LL-L "Help needed" 2004.01.30 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 30.JAN.2004 (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: Pat Reynolds <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Help needed" 2004.01.29 (07) [E]

Thanks, Ron - not too much info, at all - just what I needed, in fact!

With best wishes,

Pat

>From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
>Subject: Help needed
>
>Hi again, Pat!
>
>> Sorry to be so dim ....
>
>*You*?! Never!
>
>> When we were talking before, I understood that the form 'duest' was not
>> standard German, but regional (?Lowlands Saxon).  Are these texts also
>> Rhenish?  Or Middle Saxon?
>
>As far as I can tell, it is in what at the time was the closest thing to
>Written Standard German, something that was evolving then, based on what
>Martin Luther championed with his Bible translation.  Apparently it was
>evolving in the Roman-Catholic-dominated areas as well (and I assume that
>most of the Rhenish region belonged to it).  However, standards had not
been
>finalized (hence "was evolving"), and local "color" tended to show through
>in people's writing.
>
>Having said all this, however, I can see nothing in the text that is
>"glaringly" Rhenish.  _(Du) duest_ ('thou dost') is regular for the time
>when what is not 2nd person singular _-st_ tended to still be _-est_.
Sure,
>you would have also found _tuest_ (Modern _tust_), but in Central German
>(i.e., a band of varieties wedged between Upper German and Saxon -- a sort
>of transitional area or "buffer zone" running across what now is Germany --
>voiced initial stops (like in Saxon) can often be found where Upper German
>has voiceless initial stops.  The best I could do -- doing it "cold" --
>would be to guess that _duest_ is Central German, which would be accurate,
>though I don't think it's "glaringly" Rhenish.  _Duest_ is likely to have
>occurred even as far east as what is now Poland.
>
>Too much info?
>
>Regards,
>Reinhard/Ron

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