Missingsch

Missingsch is a type of Low German-coloured dialect or sociolect of German. It is characterised by Low-German-type structures and the presence of numerous loanwords (especially calques) from Low German in German (“High German”).

A more technical definition of “Missingsch” is that it is a type of contact variety, specifically a type of German variety with a “Low German” (Low Saxon) substratum. This is the result of linguistic, cultural, educational and political Germanisation of the region that is now Northern Germany. This process of Germanisation began in earnest in the late seventeenth century, after the demise of the Hanseatic League and thus the erosion of its Middle-Saxon-speaking power. Pressures to adopt German and at the same time being held back by insufficient access to formal (by now solely German language) education in the lower social classes led to various stages of transition from “Low German” to “High German.” These generally low-prestige language varieties continued to be spoken (rarely written) until the late twentieth century, though some people still continue and promote them now, very often for their supposed entertainment value, typically in comical veins.

From a linguistic point of view, Missingsch varieties did not become extinct as such. They merely developed into more “cleaned-up” northern varieties of German, varieties that use numerous Missingsch elements, especially in their casual registers. As such, Missingsch has been influencing the development of Standard German, mostly indirectly by way of northern German dialect contributions. Obvious examples are Low Saxon loanwords such as tschüß ‘bye’ (cf. Low Saxon: adschüüß, tschüüß). However, most influences are not as clearly noticeable as they involve lexical and idiomatic choices.

There are numerous parallel cases to that of Missingsch. These are found in many situations in which languages came to be supplanted by other languages. Within a Northern European context there is the case of Stadsfries in the northern parts of the Netherlands and the case of sociolects of Scottish English that have particularly strong Scots characteristics.

While there have been many varieties of Missingsch throughout Northern Germany, those of larger cities are best known, such as those of Hamburg, Bielefeld, Bremen, Flensburg and Gdańsk/Danzig.

The name “Missingsch” refers to the city of Meissen (Meißen), which lies outside the traditional Saxon-speaking region (although the state in which it is situated at one time acquired the misleading name Saxony, originally the name of what is now Northern Germany). Meissen’s Central German dialect was considered exemplary and was highly influential between the fifteenth century and the establishment of Modern Standard German. The name Missingsch is the Low Saxon equivalent of what in German is Meißnerisch, rather than, as often stated, derived from the German name Meißnerisch.

Contrary to popular belief, Missingsch is not a dialect of Low German. Furthermore, Missingsch it is not simply “German with a Low German accent,” as which it is often described. Its “Low German” (Low Saxon) influences are not restricted to its phonology but involve morphological and syntactic structures (sentence construction) and its lexicon (vocabulary) as well. It is a type of German variety with the minimally qualifying characteristic of a clearly noticeable “Low German” (Low Saxon) substratum.

Traditional German varieties of Berlin qualify as Missingsch as well, though few people think of Berlinerisch as a Missingsch variety these days. Berlin is still surrounded by traditionally Low-Saxon-speaking areas of the southeastern or Brandenburg type. Before it became the center of the Prussian state, Berlin, too, was Low-Saxon-speaking. As such it adopted German earlier than did other northern centers. Typical Berlinerisch is thus technically a Missingsch group with an additional Western Slavic (probably Old Lower Sorbian) substratum, since before Saxon colonisation the area was Slavic-speaking.

In his novel Schloss Gripsholm (Gripsholm Castle), Kurt Tucholsky broaches the issue of Missingsch and provides samples.

