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L O W L A N D S - L - 15 April 2011 - Volume 06<br>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From:
<span class="gd"><span style="color:#790619">Marcus Buck</span></span><span class="gi"> </span><span class="go"><<a href="mailto:list@marcusbuck.org">list@marcusbuck.org</a>></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject:<span class="gi"> LL-L "Language history" 2011.04.15 (03) [EN]</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: "dealangeam"
<<a href="mailto:atdelange@iburst.co.za" target="_blank">atdelange@iburst.co.za</a>><br style="mso-special-character:line-break">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: navy;">I have a question which occupied my mind since the 1980's.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="color: navy;">Why did Low-Saxon (Nieder-Deutsch)
diversified since the 1000's without maintaining one dialect as the common standard?</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">All languages diversify if
they are handed down orally only. English had many dialects in the English
countryside, Continental West Germanic was one big dialect continuum, the
Romance languages also formed one big dialect continuum etc. The "common standards"
only developed in the modern era. Diversification is normal.<br>
<br>
The Western Low Saxon dialects were always different from the Central Low Saxon
dialects and from the Eastern Low Saxon dialects. But the isoglosses didn't run
along what is now the national border. Groningian is closely related to
Eastfrisian. Achterhooks is closely related to Westmönsterlandsch.<br>
<br>
Innovation in languages is mostly triggered from above. Scientists, the church,
the state etc. In the 16th century the printing press had innovated Europe. Spreading ideas had become much easier. The Netherlands had
just become a state of its own. The Hanseatic League
had become irrelevant due to various factors. The educated classes in the
Netherlandic state now used Hollandic as the main medium of communication. The
educated classes in the German states of the HRR used Luther's German. And that
was the first time that the modern line between German Low Saxon and Dutch Low
Saxon became a isogloss. For German Low Saxon the relevant innovation-triggering
source was now Luther German and for Dutch Low Saxon it was Hollandic.<br>
<br>
In 16th century Low Saxon nobody really needed a word for "century".
Much too abstract. But over time it became a concept that also became common in
the dialects. Dutch Low Saxon adopted "eeuw" from Hollandic, while
German Low Saxon adopted the loan "Johrhunnert" from German. In Dutch
Low Saxon the difference between short 'o' and short 'u' vanished because it
was irrelevant in Dutch too. In German Low Saxon it became reinforced because
it is relevant in German. Word-final "sch" became reduced to 's' in
Dutch Low Saxon and stayed in German Low Saxon etc. pp.<br>
<br>
And after 4 centuries this has left a big imprint (although most of the imprint
is from just the last century).<br>
<br>
Marcus Buck</p>
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