LL-L: "Help needed" LOWLANDS-L, 28.MAY.2001 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 28.MAY.2001 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
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From: "Reuben Epp" <repp at silk.net>
Subject: LL-L: "Help needed" LOWLANDS-L, 27.MAY.2001 (01) [E]

> Roberta Cooper <robscoe49 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Subject: translation
>
> Could somebody who knows Plautdietsch please give me the translation for
> this phrase?
> I encountered it among some family genealogical records.
>
> It was entered as a quote from another letter; "Wallum, treppe schisse."
> Does this refer to someone named William? Is this Plautdietsch, or
> some Germanic dialect? (It was represented by the writer as being a
> phrase in "Low German".)

It appears to refer to someone by the name of William, which in
Plautdietsch
would be written and spoken as Wellem. So, it seems to be a dialect other
than Plautdietsch. I know Plautdietsch and am familiar with a number of Low

Saxon/Low German dialects, but I do not recognize this one,  nor do I know
the meaning of the phrase.
>
> I was told by my late father that those of our ancestors who came from
> Germany could  not read or speak "High German". but instead
> communicated in "Low German", and that the original family Bible
> (in the possession of another relative) was written in this language.
>
It is not uncommon for people native to various parts of Germany
to speak languages other than High German, such as Low Saxon/
Low German. There is also the Sorbic language, perhaps others.
Low Saxon/Low German bibles have existed for some 500 years,
or at least since the days of Luther, who commissioned the Bugenhagen
Low Saxon/Low German translation. But, during that time there has
not been one in the dialect called Plautdietsch. The Plautdietsch New
Testament exists since 1987 and the Old Testament is now in the works.

Sincerely

Reuben Epp

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