Phonological Characteristics

• Missingsch phonology tends to be closely related, if not identical, to that of the corresponding Low Saxon varieties. Noteworthy among these in the Northern Low Saxon area are the following:
  • Long /a/ is pronounced semi-rounded ([ɒː]) as in most Low Saxon varieties; e.g. Abend [ʔɒːmt] (Standard [ˈʔɑːbənt]) ‘evening’, Straßenbahn [ˈstrɒːsm̩bɒːn] (Standard [ˈʃtʁɑːsənbɑːn]) ‘tramway’, ‘streetcar’.
  • Short vowels are lengthened before sonorants, without any other change of articulation; e.g. Ball [baˑl] ‘ball’, Kind [kʰɪ͂ˑnt] ‘child’, auch [ʔaˑʊx] ‘also’, Land [la͂ˑnt] ‘land’, ‘country’.
  • There is a noticeable degree of nasalisation before syllable-final nasal consonants; Kind [kʰɪ͂ˑnt] ‘child’, Köm [kʰø͂ːm] ‘caraway schnaps’, lang [la͂ˑŋk] ‘long’.
  • /d/ is assimilated to preceding /n/; e.g. Kinder = Kinner [kʰɪ͂ˑnɝ] ‘children’, anders = anners [ʔa͂ˑnɝs] ‘different’.
  • In original Missingsch, as in most Low Saxon varieties, syllable-initial /s/ followed by /p/ or /t/ does not take on a “sh” sound; e.g. Straße [ˈstrɒːse] (Standard [ˈʃtʁɑːsə], Low Saxon Straat [ˈstrɒːt]) ‘street’, Sprache [ˈsprɒːxe] (Standard [ʃpʁɑːxə], Low Saxon Spraak [ˈsprɒːk]) ‘language’.
  • What are affricate consonants in other German dialects tend to be fricative in Missingsch; e.g. Zeit [saˑɪt] ‘time’, Pferd [feɛt] ‘horse’ (cf. Standard Zeit [ʦʰaɪt], Pferd [pfʰeɝt]).
  • Aspiration of voiceless stops and affricates is limited to the syllable with main stress; e.g. Pocke [ˈpʰɔke] (Standard [ˈpʰɔkʰə]) ‘pock’, pikant [piˈkʰa͂ˑnt] (Standard [pʰiˈkʰant]) ‘spicy’, Peter [ˈpʰeːtɛ] (Standard [ˈpʰeːtʰɚ]) ‘Peter’, Papa [ˈpʰapa] (Standard [ˈpʰapʰɑ] or [pʰɑˈpʰɑ]) ‘dad’. (Unaspirated variants tend to be heard and spelled as voiced by the average North German, hence the spelling Pogge, Peder and Pabba.)
  • Syllable-final /r/ is realized as a vowel and merges with certain preceding vowels; e.g. fertig [ˈfɛætɪç] ~ [ˈfɛːtɪç] ‘ready’, ‘completed’, warten [ˈvaːtn̩] ~ [ˈvɒːtn̩] ‘to wait’, Korb [kʰɔɐp] ~ [kʰɔːp] ‘basket’, Körper [ˈkʰœæpɛ] ‘body’
  • Preceding a syllable-final velar consonant, /l/ tends to change into a high vowel; e.g. Milch [mɪˑiç] (Standard [mɪlç]) ‘milk’, Balken [ˈbaˑɪkŋ̩] (Standard [ˈbalkʰən]) ‘beam’, solch [zɔˑɪç] (Standard [ˈzɔlç]) ‘such’, welk [vɛˑik] (Standard [vɛlk]) ‘withered’, Erfolg [ʔɛˈfɔˑɪç] (Standard [ʔɝˈfɔlk]) ‘success’. (Similar cases of assimilation of /l/ can be observed in Bavarian German).
  • Final /g/ is always pronounced as a fricative, and the preceding vowel is usually short; e.g. richtig [ˈrɪçtɪç] (southern [ˈrɪçtik]) ‘correct’, Tag [tʰax] (southern [tʰɑːk]) ‘day’, Berg [bɛæç] ‘mountain’, ‘hill’, Zug [ʦʰʊx] ~ [sʊx] (southern [ʦʰuːk]) ‘train, ‘draught’, weg [vɛç] (southern [vɛk]) ‘away’, but Weg [veːç] (southern [veːk]) ‘way’ (cf. Low Saxon: richtig [ˈrɪçtɪç] ‘correct’, Dag [dax] ‘day’, Barg [baːx] ‘mountain’, ‘hill’, Tog [tʰɔx] ‘train’, ‘draught’, weg [vɛç] ‘away’, but Weg [vɛç] ‘way’ vs Weeg’ [veːˑj] ~ [veːç] ‘ways’). To express this orthographically, many people spell these richtich, Tach, Berch, Zuch, wech and Weech respectively (in Low Saxon richtich, Dach, Barch, Toch, wech, Wech and Weeg ~ Weech respectively).
  • In original Missingsch, syllable-initial /r/ is apical ([r], as in Italian and as in original Low Saxon). Uvular /r/ ([ʁ], as in Standard French, Danish and Modern Hebrew) became acceptable with advanced Germanisation. (The same happened to Low Saxon is some communities.)

