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Westphalian or Westfalish ( Standard High German: ',
Standard Dutch Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the third most spoken Germanic language. In Europe, Dutch is the nati ...
: ') is one of the major dialect groups of
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" ...
. Its most salient feature is its
diphthongization In historical linguistics, vowel breaking, vowel fracture, or diphthongization is the sound change of a monophthong into a diphthong or triphthong. Types Vowel breaking may be unconditioned or conditioned. It may be triggered by the presence of ...
(rising diphthongs). For example, speakers say () instead of or for "to eat". (There is also a difference in the use of consonants ''within'' the Westphalian dialects: North of the
Wiehengebirge The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...
, people tend to use unvoiced consonants, whereas south of the Wiehengebirge they tend to use the voiced equivalents, e.g. > .) The Westphalian dialect region includes the north-eastern part of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, i.e. the former
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n province of Westphalia, without
Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoin ...
and Wittgenstein, but including the southern part of former government district Weser-Ems (e.g. the region around
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
and the landscape of
Emsland Landkreis Emsland () is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems (river), Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer (district), Leer, Cloppenburg (district), Cloppenbur ...
in modern Lower Saxony). Traditionally, all
Dutch Low Saxon Dutch Low Saxon ( or ''Nederlaands Nedersaksies''; ) are Low Saxon dialects from the Low German language that are spoken in the northeastern Netherlands and are mostly, but not exclusively, written with local, unstandardised orthographies base ...
dialects are considered Westphalian, with the notable exception of
Gronings Gronings (; or Grönnegs), is a collective name for some Low Saxon dialects spoken in the province of Groningen and around the Groningen border in Drenthe and Friesland. Gronings and the strongly related varieties in East Frisia have a stro ...
, which is grouped with the
Northern Low Saxon Northern Low Saxon (in Standard German, Standard High German: ', also ', lit. ''North(ern) Low Saxon/German''; in Dutch language, Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West ...
and
Friso-Saxon Friso-Saxon (, ) is a group of West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialects found around the North Sea coast of the Netherlands and Germany, in an area historically known as Frisia.cf. Hoppenbrouwers, Cornelis Antonius Johannes / Hoppenbrouwer ...
dialects. The rising diphthongisation is still noticeable in the dialects of
Rijssen Rijssen (; Sallands: ) is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is part of Rijssen-Holten, one of thirteen municipalities in Twente. It has almost 28,000 inhabitants. The economy of Rijssen relies mostly on commerce and construction ...
, Enter and
Vriezenveen Vriezenveen (West Low German, Lower Saxon: t Vjenne, Venne, Vjenne, Vreeznven or Vreeinvenne'') is a town in the municipality of Twenterand in the Dutch province of Overijssel. The population was 13,800 on January 1, 2020. Until July 1, 2002, ...
. In a band from southeast Twente to northwest Twente the diphtongisation still happens before the consonants v, g and z. Vriezenveen furthermore preserved the diphtongisations in words like to eat, to hope and kitchen. In other areas of Dutch Low Saxon the breaking was monophthongized and then highered and lengthened, resulting in different development stadia away from the breaking depending on the area.


Varieties

Among the Westphalian language there are different subgroups of dialects: * Westmünsterländisch * Münsterländisch * South Westphalian () * East Westphalian () in
East Westphalia Ostwestfalen-Lippe (, literally ''East(ern) Westphalia-Lippe'', abbreviation OWL) is the eastern region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, congruent with the administrative region of Detmold and containing the eastern part of Wes ...
(possibly including the dialect of
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
) Westphalian dialects in the Netherlands: * Drèents * Urkers *
Stellingwarfs Stellingwarfs () is a Westphalian and Friso-Saxon dialect spoken in Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in the Dutch province of Friesland, and also in Steenwijkerland and Westerveld in the Dutch province of Overijssel and Drenthe. Like ...
* Sallands *
Twents Tweants (Tweants pronunciation: ; ) is a group of non-standardised Dutch Low Saxon dialects of the Low German language. It is spoken daily by approximately 62% of the population of Twente, a region in the eastern Dutch province of Overijsse ...
*
Achterhoeks Achterhooks (; ) is a Westphalian dialect spoken in Gelderland. Geographic distribution The Achterhooks language is spoken in the Netherlands in western Europe, Northeast, with speakers concentrated in Gelderland Province. Status The langua ...
* Veluws Westphalian has many lexical similarities and other proximities to Eastphalian, extending to the East and slightly to the North of the area where Westphalian is spoken.


