Low Lusatian German

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains only non-IPA pronunciation information which should be expanded with the International Phonetic Alphabet. For assistance, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (pronunciation).

Low Lusatian German (in German: Niederlausitzer Mundart (also English: Low Lusatian Dialect)) is a variety of standard German spoken in northern Saxony and southern Brandenburg within the regions of Cottbus and Hoyerswerda. It is well-defined from the Low German dialects around and north of Berlin as well as the Saxon dialect group of present day Saxony and the Slavic language of the Sorbs.

The Low Lusatian German is a small variation of present day standard German spoken within the regions of Lower Lusatia and the northern part of Upper Lusatia. Both regions were strongly influenced by different dialects, especially after World War II. Refugees from East Prussia and Silesia settled there after their dispossession from former German areas. After the foundation of the German Democratic Republic and an economical development because of a stronger extraction of lignite people from Mecklenburg, Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt moved to the Lusatia region to benefit from the development. Due to this influence of other German dialects Low Lusatian never formed a too strong variaton from standard German. For people moving now into this area the dialect is easy to learn and influences their spoken language quite fast.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Language

In Low Lusatian German, regional specific words are missing. It contains syncops and apocopes which are used in nearly every German dialect. The only clearly remarkable articulation is the guttural "r". It causes that "-er" always sounds as "-a".

English	Standard German	Lower Lusatian German
water	Wasser	Wassa
hammer	Hammer	Hamma
sister	Schwester	Schwesta(r)

In the beginning of a word the "r" is always soft spoken, but furthermore it is nearly not audible within a word. The same effect can be seen on the letter "e" which is also - mostly - vanishing in the endings, the changing of "au" [aʊ] to "o(h)/oo/u" and the stretching of "ei/ai" to "ee".

English	Standard German	Lower Lusatian German
to rake	harken	haakn
to work	arbeiten	abeitn
to buy	kaufen	kohfn
as well	auch	ooch
on	auf	uff/off
up-and-down	auf und ab	uff un(d) app
one	ein (m.), eine (f.), eines (n.)	een, eene, eens
peewee	Kleine	Kleene

In sentences where the "i" is spoken short it is mostly formed to a sound similar to the standard German "ü" [y] or [ʏ]

English	Standard German	Lower Lusatian German
table	Tisch	Tüsch
church	Kirche	Kürche (in smaller villages the word Kerke is used.)
cherry	Kirsche	Kürsche

Another sign is a different form of the perfect.

English	Standard German	Lower Lusatian German
it was switched off	es wurde abgeschaltet	es wurde abgeschalten

[edit] Example Sentences

English	Standard German	Lower Lusatian German
The hammer lies on the table.	Der Hammer liegt auf dem Tisch.	De Hamma liecht off'n Tüsch.
I don't know this either.	Das weiß ich doch auch nicht.	Des weeß ich doch ooch nech/nich.
We are inside the house?	Wir sind im Haus?	Sin'ma im Haus drinne?

[edit] References

• Astrid Stedje (1987). Deutsche Sprache gestern und heute. Universitätstaschenbuchverlag
• Columns of regional newspapers written in Low Lusatian German (http://www.lr-online.de)