LL-L: "Frisian" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 26.AUG.1999 (02)

[Sandy Fleming]

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

>From: Muhammed Suleiman [suleiman at lineone.net]
>Subject: "Frisian"
>
>Dear Lowlanders,
>
>Many thanks to Henno Bransdsma, and others, for their masterful
commentaries
>on 'Good bread and good cheese ...'.
>
>Do any of you by any chance know what the phonology of Heligoland Frisian
is
>like? Would this be nearer to the English?

How would you measure nearness of phonology? I have several books on
Heligolandic (Halunder, they call it themselves), and the phonolgy is quite
like other Island North Frisian dialects, with some more deletion ate the
end of words (not written), plus the typical feature of pronouncing old
Germanic j as dj-, a feature that other Frisian varieties don't have. I can
post a summary of the phonology later, if you like, or maybe Rita Aarhammer
(who AFAIK subscribes to this list as well, and is more of a specialist in
Halunder matters than I am) could.


>
>Of course, the similarity between the two forms would also rest on which
>dialect of English was being used. I have heard _gu:@d_ for 'good', and
>though I cannot claim to have heard *_bri:@d_

You'd have to be looking for [brI. at d] instead... like the sound of Dutch
_meer_ without the r, and a clear schwa ending.

, I have definitely ( and
>relatively frequently) come across _hi:@d_ for 'head'.
>
I do recall that Irish varieties (among others) have more diphthong ending
in schwa than most other English dialects. I'll be in Belfast next week, so
maybe I'll check...


>To veer off at a tangent slightly, is the word _boi_ for 'boy' universal in
>the Frisian dialects, or is it specific to certain areas?

It's quite rare. The normal word for "boy" is _jonge_ (and similar words in
other varieties, or words like Wa"a"nt (saterfrisian)), and boike (the
diminuative) I would only use in a "caressing" or "endearing" context.
Mostly a bookish word though. I do not think that there is any geographical
distribution to speak of as to its use.

>Secondly, what is the Frisian equivalent of the Dutch word _boei_, meaning
a
>floating _buoy_?
>

That would be _boei_ [bui] or [bu:i], or _buoi_ [bwoi]. The latter is rare,
a case of breaking. I would use the first one with a long vowel (as I would
in roeie, bloeie and the like.).

>Regards,
>

Hope this helped,

Groetnis,

Henno Brandsma

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