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Language Island
A language island (a calque of German ''Sprachinsel''; also language enclave, language pocket) is an enclave of a language that is surrounded by one or more different languages. The term was introduced in 1847. Peter Auer, Frans Hinskens, Paul Kerswill. Dialect change: convergence and divergence in European languages. p. 221. "The term 'Sprachinsel' was used for the first time in 1847 to designate a Slavonic community surrounded by a German-speaking population close to Konigsberg, East Prussia cf. Mattheier 1996. 812" Examples of language islands: * Alghero * Arbëresh * Betawi * Brussels * Chipilo and Chipilo Venetian dialect * Faetar * Gorani * Griko & Grecanico * Lusatia * Monégasque * Palenquero * Pennsylvania German * Saterland * Szeklerland * Swabian Turkey * Upper Harz Gallery File:BelgieGemeenschappenkaart.svg, The predominantly French-speaking enclave of Brussels surrounded by Dutch-speaking area File:Romania harta etnica 2011.PNG, Language islands in Romania Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to denote a territory that is only partly surrounded by another state. The Vatican City and San Marino, both enclaved by Italy, and Lesotho, enclaved by South Africa, are completely enclaved sovereign states. An exclave is a portion of a state or district geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory (of one or more states or districts etc). Many exclaves are also enclaves, but not all: an exclave can be surrounded by the territory of more than one state. The Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan is an example of an exclave that is not an enclave, as it borders Armenia, Turkey and Iran. Semi-enclaves and semi-exclaves are areas that, except for possessing an unsurrounded sea border (a coastline contiguous with interna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monégasque Dialect
Monégasque (''munegascu'' une'gasku it, monegasco; french: monégasque) is the variety of Ligurian spoken in Monaco. It is closely related to the Ligurian dialects spoken in Ventimiglia and is considered a national language of Monaco, though it is not the official language of the country, which is French. Monégasque has been officially taught in the schools of Monaco since 1972 and was made a compulsory subject in 1976, but is the native language of only a handful of people. History In 1191, the Republic of Genoa took possession of Monaco and began settling in 1215. These Genoese settlers brought their vernacular language with them which would develop into Monégasque. Prior to the Genoese settlers, the main language of the region was Provençal, as spoken in the nearby localities of Menton and Roquebrune. By 1355, Menton, Roquebrune, and Monaco were under the political union of the Grimaldis, but despite this, there was a linguistic divide as the primary langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of , with a population of almost 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorbian Language
The Sorbian languages ( hsb, serbska rěč, dsb, serbska rěc) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural minority in the Lusatia region of Eastern Germany. They are classified under the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages and are therefore closely related to the other two West Slavic subgroups: Lechitic and Czech–Slovak.About Sorbian Language by Helmut Faska, University of Leipzig Historically, the languages have also been known as Wendish (named after the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea to the southeast. It has a predominantly Temperate climate, temperate-continental climate, and an area of , with a population of around 19 million. Romania is the List of European countries by area, twelfth-largest country in Europe and the List of European Union member states by population, sixth-most populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, followed by Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați. The Danube, Europe's second-longest river, rises in Germany's Black Forest and flows in a southeasterly direction for , before emptying into Romania's Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Roma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Harz
The Upper Harz (german: Oberharz, ) refers to the northwestern and higher part of the Harz mountain range in Germany. The exact boundaries of this geographical region may be defined differently depending on the context. In its traditional sense, the term Upper Harz covers the area of the seven historical mining towns (''Bergstädte'') - Clausthal, Zellerfeld, Andreasberg, Altenau, Lautenthal, Wildemann and Grund - in the present-day German federal state of Lower Saxony. Orographically, it comprises the Harz catchment areas of the Söse, Innerste and Grane, Oker and Abzucht mountain streams, all part of the larger Weser watershed. Much of the Upper Harz area is up to above sea level. In a wider sense, it also comprises the adjacent High Harz (''Hochharz'') range in the east, climbing to over in the Brocken massif. Geography The region is centred on the geological structure of the region around the municipality of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, merged in 1924. From the Clausthal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swabian Turkey
