LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.07.15 (11) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 15.JUL.2002 (11) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Web Site: <http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/lowlands/>
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: globalmoose at t-online.de (Global Moose Translations)
Subject: LL-L "Demographics" 2002.07.15 (07) [E/LS/German]

Dear Lowlanders,

correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that, despite the name,
Plautdietsch is not what we think of as "Plattdeutsch", but largely
derived from a Southern German dialect (with maybe a sprinkle here and
there of Low Saxon due to the many emigrants from Mecklenburg)?!

Greetings,
Gabriele Kahn

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language varieties

Hi, Gabriele!

> correct me if I'm wrong, ...

Sure!  :)  Here I am, happy to oblige, though I hope I will receive
verbal support from those List members who are more knowledgeable about
this than I am.

"Plautdietsch" is most certainly and indisputably a Lowlands Saxon (Low
German) dialect (group)!  It is primarily Saxon-based, and the
phonological differences between it and other LS dialects (or groups)
are entirely predictable.

In fact, this Mennonite dialect (group) is rather typical of the
dialects of "Western Prussia" (now Northern Poland), most of which were
used by non-Mennonites.  However, due the the displacement of "Germans"
after World War II, these other dialects, like those of "Eastern
Prussia" (Russian Kaliningrad and parts of Northeastern Poland), are now
extinct or seriously moribund, and few younger Germans know about them
or have ever heard or read them.  Plautdietsch is the lone surviving
representative, so to speak.  This is one of the reasons why
Plautdietsch seems to odd to you and others who are mostly used to the
North Saxon dialects, with a little bit of exposure to the dialects of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Westphalia and Eastphalia.

I encourage you to check out some collections of LS dialect samples that
include samples of "Western Prussia" (especially around the delta of the
Vistula river).  They also have many West Slavic and Baltic loans, and
their phonology is typical of Slavicized Germanic (e.g., unrounding of
front rounded vowels, and g- > j-).  You will see that they are very
similar to Plautdietsch.  In fact, the Mennonites adopted the language
of that area when they settled there after having fled the Netherlands
and trecked through Northern Germany.  The only thing that is a bit
different about Plautdietsch is that it has some Russian, Ukrainian,
English and Spanish words, which is due to Mennonite migration.

Yes, Plautdietsch has more than its "fair" share of "High" German
words.  But so do (did) all of those fareastern LS dialects, the main
reason being that in those predominantly Slavic- and Baltic-speaking
areas, considered in the medieval West the "Wild East" frontier land up
for grabs under the guise of Christianizing the "heathen" Slavs and
Balts, Germanic-speaking "settlers" intermingled, thus there was a
rubbing of shoulders of "Low" and "High," plus Flemish and, yes,
Scottish.  However, structurally you can still easily distinguish
dialects as "Low Prussian" vs "High Prussian," etc.

Another reason why Plautdietsch has so many "High" German loans is that,
especially in the isolation of their diaspora, the "High" language
served as the Mennonites' _loshn koydesh_ (Yiddish-Hebrew for "sacred
language" applied to Hebrew).  The bible of these very pious people was
and is "High," and, like most LS speakers, and also much like Yiddish
speakers, they came to both love and despise their own native language
("inferior," albeit lovable due to being the _mameloshn_ "mother
language").

I strongly encourage you to read our own Reuben Epps book _The Story of
Low German & Plautdietsch: Tracing a language across the globe_,
Hillsboro, KS: The Reader's Press, 1993, ISBN 0-9638494-0-9.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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