Bergish dialects
Encyclopedia
Bergish is a term used for the collection of local languages of the Bergisches Land Region
East of the Rhine in West Germany. It is more a popular term, rather than one of linguistic
relevance. The reason is that, the regions local dialects belong to several quite distinct groups inside the Continental West Germanic dialect continuum
. As usual inside a dialect continuum, neighboring languages have a maximum of similarities, and speakers being used to the rather small individual lingual differences in their immediate neighborhood perceive them naïvely as varieties of some bigger, undivided group, such as "Bergish", being part of "Rhinelandic
", being part of "German
", etc..
In fact, "Bergish" local languages belong to three major groups following the dialect geographers of today:
The Bergish varieties in the northern areas are also referred to as parts of Meuse-Rhenish
, which exclusively refers to the Low Franconian varieties, that are Limburgish including Low Bergish, and Zuid-Gelders including East Bergish.
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes...
East of the Rhine in West Germany. It is more a popular term, rather than one of linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
relevance. The reason is that, the regions local dialects belong to several quite distinct groups inside the Continental West Germanic dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
. As usual inside a dialect continuum, neighboring languages have a maximum of similarities, and speakers being used to the rather small individual lingual differences in their immediate neighborhood perceive them naïvely as varieties of some bigger, undivided group, such as "Bergish", being part of "Rhinelandic
Rhinelandic
Rhinelandic is a term occasionally used for linguistic varieties of a region on both sides of the Middle and Lower Rhine river in Central West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It has at least two distinct meanings which often can only be determined from the fine grain context in...
", being part of "German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
", etc..
In fact, "Bergish" local languages belong to three major groups following the dialect geographers of today:
- East BergishEast BergishEast Bergish is a group of dialects of the Bergisches Land Region in West Germany. It combines features the of Westphalian group, Limburgish, and the South Guelderish or Cleverlands group, it is usually seen as part of the latter. South Guelderish covers much of the Lower Rhine area in Germany and...
in the North East is the smallest group. Combining features the of WestphalianWestphalian languageWestphalian is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German. Its most salient feature is the diphthongization . For example, speakers say iEten instead of Eːten for eat...
group, the LimburgishLimburgish languageLimburgish, also called Limburgian or Limburgic is a group of East Low Franconian language varieties spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, near the common Dutch / Belgian / German border...
, and (predominantly) the Zuid-Gelders or Cleverlands group, it is usually seen as part of the latter. Zuid-Gelders covers much of the Lower RhineLower RhineThe Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hoek van Holland, Netherlands.Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into many branches. The main branch is called the Waal which flows from Nijmegen to meet the river Meuse; after which it is called Merwede...
area in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and extends into the Central NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It is a Low Franconian group, whereas Westphalian belongs to the Low GermanLow GermanLow German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
group. - Low BergishLow BergishLow Bergish, or Western Bergish, is a group of local languages of the Bergisches Land Region east of the Rhine in West Germany. It is part of the Limburgish language group, which extends far beyond the rivers Rhine and Maas into the Netherlands and Belgium. They are also part of the East Limburgish...
, or Western Bergish, is located in the North West and is seen as the eastmost part of the Limburgish languageLimburgish languageLimburgish, also called Limburgian or Limburgic is a group of East Low Franconian language varieties spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, near the common Dutch / Belgian / German border...
group, which extends far beyond the rivers Rhine and Maas into the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. They are also part of the East Limburgish group, that is, the varieties of Limbugish spoken in Germany. They combine Low Franconian properties with some Ripuarian properties. - South BergishSouth BergishSouth Bergish dialects or Upper Bergish is a term used for the collection of local languages of the Bergisches Land Region East of the Rhine and approximately south of the Wupper and north of the Sieg in West Germany. These dialects are all part of the Ripuarian group and thus are also called...
, or Upper Bergish, languages are part of the Ripuarian group, where they form the East Ripuarian subgroup. Ripuarian languages are also spoken West of the Rhine, and in some small areas next to the respective borders in BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Contrasting the abovementioned two Bergish groups, Ripuarian Bergish languages belong to the Middle GermanMiddle GermanIn linguistics, Middle German can refer to a few variants of the German language:* Middle Low German , the northern dialects in the 11th-15th centuries...
group, and thus are High German varieties, together with e.g. Austro-BavarianAustro-BavarianBavarian , also Austro-Bavarian, is a major group of Upper German varieties spoken in the south east of the German language area.-History and origin:...
, and Swiss GermanSwiss GermanSwiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
, among many others.
The Bergish varieties in the northern areas are also referred to as parts of Meuse-Rhenish
Meuse-Rhenish
Meuse-Rhenish or Rheinmaasländisch is a modern term that geographically refers to the literature written in mediæval times in the greater Meuse-Rhine area. This area stretches in the northern triangle roughly between the rivers Meuse and Rhine...
