User:Future Perfect at Sunrise/Low Germanic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In linguistics, the terms Low Germanic and Low German, used sometimes synonymously and sometimes differently, refer to a group of languages and dialects which are chiefly defined by their opposition to High German. Crucially, they are languages that have not participated in the High German consonant shift.
The exact delimitation of "Low Germanic" and "Low German" is treated differently by different scholars. From narrowest to widest definition, the following are in use:
- Low German: the dialects of northern Germany and some adjacent areas, i.e. Low Saxon (German "Niederdeutsch" or "Plattdeutsch").[1]
- Low German or Low Germanic: the above plus Dutch, i.e. all Continental West Germanic except High German. These are treated under Low Franconian-Low Saxon languages.[2]
- Low Germanic: the above plus English and Frisian, i.e. all West Germanic except High German.[3]
- Low Germanic: the above plus North Germanic and East Germanic, i.e. all of Germanic except High German.[4]