The term Swabian Turkey (german: Schwäbische Türkei, hu, Sváb-Törökország) describes a region in southeastern in Hungary delimited by the Danube (''Donau''), the Drava (''Drau''), inhabited by an ethnic German minority, the Germans of Hungary. This present-day minority, the largest German-speaking minority in Hungary, primarily lives in the counties of Tolna (''Tolnau''), Baranya (''Branau''), and Somogy (''Schomodei'') and are regarded as Danube Swabians. Background After the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Second Battle of Mohács in 1687, the Habsburg monarchy forced the Ottoman Turks to leave the Kingdom of Hungary. Because much of the Pannonian Plain had been depopulated during the Ottoman wars in Europe, the Habsburgs began to resettle the land with Germans, especially from Swabia. Settlement German colonization in southeastern Transdanubia began in 1689. While many came from Swabia, the German settlers also came from the Rhenish Palatinate, Hess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saterland
Saterland (; Saterland Frisian: , ) is a municipality in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated between the cities of Leer, Cloppenburg, and Oldenburg. It is home to Saterland Frisians, who speak Frisian in addition to German. The municipality of Saterland was formed in 1974, when the smaller municipalities Strücklingen (''Strukelje'' in Saterland Frisian), Ramsloh (''Roomelse''), Sedelsberg (''Seeidelsbierich'') and Scharrel (''Schäddel'') were merged. History In medieval times, the Saterland was a sandy region occupying an area of about 15 km long by 1–4 km wide surrounded by marshes. It was settled between the 10th and 13th centuries by Frisians from East Frisia. Being relatively isolated, the inhabitants developed their own form of the East Frisian language, Saterland Frisian, which survives to this day. The "'' Saterfriesen''," as the speakers of this language are called in German, are the smallest minority recogn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pennsylvania Dutch Language
Pennsylvania Dutch (, or ), referred to as Pennsylvania German in scholarly literature, is a variety of Palatine German, also known as Palatine Dutch, spoken by the Old Order Amish, Old Order Mennonites, Fancy Dutch, and other descendants of German immigrants in the United States and Canada. There are possibly more than 300,000 native speakers of Pennsylvania Dutch in the United States and Canada. It has traditionally been the dialect of the Pennsylvania Dutch, descendants of late 17th- and early to late 18th-century immigrants to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina primarily from Southern Germany and, less so, from the eastern France regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and parts of Switzerland. Although the term Pennsylvania Dutch is often taken to refer to the Amish and related Old Order groups, it does not imply a connection to any particular religious group. The word Dutch does not refer to the Dutch language or people, but is derived fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palenquero
Palenquero (sometimes spelled Palenkero) or Palenque ( pln, Lengua) is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in Colombia. It is believed to be a mixture of Kikongo (a language spoken in central Africa in the current countries of Congo, DRC, Gabon, and Angola, former member states of Kongo) and Spanish. However, there is no sufficient evidence to indicate that Palenquero is strictly the result of a two-language contact. Palenquero is the only surviving Spanish-based creole language in Latin America, if Papiamento (which is often considered to be Portuguese-based) is excluded. Over 6,600 people spoke this language in 2018. It is primarily spoken in the village of San Basilio de Palenque which is southeast of Cartagena, and in some neighbourhoods of Barranquilla. History Origin The formation of Palenquero is recorded from the 17th century with the dilution of the Spanish language and the increase of maroon activity. There are existing records dating from the era of Carta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lusatia
Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Pulsnitz and Black Elster rivers in the west, and is located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Polish voivodeships of Lower Silesia and Lubusz. Lusatia's central rivers are the Spree and the Lusatian Neisse, which constitutes the border between Germany and Poland since 1945 ( Oder–Neisse line). The Lusatian Mountains (part of the Sudetes), separate Lusatia from Bohemia (Czech Republic) in the south. Lusatia is traditionally divided into Upper Lusatia (the hilly southern part) and Lower Lusatia (the flat northern part). The areas east and west along the Spree in the German part of Lusatia are home to the Slavic Sorbs, one of Germany's four officially recogniz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
