LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.08.01 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 01.AUG.2002 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language varieties

Mike Wintzer wrote

>Dear Lowlanders,

>Who can inform me which status is attributed to
>Berlinish by scholars?

>Is it considered to be a lower-saxon tongue?

The general consideration in Germany as to whether a
dialect is Middle or Low German is the pronunciation
of 'ik' or 'ich' (The former being the Low German
pronunciation). As an Englishman living in Berlin I
can definately say that the 'ik' pronunciation is
alive and well. Other Low German features include
'appel' instead of 'apfel', 'boom' instead of 'baum',
and 'een' instead of 'ein', 'det' istead of 'das' (or
'dat'). There are however many (East) Middle German
features such as 'machen' instead of 'maken', 'fund'
instead of 'pund'.

If you ask a Berliner though if (s)he speaks
Niederdeutsch they tend to deny this. (This could
however be the same as an Englishman denying that they
ever drop their 'h's, when in fact probably about 99%
of the population do sometimes).

The dialect surrounding Berlin is Middle Märkisch,
which has more Low German features than Berlin. To its
south is South Märkisch which is generally considered
to be a half-way house between Middle and Low German.
Features of Märkisch (shared with Berlinisch) include
j- instead of g-, retention of 'n' before fricatives
('jans' instead of 'goos') and the above-mentioned
'det'.

Hope this has answered some questions and not confused
the matter further!

Gary

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