Lexical Characteristics

• Missingsch uses numerous Low Saxon words and expressions:
  • phonologically adapted loans; e.g.
    • Buddel [ˈbʊdl̩] (< Low Saxon Buddel [ˈbʊdl̩], cf. Standard German Flasche) ‘bottle’
    • dröge ~ dröög ~ drööch ‘(awfully) dry’ (e.g. food), ‘boring’ (< Low Saxon dröge [ˈdrøˑɪge] ~ dröög’ [ˈdrøːɪj] ‘dry’) in addition to ordinary German-based trocken [ˈtrɔkŋ̩] ‘dry’
    • Fahrtuch [ˈfɒːɐtux] (< Low Saxon Fahrdook [ˈfɒːɐdɔʊk], cf. German Wischtuch) ‘cleaning rag’
    • Klöterbüchse [kløːtɛˌbʏkse] (< Low Saxon Klœterbüx(e) [klœːtɝˌbʏks(e)] ~ [kløːtɝˌbʏks(e)], Standard German Rassel) ‘(baby) rattle’
    • Schiet [ʃiːt] inoffensive for ‘dirt’, ‘inferior stuff’, ‘problem’, ‘nuisance’, ‘nonsense’ (< Low Saxon Schiet with the same meanings) in addition to the offensive German-based cognate Scheiße ‘shit’, ‘crap’
    • Sott [ˈzɔt] ~ Sutt [ˈzʊt] (< Low Saxon Sott [ˈzɔt] ~ Sutt [ˈzʊt], cf. Standard German Ruß) (1) ‘soot’, (2) ‘luck’
    • Sottje [ˈzɔtje] ~ [ˈzɔʧe] ~ Suttje [ˈzʊtje] ~ [ˈzʊʧe] (< Low Saxon Sottje [ˈzɔtje] ~ [ˈzɔʧe] ~ Suttje [ˈzʊtje] ~ [ˈzʊʧe] < Sott [ˈzɔt] ~ Sutt [ˈzʊt]; ‘soot’, cf. Standard German Schornsteinfeger) ‘chimney-sweep’
  • calques and semi-calques; e.g.
    • Bickbeere [ˈbɪkˌbeːre] (< Low Saxon Bickbeer [ˈbɪkbeːr] ~ [ˈbɪkbɛːr], cf. Standard German Blaubeere, Heidelbeere)
    • Blumenpott [ˈbluːm(ː)pɔt] (< Low Saxon Blomenpott [ˈblɔˑʊm(ː)pɔt], cf. Standard German Blumentopf) ‘flowerpot’
    • Grünhöker [ˈgryːnhøːkɛ] (< Low Saxon Gröönhœker [ˈgrœɪnhøˑɪkɝ] ~ [ˈgrɔˑɪnhøˑkɝ], cf. Standard German Gemüsehändler) ‘greengrocer’
    • Grünzeug [ˈgryːnʦɔˑɪç] ~ [ˈgryːnsɔˑɪç] (< Grööntüüg [ˈgrœɪntyːç] ~ [ˈgrɔˑɪntyːç], cf. Standard German Gemüse) ‘vegetable(s)’
    • Handstein [ˈhaˑn(t)staˑɪn] ~ [ˈhaˑn(t)ʃtaˑɪn] (< Low Saxon Handsteen [ˈhaˑn(t)stɛˑɪn], cf. Standard German Waschbecken) ‘wash basin’
    • Kantstein [ˈkʰaˑn(t)staˑɪn] ~ [ˈkʰaˑn(t)ʃtaˑɪn] (< Low Saxon Kantsteen [ˈkʰaˑn(t)stɛˑɪn], cf. Standard German Bordstein) ‘curb stone’
    • Stickhusten [ˈstɪkˌhuːstn̩] ~ [ˈʃtɪkˌhuːstn̩] (< Low Saxon Stickhoosten [ˈstɪkˌhɔʊstn̩], cf. Standard German Keuchhusten) ‘whooping cough’
    • Wurzel [ˈvʊˑɐʦl̩] ~ [ˈvʊˑɐsl̩] (< Low Saxon Wortel [ˈvɔˑɐtl̩] ~ Wottel [ˈvɔtl̩], literally ‘root’) ‘carrot’ (cf. Standard German Möhre ‘carrot’, Wurzel ‘root’)
    • zus(ch)nacken [ˈʦʰuːˌsnakŋ̩] ~ [ˈʦʰuːˌʃnakŋ̩] ~ [ˈsuːˌsnakŋ̩] ~ [ˈsuːˌʃnakŋ̩] (< Low Saxon tosnacken, cf. Standard German zureden, ermuntern) ‘encourage’

Many of the above-mentioned words are used in casual-style Northern German dialects that descended from Missingsch at least in part.

