LL-L: "Language contacts" LOWLANDS-L, 19.FEB.2000 (03) [E]

[Alfred Brothers]

R. F. Hahn wrote:

> Unfortunately, these are not a sizeable language samples.  However, I think they
> provide some indication of North and Western Germanic overlap, especially in the
> Southern Jutish text.  Among the ones I found striking in SJ are these:
>
> (2) frequent West-Germanic-type preposing of definite articles rather than
> North-Germanic-type postposing; e.g., _... de de schwin frar_ (cf. Danish _...
> som Svinene åde_) '... that the pigs ate'

Are there _any_ postposed articles? They all seem to be preposed, as in LS.

> (3) _de_ as relative pronoun instead of Skandinavian _som_ (see example under
> (2))

Danish has an alternative form of _som_ (_der_) when it's used as the subject of a
clause -- unlike Swedish and Norwegian (Dano-Norwegian excluded). However, in the
example you cite, it's used as the object of the clause; and I don't know whether
any Danish dialects use _der_ in those cases. In form, it's similar enough to LS
"de" to be transferred. And in proximity to a language having influence strong
enough to have caused the preposed def. article to be more common, I suppose it
could be possible. I notice later in the text, however, that both _som_ and _der_
appear together (_...som der ha brö nok_) when used as the subject.

> Can any of you identify other characteristics in either text?

I find the word order interesting in "Som hain no ho oll hains päng fertehr, ..." I
would have expected "Som hain no ho fertehr oll hains päng, ...".

It's quite an interesting dialect. I hope someone comes up with more examples.

Alfred Brothers