, which exclusively refers to the Low Franconian varieties, that are Limburgish including Low Bergish, and Zuid-Gelders including East Bergish.
Literature
- Georg WenkerGeorg WenkerGeorg Wenker was a German linguist who began documenting German dialect geography during the late nineteenth century. He is considered a pioneer in this field and has contributed several groundbreaking publications, most notably, the Deutscher Sprachatlas.- Biography :Georg Wenker was born in...
: Das rheinische Platt. 1877. - Georg Wenker: „Das rheinische Platt“, (Sammlung deutsche Dialektgeographie Heft 8), Marburg, 1915.
- Georg Cornelissen, Peter HonnenPeter HonnenPeter Honnen is a German linguist and specialist researcher of the languages of the Rhineland. He was born in Rheinhausen, Germany....
, Fritz Langensiepen (Hrsg.): Das rheinische Platt. Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Handbuch der rheinischen Mundarten Teil 1: Texte. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln. 1989. ISBN 3-7927-0689-X - Maria Loiuse Denst: Olper Platt - Bergisches Mundart-Wörterbuch für Kürten-Olpe und Umgebung. Schriftenreihe des Bergischen Geschichtsvereins Abt. Rhein-Berg e. V. Band 29. Bergisch Gladbach 1999. ISBN 3-932326-29-6
- Hans Bruchhausen und Heinz Feldhoff: Us Platt kalle un verstonn - Mundartwörterbuch Lützenkirchen-Quettingen. Bergisch Gladbach 2005. ISBN 3-87314-410-7
- Julius Leithäuser: „Wörterbuch der Barmer Mundarten nebst dem Abriß der Sprachlehre“ [Wuppertal-] Elberfeld, 1929.
- Julius Leithäuser: „Nachträge zum Barmer Wörterbuch“ Wuppertal-Elberfeld, 1936.
- F. W. Oligschläger: „Wörterbuch der Solinger Volkssprache“
- Rudolf Picard: „Solinger Sprachschatz, Wörterbuch und sprachwissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Solinger Mundart“, Duisburg, 1974.
- Leo Lammert und Paul Schmidt: Neunkirchen-Seelscheider Sprachschatz, herausgegeben vom Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Neunkirchen-Seelscheid 2006. (ca. 7300 Wörter)
- Gustav Hermann Halbach: Bergischer Sprachschatz - Volkskundliches plattdeutsches Remscheider Wörterbuch. Remscheid 1951
- Erich Leihener: „Cronenburger Wörterbuch“ (Deutsche Dialektgeographier, Band 2) Marburg 1908
- Theodor Branscheid (Hrsg): „Oberbergische Sprachproben. Mundartliches aus Eckenhagen und Nachbarschaft.“ Band 1, Eckenhagen, 1927.
- Hermann Bredtmann: „Die Velberter Mundart. Ein kurzer Abriß der Laut- und Formenlehre nebst einem Wörterverzeichnis.“ Wuppertal, 1938.
- Bruno Buchrücker: „Wörterbuch der Elberfelder Mundart nebst Abriß der Formenlehre und Sprachproben.“ [Wuppertal-] Elberfeld, 1910.
- August Diesdrichs: „Beitrag zu einem Wörterbuch der Remscheider Mundart“. Remscheid, 1910.
- Heinrichs, Werner: Bergisch Platt - Versuch einer Bestandsaufnahme, Selbstverlag, Burscheid, 1978
- Heinrich Spohr: Das Düsseldorfer Rheinisch, Grupello Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2006, ISBN 3-89978-058-2
- Hans Müller-Schlösser: „Wie der Düsseldofer denkt und spricht“, Düsseldorf, 1952.
- Heinrich Karl Ständer: „Wie säht m'r dit un dat op Düsseldorfer Platt?“, Düsseldorf.
- Engels, Heinz: „Ons Platt - schwazz op wiss: Ein Lehr- und Wörterbuch der Düsseldorfer Mundart ...“, Droste Verlag, 1996
- Hanns Nüsser: Düsseldorfer "Platt" "Mer schrieve wie mer spreche" Protokoll einer Sprache. Herausgeber: Mundartfrenude Düsseldorf 1969 e.V. - Gemeinnütziger Verein. Düsseldorf, 1979.
- Manfred Konrads: Wörter und Sachen im Wildenburger Ländchen, Rheinland-Verlag, Köln, 1981
- Dr. Hermann Bredtmann: Die Velberter Mundart, Wuppertal-Elberfeld, 1938
- Helmut Fischer: 'Wörterbuch der unteren Sieg. Rheinische Mundarten. Beiträge zur Volkssprache aus den rheinischen Landschaften Band 4. Rheinland Verlag, Köln, 1985. ISBN 3-7927-0783-7