Eastphalian, or Eastfalian (), is a dialect of

West Low German Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts o ...

, spoken in southeastern parts of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and western parts of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making i ...

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 betwee ...

Geographical extent

The language area between the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

and

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

rivers stretches from the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen ...

in the north to the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

mountain range and

Weser Uplands The Weser Uplands (German language, German: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in Germany, between Hannoversch Münden and Porta Westfalica, along the river Weser. The area reaches into three States of Germany, states, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and ...

in the south. It comprises

Hanover Region Hanover Region (german: Region Hannover) is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Heidekreis, Celle, Gifhorn, Peine, Hildesheim, Hamelin-Pyrmont, Schaumburg and Nienburg. T ...

, Brunswick and

Calenberg Land The Calenberg Land (german: Calenberger Land) is a historic landscape southwest of Hanover in Germany, roughly formed by the countryside between the Leine and the Deister hills. The name of this region comes from the Principality of Calenberg rul ...

as well as the

Magdeburg Börde The Magdeburg Börde (german: Magdeburger Börde) is the central landscape unit of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and lies to the west and south of the eponymous state capital Magdeburg. Part of a loess belt stretching along the southeastern rim of ...

, including the cities of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

. It roughly corresponds with the historic region of

Eastphalia Eastphalia (german: Ostfalen; Eastphalian: ''Oostfalen'') is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern '' Gaue'' (shires) of the historic stem duchy of Saxony, roughly confined by the River Leine in the west and the Elbe ...

Classification

Eastphalian as a separate dialect was determined by 19th century

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

, tracing it back to

Old Saxon Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). I ...

variants spoken in eastern parts of the medieval

stem duchy A stem duchy (german: Stammesherzogtum, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the German Empire at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death of ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

. Towards the Elbe region in the southeast, the language area is increasingly influenced by the

High German consonant shift In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development ( sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases. It probabl ...

Subdivisions

* Elbe Eastphalian (around Oschersleben and Haldensleben in the Magdeburg Börde between

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage o ...

and Magdeburg) * Göttingisch-Grubenhagensch (around Göttingen,

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...

and

Osterode am Harz Osterode am Harz, often simply called Osterode (; Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Niedersachsen on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the district of Osterode. Osterode is locat ...

* Heide Eastphalian (around

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

, with Northern Low Saxon elements) * Central Eastphalian is the Eastphalian subdialect spoken in a large area surrounding Braunschweig and Hanover. ** Hildesheimsch (from around

and

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, and east of Hanover. History A deed from 11 ...

up to

) ** Hannoversch (in the city of

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

) ** Calenbergsch (west of

) ** Einbecksch (around

Einbeck Einbeck (; Eastphalian: ''Aimbeck'') is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road. History Prehistory The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Vari ...

) ** Bronswieksch (in the city of

)

References

External links

Low German German dialects Languages of Germany Saxony-Anhalt Culture of Lower Saxony Culture in Braunschweig {{Germanic-lang-stub