LL-L: "Frisian" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 24.AUG.1999 (04)

[Sandy Fleming]

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From: Brandsma [brandsma at twi.tudelft.nl]
Subject: "Frisian"

>From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
>Subject: Frisian
>
>Muhammed wrote:
>
>>>Secondly, on a slightly more mundane note, there is an old rhyme in
>English:
>
>           Good bread and good cheese      is good English and good Friese
>
>Can anyone tell me if this is EXACTLY true in any of the Friesian dialects.
>I
>know it is essentially correct, but does the Friesian word for 'cheese' not
>begin with a hard k- ? And should the -d of 'and' not remain silent (as it
>can
>in colloquial English)? I have always wondered about this, and would be
>grateful
>if someone could put me out of my misery!<<

[been away for some time, among other things to practice my Saterfrisian in
Saterland, so that explains my late response..]

Not true exactly, no. I have translated this bit "good bread and good
cheese" quite a while ago, for this list as well, but it's no trouble doing
it again:

In Standard West(erlauwer) Frisian: goede brea en goede tsiis,
[gu. at d@ brI.@ In gu at d@ tsi:s], where "brea" is not really "bread" (only in
a very general sense of "food, living": to earn one's bread, or as in the
Lord's prayer), but "wheat bread" (Not sure about this term, Dutch would be
"roggebrood"), which is darker and "heavier" ("dreger")
[normal bread is called "bo^le"]

Note the inflexional endings -e on "goed", which sort of spoils the nice
analogy with English, though older English had them too. The ts- is
definitely correct, in fact palatalisation of k- and g- before front vowels
is one of the defining factors for a variety to be called Anglo-Frisian.
Another Anglo-Frisian thing is the palatal vowel of "cheese"/"tsiis".
Another difference with English are the falling diphthongs in "goed" and
"brea". All Frisian dialects have forms of "and" without -d, although in
relicts one sometimes finds full forms: "troch ende troch" = "through and
through".

West Frisian is the best match, I think. Saterfrisian would be _goud Brood
un gouden Sa"is_ , with voiced fricative g-, ou= [o:u], a"i = [e:i]. Again
a palatal vowel and k to s (via ts). North Frisian has many variants. IIRC
Fering would be something like "gud bruad a"n guden sias", Mooring
something like _go"dj bru"u"dj a"n go"dj(en)[?] sa"is_ etc. (sorry to
native speakers on the list if I err here, my dictionaries and grammars are
at home...)


Hope this helps,

Henno Brandsma

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