LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.17 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 17.SEP.2003 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Theo Homan <theohoman at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.16 (04) [E]

Moin!

Helge wrote:

> One of the
> main differences between English and Frisian/Dutch/Low
> Saxon is the strong influence of the Scandinavian
> languages which seems more influencial in daily speech
> than French or Latin though English linguistist tend
> to deny this.

Well, as for Swedish the influence has been other way round: Low Saxon has
had a strong influence on Swedish. The language changed a lot in vocabulary
as well as in grammar. Many merchants came from Northern Germany, especially
from Lübeck, to Sweden, especially to Visby and Stockholm. Stockholm has
been ruled almost for over a century by people of Northern german origin.
They brought their language with them and did only very slowly learn
swedish. Because of their economic power they did not see a need to change
to another language. In the area of the Baltic Sea almost everyone could
understand Low Saxon. Low Saxon was the language of trade and of law. There
are letters to be found in which lawyers and judges are asking for help in
finding a just doom.

Greetings from Kiel,

Anja

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From: R. F. Hahn <lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net>
Subject: Language contacts

Anja,

What you say about Swedish above also applies to most other language
varieties of Scandinavia.  There were Hanseatic settlements in what are now
Norway and Denmark as well, and Lowlands Saxon (Low German) had at least as
much influence on them as on Swedish.  Well, to be more careful, let me add
that this initially applied to urban Scandinavian, especially to the
varieties of the cities in which the Hanseatic Trading League dominated
trade.  In Norway, which was then Danish-dominated, this influenced the
urban Dano-Norwegian varieties (Danish spoken with a Norwegian "accent"),
especially that of Bergen, and from there radiated out into the hinterland
with more or less lasting effect on the rural varieties.  However, many
rural Norwegian varieties, especially those of more isolated communities,
were less affected by Saxonized Dano-Norwegian (_bokmål_ "book language", or
_riksmål_ "national language") of the cities and retained more original
Norwegian character (with more Swedish-seeming features and with the old
three-gender system in tact), and it is these "old" varieties on which after
Norway's regained independence the "New Norwegian" (_nynorsk_, or _landsmål_
"country language"), now one of two official Norwegian languages and a
language with very lax standards, came to be based.

Furthermore, it ought to be mentioned that Lowlands Saxon exerted
considerable influences on other languages as well, especially on the
language varieties of what are now Northern Poland (especially on Kashubian)
and the Baltic states (Latvian, Lithuanian, Livian, Estonian).  In the case
of the Baltic countries as well as Finnish and Karelian, some of these
influences did not come from LS directly but via Danish and Swedish.
Apparently, LS also influenced Russian varieties used on the Baltic Sea
coast.  English, too, has borrowed LS terms, though in the case of many of
these the jury is still out as for whether these are of LS or Dutch origin,
given that these two languages are closely related and speakers of both had
longstanding contacts with English-speaking traders and seafarers, also had
trading offices in London and elsewhere in coastal England.

Borrowing also went the other way.  LS has borrowed numerous terms, in the
early days especially nautical ones, from English.  In port cities, such as
Hamburg, many of these filtered out into the general local dialects.  For
instance, I say _törn_ (< English "turn") to mean 'short (round-)trip',
'(pleasure) walk', 'drive', and this is used in Hamburg Missingsch (German
on LS substrate) as well.  Furthermore, LS borrowed from Dutch.  Of course,
this is most prevalent in the dialects that are geographically closest to
Dutch, especially those used in the Netherlands.  However, due to eastward
spread or to influences of Dutch settlements in Northern Germany, some such
loans are used farther east from the Netherlands border, such as _suutje_
['zu:tje] ~ ['zu:tSe] 'gently', 'easy' (also used in Missingsch), which
comes from Dutch _zoetje(s)_ (< _zoet_ [zu(:)t] 'sweet', which in LS is
_söyt_ [zœIt] ~ [zOIt]).

Gröytens,
Reinhard/Ron

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