Extinct languages - dying dialects

The history of Central Europe has been changeful during the centuries. Therefore it didn't come as a big surprise that languages and dialects of the Germanic root got lost and still are dying. As hinted in the chapter before  especially in urban areas in Germany there is a tendency to speak a kind of "integrative" German influenced by misused English, the media and even misused Standard German. The mixture that comes out is a simple horror for anyone who wants to protect dialects or feels an admiration for the expressiveness and accuracy of Standard German. These people see the language directly related to the culture and fear it might have negative effects if individuals lost it. Others argument that it makes no sense to hold on to tribal and unfashionable customs. A new culture was about to be created. A small group would prefer in addition to it  that Central Europe Germanic languages should simply be forgotten in the favor of teaching and using correct English.

While languages like Langobardic and Gothic nobody living nowadays remembers anymore in use, there are some idioms which were still spoken by our grannies and their contemporaries. In the added little clip you can listen to some of them. And it is true, not so much has changed in the end for our kids. While I was used to learn some East Prussian from an old lady on the bus station every morning, they now learn Russian, Albanian or Turkish. For young ones it makes no difference. They are curious and like to implement into their personal culture whatever attracts their mind.

Schwizerdütsch - Schweizer Hochdeutsch

In the very Southwest of the Germanic language region the Alemanic languages are spoken. Mainly in big parts of Switzerland, but also im Fürstentum Liechtenstein, the Austrian federal state Vorarlberg, the German federal state Baden-Württemberg, from some people still in the French L'Alsace, the Bavarian administrative region of Schwaben, and from some Walser Communities in Italy.

Among this group are idioms and dialects, some extended to a larger area, some significant for a town or village. Now Switzerland has developed a special use with their dialects. They are used commonly for conversation on any level. While in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein people tend to change to Standard German whenever they leave their circle of family and friends - if they still do manage to speak a regional idiom at all - and you can guess their origin perhaps only by a slight accent, it is perfectly normal to use Schwizerdütsch in every day life when you live in Switzerland even in official and business matters.

For writing they have developed a Swiss Standard German, which differs from the Standard German of the other regions in morphology, orthography, phonology, syntax and vocabulary. The more you are used to diversification in Germanic languages the less problems you will have understanding and using it.

It is also perfectly okay when you are using your own idiom as a foreigner. As long as there is an understanding no adaption seems neccessary. Should you feel completely lost people are so polite and considerate as to change to Standard German.

General

Scientists of any department like to give order to the data flood they are facing and discovering. The ISO 639 provides a list with 

Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages

You can find the current list on: 
http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php

Categories and classifications are like well ordered drawers in a filing cabinet. When you are a collector the order will help you to find items again. To some extent we all do that with our experiences and discoveries. We give them a place in our personal order. To give structure to the whole thing you simply put more important items on a better place and less valuable on a worse. The order might be constructed simply by our gut feeling. Should we favor an objective approach we will do more or less like scientists. Whatever side is dominating our personal ways when it comes to action we will make a decision based on the data we have stored and the quality of the order. That may lead to a very structured life and provide the feeling of some security in a permanently changing environment. Only when an additional objective view on the current situation is missing and the person is merely reacting on some recognized signals or strict judgments predeveloped from former experiences, the order might to turn out more restricting and limiting than useful. In Standard German they use the word "Schubladendenken", in Standaardnederlands "hokjesdenken" - thinking in boxes - with a negative touch.

Thinking of languages there is the ISO 639 order.  It provides the official names of languages in a list. If  you speak an idiom that is not significantly named in that list you are speaking a dialect - something subordinate. Depending on your state of mind even something inferior. And now?

And now you can say: OK. I have known this before. A dialect one talks in a private circle. The standard language is for all other purposes. 

Or you say: I do not talk any dialect because I am an educated person. Dialects are only for inferior members of the society.

Or: There are so many dialects. One needs a standard language to be able to talk to each other in a larger region.

Or: Despite what it says there my idiom is a language and I feel discriminated. 

