LL-L: "Mutual comprehension" 20.JUN.2000 (01) [E/LS]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 20.JUN.2000 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: R. F. Hahn [sasssisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Mutual comprehension

[The following is in Low Saxon/Low German and English.]

Leve Leeglanners,

Ick sammel Biespelen, in de twee Spraken snackt wardt un de Lüüd' enanner
falsch verstaat, besünners waar tominnst een vun de Spraken 'n
,,leeglandsche'' is.  Up de 57. Sied vun düt Book heff ick so'n Biespeel
funnen: Fritz Specht, _Niederdeutsche Scherze_, Hamburg: Quickborn (40),
1931.

Een Buer kümmt in 't Worenhus un seggt to den Kerl an de Dör:
   ,,Ick müch 'n Regenscherm hebben.''
   ,,Ersten Stock,'' seggt de anner.
   ,,So, erst 'n Stock! Wo krieg ick denn den Stock?''
   ,,Gerade zu!'' seggt de Kerl.
   ,,O, dat is ober schad'!'' seggt de Buer. ,,Denn kam ick mal wedder,
wenn apen is.''

Up Ingelsch mutt düt nipp un nau verklaart warden.

Kinnt Jie annere Biespelen?

Gröten,
Reinhard/Ron

***

Dear Lowlanders,

I collect examples of mutual miscomprehension between languages, especially
where at least one of the languages is "Lowlandic."  On page 57 of the
following book I found one such example involving Low Saxon (Low German)
and ("High") German: Fritz Specht, _Niederdeutsche Scherze_, Hamburg:
Quickborn (40), 1931.  This type of misunderstanding would be very rare
nowadays that most speakers of Low Saxon in Germany are equally fluent in
German and there are fewer differences between city and country.  What also
comes into it is that, especially in the speech mode of that time, German
sentences can be reduced to the most essential components, while especially
rural Low Saxon speakers are prone to elaborating rather than to reducing.

Een Buer kümmt in 't Worenhus un seggt to den Kerl an de Dör:
   ,,Ick müch 'n Regenscherm hebben.''
   ,,Ersten Stock,'' seggt de anner.
   ,,So, erst 'n Stock! Wo krieg ick denn den Stock?''
   ,,Gerade zu!'' seggt de Kerl.
   ,,O, dat is ober schad'!'' seggt de Buer. ,,Denn kam ick mal wedder,
wenn apen is.''

Even though this is likely to kill the joke, I feel I have to translate and
explain this for the benefit of those among you who would not get it
otherwise:

A farmer enters a department store and says to the guy at the door,
   "I want to get an umbrella." [in Low Saxon]
   "_Ersten Stock_," [1] the other one says [in German].
   "I see. First a stick! And where do I find that stick?" [in Low Saxon]
   "_Gerade zu!_" [2] the guy says [in German]
   "Oh, that is a shame!" the farmer says [in Low Saxon], "In that case
I'll come back when its open."

[1] _Ersten Stock_ is 'First floor' in German.  The LS speaker
misinterprets _ersten_ ['first' masc. dat.] as LS _eerst 'n_ 'first a ...'
(German _(zu)erst ein ..._), and he misinterprets _Stock_, in this case
meaning 'floor', 'stor(e)y', as LS _Stock_ 'stick' (such as a walking stick
or the stick and handle of an umbrella).  'Floor', 'stor(e)y' probably is
_Böön_ or _Etaasch'_ in his LS dialect, and the LS answer would have been
something like _Den kriegt Se up'n eersten Böön_ or _Den kriegt Se up de
eerste Etaasch'_ 'You'll get it on the first floor.'

[2] _Gerade zu_ is 'straight ahead' in German.  In his mind, the LS speaker
translates this as _graad' to_ (~ _jüst to_) 'just closed'.  'Straight
ahead' would be _graad' uut_ or _liek uut_ in Low Saxon.

By the way, I think a speaker of Missingsch (i.e., Northern German on a Low
Saxon substrate) with insufficient Standard German proficiency might have
had the same problem (_Ers(t) 'n Stock_ 'First a stick', _Erste Etage_
'First floor', _Grade zu_ 'Just closed', _Grade aus_ 'Straight ahead').

I would be interested in similar examples where at least one of the
languages involved is Lowlandic.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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