LL-L "Phonology" 2003.05.19 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 19.May.2003 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: "mike keach" <mike at keach.net>
Subject: Sounds & Other Stuff . . .

Sandy Fleming wrote:
>Thanks for explaining this - I've often wondered how my Scots text site would come across on such readers.

Don't know whether any of you would be interested in this, but as a
student of Switzerdüütsch, I listen regularly to Radio Berner-Oberland
out
of Interlochen/Thun in central Switzerland. It's a regional station and
is presented in Swiss German (Allemanic). The fun of it is that callers
call in
from the different valleys so you get a real feel for the different
dialects and nuances of the language. I know that we can't really know
what Low
Saxon sounded like, but since it predates the 2nd sound shift, as does
Switzerdüütsch, I like to think that it's a pretty close approximation.

I've recently fallen into very early German poetry (ca. 750 ->) and came
across a really beautiful poem written by a nun to her (gasp!) lover and
was addended to a letter found amongst others in Thuringen. It begins:

"Du bin min, Ich bin din" (The u in Du as well as the i in min as well
as the i in din have ^ over them. My 'puter doesn't!) The translation,
as if
any of you needed it, is "You are mine, I am yours". So, here's the
question:
Am I correct in assuming (always problematic) that the D was, indeed,
pronounced TH in both Du & din? Or, before the 2nd SS, they were still
pronounced as a D? I'm finding this early stuff is pretty easy to
decipher when remembering one's Old English & Middle English pronouns,
etc.
So, "Thoo" became 'Thou' & "Thin" became "Thine"? "Thou are mine, I am
thine"?

I'm finding that these early writings are so much closer to almost
modern English than even OE or ME are.

Thoughts?

BTW, the URL for Radio BEO is:
http://www.radiobeo.ch/

You'll find a RealRadio link for their live broadcast. On Wednesday and
Thursday afternoons (around 18:00 or 19:00 Switzerzeit) they play some
pretty competitive Alpmusik and that's when the locals keep those phones
'Klingen, klingen, klingen!"

Thanks for being such a great source of info AND entertainment. :-D
-Mike in Tampa

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Mike (above):

> I know that we can't really know what Low Saxon sounded like

But we do, Mike, because it is still spoken by millions of people, and,
yes, the modern dialects show no signs of those shifts.  I assume you
were rerferring to the ancestor of Lowlands Saxon ("Low German"): Old
Saxon.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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