triggered an important trend in South Africa, and today they are also called Nederduitsch Hervarmde Kerk.Germany continues to use low-lying Saxon as a synonym for low-lying German.Another synonym is Plattdeutsch.The difference between the two nouns is that Niederdeutsch is a professional term, while Plattdeutsch is a public address.
geographical distribution
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Low German is used in North Germany.Its southernmost boundary is Benrather Linie or Uerdinger Linie, which deviates slightly to the north.especiallyEast Low German ofisoglossToday, it leans northward.The last large-scale study of the language in 1984 pointed out that there were about eight million people using Low German at that time.At most 5-8 million people in 2006 can speak Low German.
Northeastern Netherlandslanguage varietyHistorically, it belonged to the Low German language.However, because Dutch is the main language and has a great impact on Dutch dialects, some linguists still regard it as a language variant of Dutch rather than a language variant of German according to the situation of today's dialects.
From a historical point of view, Niederfrä nkisch was once a branch of Low German.Today's linguistics no longer supports such a view.It can be seen from today's dialect that the degree of similarity between the local dialect of Lower Franks and Low German is just like that of Middle Franks.Therefore, due to the characteristics of the language, it is impossible to classify it into Low German.In fact, this view is somewhat outdated, because according to historical data, there used to be ancient German, which divided Low German and High German into two parts. See the West Germanische Sprachen for these parts.
The German speaking area of the lowlands used to be all over East Prussia in history.Due to the expulsion of German people after the Second World War, German and its dialect in the regions belonging to Poland and Russia have long been extinct.But the dialect Plautdietsch, originally belonging to West PrussiaUkraineIt has spread to different regions of the world, making its traces visible in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, etc. today.
The inclusion of Lower Rhine in Low German is quite problematic.It should be a branch of Lower Frankish.According to the type of language, the kinship between the dialect of Lower Rhine and the Dutch dialect is stronger than that of the German language nearby.After World War II, many dialects became more and more close to standard Dutch and standard German, so that today German dialects are widely used in Lower Rhine.However, the dialect in this area is not a dialect of Highland German because it has not kept up with the Hochdeutsche Lauverschiebung.On the other hand, compared with Low German, it also has a deeper kinship with the dialect of frä nkisch rheinisch.For language researchers, this may be the result of the fact that the dialect of Lower Rhine cannot be described through the dialect of Low German in literature.
Language
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Low German is a controversial language in the 20th century;Due to its limited function (only used by specific ethnic groups), it is classified into the category of dialect, but most people who use the language also regard it as an independent language.In addition, Lowland German is not homogeneous and is composed of many different dialects.
The European Parliament recognizes and protects Low German as an official language in Germany and the Netherlands.The relevant regulations of Germany came into force in 1999.Discrimination against low-lying German is expressly prohibited in some German speaking federal countries.Therefore, in Schleswig Holstein, the authorities need not only to respond and make suggestions in Low German, but also to answer questions in that language.The Federal Court also established that ifMunichWhen the Federal Patent Office applies for a patent, it must file it in Low German.In Germany, however, Low German (Niedersaechsisch) operates as a special local language.
In the field of science, Low German has become independent from other German language literature.Most people who use Low German always believe that the language is unique.The vocabulary of Low German is almost the same as that of Dutch today (except for a few borrowed words and the continuous development of the language).Bothlanguage varietyThe grammatical structure of is also the same, and the only difference is the pronunciation (with the exception of Niederfraekisch, which is used in Niederrhein, Germany, and is similar to Dutch pronunciation).
Low German, like other dialects, is a family language.The linguist Stellmacher took the member of the Federal Parliament of Bremen as an example. Although he could not speak fluent Low German, he was willing to use the words and expressions of Low German in his conversation.By doing so, he hopes to create a better atmosphere and shorten the distance with the audience and the speaker.In the state parliament of the Northern German Confederation, especially when the topic of Low German is discussed, Low German will be used for conversation.This makes the atmosphere between members more harmonious and plays a role in easing.But it also means that people like to use Low German when talking about less important issues.
Although there are also some serious literature plays worth thinking about in the Low German language, it is only the people who are discussing the literature and drama art of the Low German language prefer the theme of being relaxed and happy.Lowland German literature and drama are not only for people's superficial entertainment, but also may be more serious, which leads to their unconscious preference for the cold side.Lowland German has long been confined to private themes, and its use in private occasions and in the so-called living environment of ordinary people is the best evidence.
