Low Saxon language
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Interlanguage link for the language itself: Plattdüütsch
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Low Saxon (in Low Saxon,
Nedersaksisch,
Neddersassisch,
"Plattdüütsch" or
"Nedderdüütsch") is any of a variety of
Low German dialects spoken in northern
Germany and the
Netherlands.\n
Plattdüütsch is the name for both the Low Saxon and the
East Low German language.
Since
1994 Low Saxon has been recognised by the
European Union as an independent regional language. Since
1999 Low Saxon is under protection of the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The
ISO 639-2 language code is
nds since May 2000. The
Northern Low Saxon language serves as a common intelligible language in
TV and
Wireless programms.
Although often considered a variation of
German, in many respects it is more like
Dutch, which is based on closely related
Low Franconian dialects. Low Saxon, East Low German and Low Franconian are classified together as
Low German. \nThe distinction between Low Saxon, East Low German and Low Franconian (on one side) or
High German (on the other side) is not precisely defined; there are several clines that vary smoothly from one dialect to another.
The Low Saxon language has commonality with the
English language, the
Scandinavian languages and
Frisian in that it has not been influenced by the High German
sound shift. Therefore a lot of Low Saxon words sound similar to their English counterparts. For instance:
Water/water,
later,
bit,
Disch/dish,
Schipp/ship,
pull/pull,
good/good,
Klock/clock,
Seil/sail,
he/he,
Storm/storm.
The grammar also shows similarities to the English language. Low Saxon declination has only three cases. In the northern dialects the participle is formed without the prefix
ge-, like the Scandinavian languages and English, but unlike Dutch and German. The syntax on the other hand is more like German syntax, though there are some differences.
Low Saxon was once much more widespread than today, being used as a
lingua franca throughout the
Baltic Sea region, under the influence of the
Hanseatic League. It served as a
standard language in many regions of northern Germany until it was replaced for that purpose by
Standard German (a
High German dialect) during the unification of
Germany under
Otto von Bismarck in
1871.
A Low Saxon Wikipedia has recently been started at
http://nds.wikipedia.org.
The Low Saxon greeting formula
Moin and its duplication
MoinMoin gave the name for the WikiWiki MoinMoin Project
http://moin.sourceforge.net/
There are plans to create a computer vocabulary for lower German in order to translate Desktop environments such as
KDE and
GNOME.
[1]
List of dialects
Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more distantly separated ones being less so. However, most Low Saxon dialects are thought to be descended from, or to have been strongly influenced by Old Saxon.
Dialects of Lower German in northern Germany:\n* Northern (Standard) Low Saxon\n** Bremisch (around Bremen)\n** Hamburgisch (in Hamburg)\n** Holsteinisch (in Holstein)\n** Schleswigsch (in Schleswig)\n** Heidjerisch (in Lüneburg Heath)\n* Northern Low Saxon (on frisian substrate)\n** Standard East Frisian, or Emslandic (in western Lower Saxony)\n** Brookmer Platt (in the Brookmerland and Aurich area in East Frisia)\n** Rheiderländer Platt (in East Frisia)\n* Southern Low Saxon (Eastphalian) (around Hannover)\n** Heide Eastphalian\n** Main Eastphalian\n** Götting-Grubenhagen\n** Elbe Eastphalian\n* Southern Low Saxon (Westphalian) (in Westphalia)\n* East Low German\n** Mecklenburgisch (in Mecklenburg)\n** Pommersch (in Pomerania)\n** Brandenburgisch (in Brandenburg)\n** Berlinerisch (in Berlin)\n** Westprussian (nearly extinct)\n** Eastprussian (nearly extinct)
\nDialects in the eastern Netherlands:\n* Northern Low Saxon (on frisian substrate)\n** Noord-Gronings (in Groningen)\n** Westerwolds (in eastern Groningen)\n** Stad-Gronings/Noordenvelds (in Groningen and Northern Drenthe) \n** Veenkoloniaals (in eastern Groningen and Drenthe)\n** Kollumerlands (a Frisian/Low Saxon mixture dialect in Groningen and Fryslân)\n* Southern Low Saxon ("Westphalian")\n** Twents (in eastern Overijssel)\n** Achterhoeks (in Gelderland)\n** Midden-, Zuid- and Zand-Drenths (in Drenthe)\n** Stelingwerfs/Stienwiekerlands/West-Drenths (in Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf, in Fryslân and in parts of Drenthe)\n** Sallands/North Veluws/Zuidoost-Drenths (in central Overijssel, in Gelderland and in Drenthe, resp.)\n** East Veluws (a Dutch/Low Saxon mixture dialect spoken in Gelderland)\n** Urks (in Flevoland)
Dialects in Canada and the United States:\n* Mennonite Low Saxon (Plautdietsch) (in Mennonite communities)
This list is not complete.
See also: Common phrases in different languages.
The Lord's Prayer in Northern Low Saxon
- Unse Vadder in d'n Himmel! \n: Laat hilligt waren dienen Namen. \n: Laat kamen dien Riek. \n: Laat waren dienen Willen so as in d'n Himmel, \n: so ook op de Eerd. \n: Uns' dääglich Brood giv uns vundaag. \n: Un vergiv uns unse Schuld, \n: as wi de vergeven hebt, \n: de an uns schüllig sünd. \n: Un laat uns nich versöcht waren. \n: Maak uns vrie vun dat Böse.
The Lord's Prayer in Old Saxon (Heliand, 9. jh./eew n.Kr.)
- Fadar ûsa firiho barno,\n: thu bist an them hôhon himila rîkea,\n: geuuîhid sî thîn namo uuordo gehuuilico.\n: Cuma thîn craftag rîki.\n: Uuerða thîn uuilleo obar thesa uuerold alla,\n: sô sama an erðo, sô thar uppa ist\n: an them hôhon himilo rîkea.\n: Gef ûs dago gehuuilikes râd, drohtin the gôdo,\n: thîna hêlaga helpa, endi alât ûs, hebenes uuard,\n: managoro mênsculdio, al sô uue ôðrum mannum dôan.\n: Ne lât ûs farlêdean lêða uuihti\n: sô forð an iro uuilleon, sô uui uuirðige sind,\n: ac help ûs uuiðar allun ubilon dâdiun.
External links
\n\n \n \nnds:Plattdüütsch \n