Or: Ok. What I speak is not in the ISO 639 list with the official representation of language names. Nevertheless it is part of my personal (and/or cultural) identity. I use it as long as I am with people who are able to understand it.

So what you make of the information stored in the list is entirely your decision. I am a person that loves diversification. Deeply interested in human nature and all its aspects I am curious about different personalities and different ways of life. The "language" we are using is part of that. Learning more about how a conversation partner expresses himself in the context of his origin and current surroundings helps developing a deeper understanding. 

Het Nederlands

While English speaking people may correctly use the term "Dutch" for the language group spoken in The Netherlands and parts of Belgium, France and Germany, the German commonly used "Holländisch" covers only a dialect in a certain region of The Netherlands. "Dutch"-speaking People from Belgium often like to call their idiom Flemish.

For someone with Germanic language roots already Standaardnederlands is rather simple to understand and learn. An online support you may find under: http://www.uitmuntend.de or http://www.dutchgrammar.com/. Compared to Hochdeutsch it appears a lively and modern language. You will have fun coming to know with it. 

To complete this little information one should add that it is spoken also outside the European region we are concentrating on here. Suriname, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles have it among their official languages. In Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.A one can also find a significant number of speakers.

Misunderstandings

A friend of mine from a Bavarian region went for a holiday to Saxony. She didn't want to miss her own exzellent cooking there, so she decided for a holiday flat and prepared the meals herself. One day she went to the next supermarket asking for ricotta and got the answer: "If you wish a recorder you have to go the electronics store."


Misunderstandings between the idioms are a daily occurence. So the questions: "Wie sagt ihr dazu?" and: "Was habe ich jetzt gesagt?" are one of the first sentences one should learn. It will not make you a foreigner. Open minded people from all regions here say it whenever it is needed and think it only normal to ask. ;)

Herrmann Hesse

Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne,

der uns beschützt und der uns hilft zu leben.

Wir sollen heiter Raum um Raum durchschreiten,

an keinem wie an einer Heimat hängen,

der Weltgeist will nicht fesseln uns und engen,

er will uns Stuf' um Stufe heben, weiten!

A magic dwells in each beginning,

protecting us, telling us how to live.

High purposed we shall traverse realm on realm,

cleaving to none as to a home,

the world of spirit wishes not to fetter us

but raise us higher, step by step.

This is an excerpt from the Herrmann Hesse's poem "Stufen" (steps). Thinking of High German there are some authors that have mastered it to perfection. And as it is with exzellent authors of all languages, the work can hardly be translated without diminishing it's beauty. 

Besides the depth and wisdom of this poem I think it quite cute, that when you listen to the author reading it for you, you can hear in which region he grew up.

Germanic is not the same as German

For most people from outside Germany Germans speak German. When you want to visit the country I am currently living in and have some small-talk with the inhabitants you might wish to get yourself a book or even take some German lessons. It is a wonderful language and certainly worth taking the trouble if you ask me. But when you come here it might happen in certain regions that the German you have learnt does not seem what people are talking around you. Now, in most of the languages on this planet there are regional differences, dialects, slang and differences depending on the social class the speaker comes from. That is valid for Germany, too. It is valid for other countries in Central Europe where the majority or a significant part of the inhabitants talk German. And it is valid for other Germanic languages in the region we are concetrating on for now, like Dutch or Luxembourgish. The aim of this blog is to get closer to these differences. At which we will not forget language minorities in more Eastern countries who are based on the same roots.


I am no linguist and my approach is certainly not strictly scientific. It doesn't matter for me whether you consider Upper Palatinate a distinct language or High German a dialect. Instead of providing the last clue in classifications this shall be a place for enjoying the richness and varieties of languages in Central Europe with Germanic roots. The German you learn at home or in your language course is one of them. Let's assemble what there is more.


Your contributions are most welcome. Whether you want to introduce us to the language of your region, share your knowledge, amuse us with experiences or curiosities ... it will all make this blog as colorful as the area in which the Germanic languages and dialects are spoken.


You may write in any of these idioms and English of course. :)