Low German languages

From Freepedia

Language classification
Indo-European languages Germanic languages West Germanic languages Low German languages East Low German Low Franconian Low Saxon

Indo-European languages
Germanic languages
West Germanic languages
Low German languages

Low German (in Low German: Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch) is any of a variety of West Germanic languages spoken in northern Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. It also includes Afrikaans, which is spoken in South Africa, and Plautdietsch, which is spoken by Mennonite communities in North and South America. Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League.

Low German is also sometimes used to refer to any German dialect which differs from the official German language, but this is not linguistic use. It tends to lead to confusion when discussing the German language: in such use many dialects called 'Low German' are actually High German dialects.

The term "Low German" is often restricted to Low Saxon, one of its three main branches, or extended to all of West Germanic except for High German. We cut a middle path in this article. The other branches of Low German (besides Low Saxon) are Low Franconian and East Low German. The other branches of West Germanic (besides Low German and High German) are Frisian and English. The northern dialects of Low Saxon can also be classified together with English and Frisian as the North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic languages.

Low German is distinguished from High German principally in that the latter underwent a consonant shift in the 700s and 800s. In High German, /k/, /p/, /t/ became /(k)x/ (only in some dialects), /pf/, /ts/ in initial positions and /x/, /f/, /s/ in medial and final positions. In Low German (as well as English and Frisian), the old /k/, /p/, /t/ are still there, as in English "better", Dutch "beter", German "besser".

Low German (North Saxon):	Ik segg et/dat up Nedderdüütsch/Platt(düütsch).
Low German (Mennonite Plautdietsch):	Ekj/Etj saje et op Nadadietsch/Plautdietsch.
Standard Dutch:	Ik zeg het in het Nederduits/Platduits.
High (Standard) German:	Ich sage es auf Niederdeutsch/Platt(deutsch).
English:	I say it in Low German/Flat Dutch.

Family tree

Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there is not thought to have been any single "Proto-Low German". The earliest recorded form of Low German is known as Old Saxon, a member of the Low Saxon branch.

Low Franconian
- Hollandic (in the Netherlands)
- West Flemish (in West Flanders and nearby areas of Belgium, Zeeland in the Netherlands, and France)
- East Flemish
- Brabantic in Belgium and the Netherlands
- Limburgish (in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium) including Limburgs
- Zuid-Gelders (in Germany and the Netherlands)
- Afrikaans (in South Africa and Namibia)

Low Saxon
- Westphalian (in Westphalia, in Germany)
- Northern Low Saxon (in East Frisia / Eastern Friesland and other parts of Germany)
- Eastphalian language
- Westplatt
  - Gelders-Overijssels en Urks
    - Achterhoeks (in Gelderland, in the Netherlands)
    - Sallands (in central Overijssel, in the Netherlands)
  - Midden-Drents (in Drenthe, in the Netherlands)
  - Zuid-Drents (in Drenthe, in the Netherlands)
  - Gronings (in Groningen, in the Netherlands)
    - Westerwolds (in eastern Groningen, the Netherlands)
  - Stellingwerfs (in Stellingwerven, in Friesland, in the Netherlands)
    - Veenkoloniaals (in eastern Groningen, the Netherlands)
  - Twents (in eastern Overijssel, in the Netherlands)
  - Veluws (in Gelderland, in the Netherlands)
    - North Veluws
    - Oost-Veluws
  - Kollumerlands