linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, Meuse-Rhenish () is a term with several meanings, used both in

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

and

dialectology Dialectology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , ''-logy, -logia'') is the scientific study of dialects: subsets of languages. Though in the 19th century a branch of historical linguistics, dialectology is often now c ...

. As a dialectological term, it was introduced by the German linguist Arend Mihm in 1992 to denote a group of

Low Franconian In historical linguistics, historical and comparative linguistics, Low Franconian is a linguistic category used to classify a number of historical and contemporary West Germanic languages, West Germanic Variety (linguistics), varieties closely r ...

dialects spoken in the greater Meuse-Rhine area, which stretches in the northern triangle roughly between the rivers

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

(in Belgium and the Netherlands) and

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

(in Germany). It is subdivided into North Meuse-Rhenish and South Meuse-Rhenish dialects ().Michael Elmentaler, Anja Voeste, ''Areale Variation im Deutschen historisch: Mittelalter und Frühe Neuzeit'', with the subchapter ''Rheinmaasländisch (Niederfränkisch)''. In: ''Sprache und Raum: Ein internationales Handbuch der Sprachvariation. Band 4: Deutsch. Herausgegeben von Joachim Herrgen, Jürgen Erich Schmidt. Unter Mitarbeit von Hanna Fischer und Birgitte Ganswindt.'' Volume 30.4 of ''Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science / Manuels de linguistique et des sciences de communication)'' (HSK). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2019, p. 61ff., subchater p. 70f., here p. 70 It includes varieties of Kleverlandish (Dutch: ''Kleverlands'') and

Limburgish Limburgish ( or ; ; also Limburgian, Limburgic or Limburgan) refers to a group of South Low Franconian Variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in Belgium and the Netherlands, characterized by their distance to, and limited participation ...

in the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg, and their German counterparts in German Northern

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

. In literary studies, Meuse-Rhenish (, or rarely , ) is as well the modern term for literature written in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

in the greater Meuse-Rhine area, in a literary language that is nowadays usually called

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

Low Rhenish and Limburgish

Low Rhenish (, ) is the collective name in German for the regional

language varieties spoken alongside the so-called Lower Rhine in the west of Germany. Low Franconian is a language or dialect group that has developed in the lower parts of the Frankish Empire, northwest of the Benrath line. From this group both the Dutch and later the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

standard languages have arisen. The differences between Low Rhenish and Low Saxon are smaller than between Low Rhenish and

High German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...

. Yet, Low Rhenish does not belong to

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

, but to Low Franconian. Today, Low Franconian dialects are spoken mainly in regions to the west of the rivers

and

IJssel The IJssel (; ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. It more immediatel ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in the Dutch speaking part of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, but also in Germany in the Lower Rhine area. Only the latter have traditionally been called ''Low Rhenish'', but they can be regarded as the German extension or counterpart of the

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

s in the Netherlands and Belgium, and of Kleverlandish (''Kleverlands'') in the Netherlands. Low Rhenish differs strongly from High German. The more to the north it approaches the Netherlands, the more it sounds like Dutch. As it crosses the Dutch-German as well as the Dutch-Belgian borders, it becomes a part of the language landscape in three neighbouring countries. In two of them Dutch is the standard language. In Germany, important towns on the Lower Rhine and in the

- Ruhr area, including parts of the Düsseldorf Region, are part of it, among them

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the ...

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...

, Moers,

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

and

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

. This language area stretches towards the southwest along cities such as

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

and

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

, and the Heinsberg district, crosses the German-Dutch border into the Dutch province of Limburg, where it is called

, passing cities east of the

river (in both Dutch and German called ) such as

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

Roermond Roermond (; or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received City rights i ...

and Geleen, and then again crosses the

between the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg, encompassing the cities of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

(NL) and

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

(B). The eastmost varieties of the latter, east of the Rhine from Düsseldorf to Wuppertal, are also referred to as " Bergish" (after the former Duchy of Berg).

The Meuse-Rhine triangle

This whole region between the Meuse and the Rhine was linguistically and culturally quite coherent during the so-called

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

(1543–1789), though politically more fragmented. The former predominantly Dutch speaking duchies of Guelders and Limburg lay in the heart of this linguistic landscape, but eastward the former duchies of Cleves (entirely), Jülich, and Berg partially, also fit in. The northwestern part of this triangular area came under the influence of the Dutch standard language, especially since the founding of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. The southeastern part became a part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

at the same time, and from then it was subject to

language domination. At the dialectal level however, mutual understanding is still possible far beyond both sides of the national borders. By including Kleverlandish in this continuum, we are enlarging the territory and turn the wide circle of Limburgish into a triangle with its top along the line

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

–

(along the

Line). The Diest-

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

Line is its western border, the Benrath line (from Eupen to

) is a major part of the southeastern one. Together they belong to the greater triangle-shaped

area, a large group of southeastern Low Franconian dialects, including areas in Belgium, the Netherlands and the German Northern

Classification

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

** Germanic ***

West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

****

***** Meuse-Rhenish ******

and Low Rhenish

Literature

* Georg Cornelissen 2003: ''Kleine niederrheinische Sprachgeschichte (1300–1900) : eine regionale Sprachgeschichte für das deutsch-niederländische Grenzgebiet zwischen Arnheim und Krefeld'' ith an introduction in Dutch Geldern / Venray: Stichting Historie Peel-Maas-Niersgebied, ] * Michael Elmentaler, ''Die Schreibsprachgeschichte des Niederrheins. Ein Forschungsprojekt der Duisburger Universität'', in: ''Sprache und Literatur am Niederrhein'', Schriftenreihe der Niederrhein-Akademie Bd. 3, 1998, p. 15–34. * Theodor Frings 1916 & 1917: ''Mittelfränkisch-niederfränkische studien.'' ** ''I. Das ripuarisch-niederfränkische übergangsgebiet'', in: '' Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur'', 41 (1916), p. 193–271. ** ''II. Zur geschichte des niederfränkischen'', in: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur'', 42 (1917), p. 177–248. * Irmgard Hantsche 2004: ''Atlas zur Geschichte des Niederrheins'' (= Schriftenreihe der Niederrhein-Akademie 4). Bottrop/Essen: Peter Pomp (5th ed.). * Uwe Ludwig, Thomas Schilp (eds.) 2004: ''Mittelalter an Rhein und Maas. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Niederrheins. Dieter Geuenich zum 60. Geburtstag'' (= ''Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur Nordwesteuropas'' 8, edited by Horst Lademacher). Münster/New York/München/Berlin: Waxmann. * Arend Mihm 1992: Sprache und Geschichte am unteren Niederrhein, in: ''Jahrbuch des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung'', 88–122. * Arend Mihm 2000: Rheinmaasländische Sprachgeschichte von 1500 bis 1650, in: Jürgen Macha, Elmar Neuss, Robert Peters (eds.): ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprachgeschichte''. Köln enz. (= Niederdeutsche Studien 46), 139–164. * Helmut Tervooren 2005: ''Van der Masen tot op den Rijn. Ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der volkssprachlichen mittelalterlichen Literatur im Raum von Rhein und Maas''. Geldern: Erich Schmidt.

References

{{Languages of the Benelux West Germanic languages Languages of Germany German dialects Dutch language Dutch dialects Languages of the Netherlands Languages of Belgium North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland

Low Rhenish and Limburgish

The Meuse-Rhine triangle

Classification

Literature

See also

References