Morphological and Syntactic Characteristics

• as in Low Saxon, no distinctive marking for dative case and accusative case, using one or the other German marker for both cases; e.g.
  • Wenn du mich (dat.) das nich geben tus(t), denn kanns(t) du mich (acc.) nich besuchen or Wenn du mir (dat.) das nich geben tus(t), denn kanns(t) du mir (acc.) nich besuchen (cf. Low Saxon: Wenn du mi dat nich gäven deis(t), denn kanns(t) (du) mi nich besöken, Standard German: Wenn du es mir nicht gibst, darfst du mich nicht besuchen.) ‘If you don’t give it to me (dat.) you may not visit me (acc.).’
• Genitive constructions are as in Low Saxon; e.g.
  • seine Deerns Fernseher, seine Deern ihr Fernseher, der Fernseher von seine Deern (cf. Low Saxon: sien Deerns Feernseher, sien Deern ehr Feernseher, de Feernseher vun sien Deern, Standard German: der Fernsehapparat seiner Freundin) ‘his girlfriend’s television set’
• In the Northern Low Saxon area, Missingsch uses das for both ‘that’ (Standard das, Low Saxon dat) and ‘it’ (Standard es, Low Saxon dat); e.g.
  • Ich mach das nich. (cf. Low Saxon: Ik mag dat nich.) 1. ‘I don’t like that.’ (Standard German: Ich mag das nicht, Mir gefällt das nicht.), 2. ‘I don’t like it.’ (Standard German: Ich mag es nicht, Mir gefällt es nicht.) (N.B.: The Missingsch sentence Ich mach das nich can also mean ‘I don’t do that/it’, because what in Standard German is (ich) mag ([mɑːk]) ‘(I) like’ in Missingsch coalesces with what in Standard German is (ich) mache ([ˈmaxə]) ‘(I) make’.)
• tun ‘do’ used to emphasise verbs; e.g.
  • Arbeiten tu ich heute nich. (cf. Low Saxon: Arbeiden do ik hüüt nich, Standard German: Ich arbeite heute nicht.) ‘I don't work today (but I do something else).’
  • Tu ihn das man mal geben! (cf. Low Saxon: Do em dat man maal gäven!, Standard German: Gib es ihm nur!) ‘Do give it to him!’, ‘Go on and give it to him!’
• man (< Low Saxon man ‘only’, cf. Standard German nur ‘only’) used to signal permission, advice or mild command; e.g.
  • Denn komm Sie man rein! (cf. Low Saxon: Denn kaamt (Se) man rin!, Standard German: Dann kommen Sie nur herein!) ‘Come on inside then!’
  • Lass ihr man! (cf. Low Saxon: Laat ehr man!, Standard German Lasse sie nur!) ‘You’d better let her be’, ‘Don’t mind her!’, ‘Forget about her!’
• pronouns and prepositions usually not compounded in adverbial expressions; e.g.
  • Da habbich kein Geld für (cf. Low Saxon: Daar heff ik keen Geld för, Standard German: Dafür habe ich kein Geld.) ‘I don’t have any money (to spare) for that/it.’
  • Hast (du) da was gegen?, Hassa was gegen? (cf. Low Saxon: Hest (du) daar wat gägen?, Standard German: Hast du etwas dagegen?) ‘Do you have anything against that/it?’, ‘Are you opposed to that/it?’, ‘Do you have any objection?’

See also

• Hamburgisch

• Berlinerisch

• Creole language

External Links

• Sample Text in Bremen Missingsch (with sound) (Low Saxon version: [1], English version: [2])

• Sample Text in Hamburg Missingsch (with sound) (Low Saxon version: [3], English version: [4])

140.142.182.91 (talk) 05:27, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

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