Grammar


Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns in Störmede are as follows:Franz Kemper: ''Stürmeder Platt: Wi et lutt düt un dat.'' 1998, p. 18


Status

German Westphalian is currently spoken mostly by elderly people. The majority of the inhabitants of Westphalia proper speak (regionally coloured) standard
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
. This accent, however, does not stand out as much as for example Bavarian, because Westphalia is closer to the
Hanover region Hanover Region () is a districts of Germany, district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Heidekreis, Celle (district), Celle, Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn, Peine (district), Peine, Hildeshe ...
, whose speech variety is generally considered to be standard modern German. The Low Saxon dialects in the bordering
Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...
and
Achterhoek The Achterhoek (; ) is a cultural region and COROP area in the Eastern Netherlands. Its name (meaning "rear-corner") is geographically appropriate because the area lies in the easternmost part of the province of Gelderland and therefore in the e ...
regions in the east of the Netherlands are traditionally classified as Westphalian dialects, albeit with some notable traits from Standard Dutch. A 2005 study showed 62% of the population of Twente spoke the language at home or together with Dutch, and efforts are made to insert the language into the local school curriculum. One of the reasons for the diminishing use of Westphalian in Germany is the rigorous enforcement of German-only policies in traditionally
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" ...
-speaking areas during the 18th century. Westphalian, and Low German in general, unlike many of the High German dialects, were too distant from standard German to be considered dialects and were therefore not tolerated and efforts were made to ban them. In an extreme case, Hannover and its hinterland were forced to adopt rather unnaturally a form of German based on the written standard. Westphalian was spoken in
Kruppwerke Kruppwerke is a part of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the nor ...
up to the 19th century. Nevertheless, the Westphalian regiolect of Standard High German includes some words that originate from the dying Westphalian dialects, which are otherwise unintelligible for other German speakers from outside Westphalia. Examples include ''Pölter'' "pyjamas/pajamas", ''Plörre'' "dirty liquid", and ''Mötke'' "mud, dirt".


Authors

Westphalian authors include: Münsterländisch: * Augustin Wibbelt East Westphalian: * Richard Knoche South Westphalian: * Wilhelm Bleicher * Wilhelm Bröcker * Theodor Ellbracht * Friedrich Wilhelm Grimme * Walter Höher * Carl Hülter * Fritz Kuhne * Fritz Linde * Horst Ludwigsen * Franz Nolte


References


Further reading

* Daniela Twilfer: ''Dialektgrenzen im Kopf. Der westfälische Sprachraum aus volkslinguistischer Perspektive.'' Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-89534-903-4. * ''Niederdeutsche Mundarten''. In: ''Geographisch-landeskundlicher Atlas von Westfalen. Themenbereich V. Kultur und Bildung.'' Münster 1996 (Karten und Begleittext). * Hermann Niebaum: ''Geschichte und Gliederung der sprachlichen Systeme in Westfalen.'' In: ''Der Raum Westfalen'' VI,1, Münster 1989, ISBN 3-402-05554-6, S. 5–31. * Rudolf Ernst Keller: ''Westphalian: Mönsterlänsk Platt.'' In: ''German Dialects. Phonology & Morphology, with selected texts.'' Manchester University Press, Manchester 1961, S. 299–338.


External links

* Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe: *
Interactive Language Atlas of Westphalian
** Hans Taubken:
Low German Language - Westphalian Dialects
' on the pag
Geographische Kommission für Westfalen – Westfalen Regional – The geographical and cultural online documentation about Westphalia
retrieved 17 September 2018. *
Kommission für Mundart- und Namenforschung Westfalens
(Commission for Dialect and Name-Research in Westphalia) *

* ttps://regionalsprache.de/Map/UoCKruB7 Language Borders in Westphalia and the surrounding area– interactive map (regionalsprache.de, Deutscher Sprachatlas) {{Authority control German dialects Languages of Germany Languages of the Netherlands Low German Westphalian dialects North Rhine-Westphalia