Low Prussian dialect
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Low Prussian | |
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Region | |
Ethnicity | Germans (Prussian and Saxon subgroups) |
Dialects | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | lowe1387 |
![]() German dialects about 1910, Low Prussian (Niederpreußisch) marked in the northeast Click to zoom for details |
Low Prussian (German: Niederpreußisch), sometimes known simply as Prussian (Preußisch), is a moribund dialect of East Low German that developed in East Prussia. Low Prussian was spoken in East and West Prussia and Danzig up to 1945. In Danzig it formed the particular city dialect of Danzig German It developed on a Baltic substrate through the influx of Dutch- and Low German-speaking immigrants. It supplanted Old Prussian, which became extinct in the 17th century.
Plautdietsch, a Low German variety, is included within Low Prussian by some observers. Excluding Plautdietsch, Low Prussian can be considered moribund due to the evacuation and forced expulsion of Germans from East Prussia after World War II. Plautdietsch, however, has several thousand speakers throughout the world, most notably in South America, Canada and Germany.
Simon Dach's poem Anke van Tharaw, the best known East Prussian poem[citation needed], was written in Low Prussian.
Vocabulary
According to one summary of Low German dialects, words very characteristic of Low Prussian are doa ('dor', there), joa ('jo', yes), goah ('goh', go) and noa ('nober', neighbor), which feature the diphthong "oa" instead of the usual "o" or "a". The dialect is also marked by a substitution of "k" for "ch", such as in mannke ('minsch', person), and a loan of High German-like words, such as zwei ('twee', two). Words are often shortened, in a manner similar to that of the neighboring East Pomeranian dialect, giving beet (beten, little bit) and baakove ('bakåben', bake oven).
Some observers argue that it resembles Dutch and Flemish because of these features. Low Prussian also has a number of words in common with Plautdietsch, such as Klemp (cow), Klopps (lump, ball of earth), and Tsoagel (tail).
Some other words[1] are:
- Boffke - boy, lad
- dätsch - dumb
- Dubs - bum
- Gnaschel - little child
- jankere - yearn
- Kobbel - mare
- Pungel - pouch
- schabbere - talk
- Schischke - pine-cone
- Schucke - potato(es)
Varieties
- Übergangsmundart zum Ostpommerschen, transitional dialect with East Pomeranian
- Mundart des Weichselmündungsgebietes, around Danzig (Gdańsk)
- Mundart der Frischen Nehrung und der Danziger Nehrung, around the Vistula Lagoon
- Mundart der Elbinger Höhe, around Elbing (Elbląg)
- Mundart des Kürzungsgebietes, around Braunsberg (Braniewo)
- Westkäslausch, around Mehlsack (Pieniężno)
- Ostkäslausch, around Rößel (Reszel)
- Natangisch-Bartisch, around Bartenstein (Bartoszyce)
- Westsamländische Mundart, around Pillau (Baltiysk)
- Ostsamländische Mundart, around Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Labiau (Polessk) and Znamensk (Wehlau)
- Mundart des Ostgebietes, around Insterburg (Chernyakhovsk), Memel (Klaipėda) and Sovetsk (Tilsit)
Low and Old Prussian
After the assimilation of the Old Prussians, many Old Prussian words were preserved within the Low Prussian dialect.
Low Prussian | Old Prussian | Latvian | Lithuanian | Standard German | English |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flins | plīnksni | plācenis | blynas | Pfannkuchen | pancake, scone, biscuit |
Kaddig | kaddegs | kadiķis | kadagys | Wacholder | juniper |
Kurp | kurpi | kurpe | kurpė | Schuh | shoe |
Kujel | kūilis | cūka, mežacūka, kuilis | kuilys, šernas | Wildschwein | boar |
Margell, Marjell | mērgā | meitene, meiča | merga, mergelė, mergaitė | Magd, Mädchen, Mädel | maiden, girl |
Paparz | papartis | paparde | papartis | Farn | fern |
Pawirpen | (from pawīrps) | algādzis, strādnieks | padienis | Losmann | freelancer |
Zuris | sūris | siers | sūris | Käse | cheese |
Low Prussian and Lithuanian
In addition to the words of Old Prussian origin, another source of Balticisms was Lithuanian. After the migration of Lithuanians in the 15th century, many Lithuanian loanwords appeared in the Low Prussian dialect.
Low Prussian | Lithuanian | Standard German | English |
---|---|---|---|
Alus | alus | Bier | beer, ale |
Burteninker | burtininkas | Wahrsager, Zauberer, Besprecher | magician, soothsayer, sorcerer |
kalbeken | kalbėti | sprechen | to talk, to speak |
Kausche, Kauszel | kaušas | Schöpfkelle, Trinknapf | dipper |
Krepsch, Krepsche, Krepsze | krepšys, krepšas | Sack, Handsack, Ranzen | basket |
Lorbas | liurbis | Tölpel, Tolpatsch, Waschlappen | loser, fumbler |
Packrant | krantas, pakrantė, pakraštys | Rand, Küste | edge, coast |
Pirschlis | piršlys | Brautwerber | matchmaker |
Wabel, Wabbel | vabalas | Käfer | bug |
See also
References
- ^ Found in Riemann, Erhard (ed.): Preußisches Wörterbuch, Vol. 1, Issue 1. Neumünster (Wachholtz) 1974.
Bibliography
- Bauer, G.: Baltismen im ostpreußischen Deutsch. In: Annaberger Annalen, Nr.13, 2005, p.5-82.
- Mitzka, Walther. Grundzüge nordostdeutscher Sprachgeschichte. (= DDG 59) Marburg (Elwert) 1959
- Riemann, Erhard. Die preußische Sprachlandschaft. In: Festschrift für Friedrich von Zahn Bd.2 Köln/Wien 1971, 1-34
- Riemann, Erhard (Hrsg.). Preußisches Wörterbuch. Bd. 1, Lf. 1. Neumünster (Wachholtz) 1974
- Ziesemer, Walther. Die ostpreußischen Mundarten. Proben und Darstellungen. Breslau 2005
External links
- "New Page 2". Iserv.net. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- "Plautdietsch-Freunde e. V. - Die Website des Vereins der Plautdietsch-Freunde in Deutschland". Plautdietsch-freunde.de. Retrieved 1 December 2017.