'Limburgish', or ''Limburgian'' or ''Limburgic'' (
Dutch: ''Limburgs'',
German: ''Limburgisch'',
French: ''Limbourgeois'') is a group of
Franconian varieties, spoken in the
Limburg and
Rhineland regions, near the common
Dutch /
Belgian /
German border. The area in which it is spoken roughly fits within a wide circle from
Venlo to
Düsseldorf to
Aachen to
Maastricht to
Hasselt and back to
Venlo. Limburgish is recognised as a
regional language (''Dutch: streektaal'') in
the Netherlands and as such it receives moderate protection under chapter 2 of the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
Meuse-Rhenish
In Germany, it is common to consider the Limburgish varieties as belonging to the
Low Franconian languages; in the Netherlands and Belgium however all these are tradionally seen as
West Central German, part of
High German. This difference is caused by a difference in definition: the linguists of the Low Countries define a High German variety as one that has taken part in any of the first three phases of the
High German consonant shift. In German sources, the dialects linguistically counting as Limburgish spoken east from the river
Rhine are often called "Bergisch". West of the river Rhine they are called "Low Rhenish", "Limburgish" or "Ripuarian". Limburgish is not recognised by the German government as an official language.
Both
Limburgish and
Low Rhenish belong to the greater
Meuse-
Rhine area, a large group of southeastern Low Franconian dialects, including areas in Belgium, the Netherlands and the German Northern
Rhineland. The northwestern part of this triangle became 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 at the same time, and from then it was subject to
High German language domination. At the dialectal level however, mutual understanding is still possible far beyond both sides of the national borders.
This superordinating group is called
Meuse-Rhenish (Dutch: ''Maas-Rijnlands'', German: ''Rheinmaasländisch''), as suggested by the Amsterdam linguist Ad Welschen. It can be divided into Northern and Southern varieties. Hence, Limburgish is
Southern Meuse-Rhenish as spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Dutch and Belgian Limburgish
Limburgish is spoken by approximately 1,600,000 people in the
Low Countries and by many hundreds of thousands in
Germany, depending on definition. The varieties of Limburgish spoken within
Flemish (Belgian) territory are more influenced by
French than those spoken on Dutch and German soil. The language has similarities with both German and Dutch and
Hendrik van Veldeke, a medieval writer from the region, is referred to as both one of the earlier writers in German and one the earliest writers in Dutch.
Unlike most European languages, Limburgish is a
tonal language having two tones. Other European languages known to be marginally tonal are
Lithuanian,
Slovenian,
Swedish,
Norwegian and the Yugoslav languages,
Serbian,
Bosnian and
Croatian.
Limburgish also shows signs of a possible
Celtic substrate which is indicated by a larger number of words that have Celtic origins in Limburgish than in other West Germanic dialects. The area originally was inhabited by Celtic tribes.
Subdivisions of the Limburgish
''Noord-Limburgs (''ik''-Limburgs)'' from
Venlo upward to the North in the
Netherlands is the form of Limburgish, which has features of the
Zuid-Gelders dialect.
''Centraal-Limburgs'' is a concept used in Germany, which includes the area around
Maastricht,
Sittard,
Roermond, the eastern half of Belgian Limburg, and the Belgian
Voeren area, and stretches further Northeast. Belgian linguists use a more refined classification. They use the term ''Oost-Limburgs'' for the form of Limburgish spoken in an area from Belgian
Voeren south of
Maastricht in the Netherlands to the German border. For them, ''West-Limburgs'' is the variety of Limburgish spoken around
Hasselt,
Veldeke and
Tongeren in
Belgium. It includes areas in Dutch Limburg and Dutch Brabant. The border of ''West-Limburgs'' and ''Oost-Limburgs'' starts a little south of the area between the villages of 's-Gravenvoeren and Sint-Martens-Voeren in the Belgian municipality of
Voeren.
''Südostniederfränkisch'' is a concept used in Germany to describe the linguistic situation in a large area in Germany around
Heinsberg,
Viersen,
Mönchengladbach and
Krefeld. An area close to
Westphalia is considered as being the area where
''Bergisch'' is spoken. This area is limited roughly by a line
Düsseldorf-
Mettmann-
Solingen-
Remscheid. For a more encompassing view, see the article on
Low Rhenish.
Southeast Limburgish (''Zuidoost-Limburgs'') is spoken around
Kerkrade,
Bocholtz and
Vaals in the
Netherlands,
Aachen in
Germany and
Raeren and
Eynatten in
Belgium, in
Germany considered as
Ripuarian, not always as Limburgish. According to a contemporary vision, all varieties in a wider half circle some 15 to 20 KM around Aachen, including 2/3 of Dutch South Limburg and also the so-called ''Low Dietsch'' area between
Voeren and
Eupen in Belgium can be taken as a group of its own, which recently has been named ''Limburgish of the Three Countries Area'' (Dutch: ''Drielandenlimburgs'', German: ''Dreiländerplatt''), referring to the place where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet. Its concept was introduced by Ad Welschen, mainly based on research by Jean Frins (2005, 2006). This variety still possesses interesting syntactic idiosyncrasies, probably dating from the period in which the old
Duchy of Limburg existed.
If only tonality is to be taken as to define this variety, it stretches several dozen KM into
Germany. In Germany, it is consensus to class it as belonging to
High German varieties. But this is a little over-simplified. In order to include this variety properly a more encompassing concept is needed.
Meuse-Rhenish will do.
Phonology
The
phonology below is based on the variety of West-Limburgs spoken in Hasselt.
Consonants
Vowels
Monophthongs
only occurs in unstressed syllables. occurs only in
loanwords from Standard Dutch or from English. The
nasalised vowels only in loanwords from French.
are realised as before alveolar consonants.
Diphthongs
The diphthongs occur, as well as combinations of + . only occurs in French loanwords and
interjections.
is realized as before alveolar consonants, and is realized as or before
Tone
Limburgish distinguishes two
tones on stressed syllables, traditionally known as ''stoottoon'' ("push tone") and ''sleeptoon'' ("dragging tone"). Different words can be distinguished by tone alone, as well as different forms of a single word. For example, with ''sleeptoon'' is "day", while with ''stoottoon'' is "day's'". Another example is ''bie'' with ''stoottoon'' means "bee", while ''bie'' with ''sleeptoon'' means "with".
Umlaut
Limburgish uses for some nouns Umlaut to form the plural. This use of Umlaut is also known in English : man - men ; goose - geese.
In most dialects of Limburgish, you will find Umlaut for some nouns. The more you go to the east, towards Germany, the more you will
find plural nouns based on Umlaut.
★ broor - breer (brother - brothers)
★ sjoon - sjeen (shoe - shoes)
See also
★
Meuse-Rhenish
★
Low Rhenish
★
Southern Meuse-Rhenish
★
Zuidoost Limburgs on the Dutch Wikipedia
Source
★ Ad Welschen 2000-2005: Course ''Dutch Society and Culture'', International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam (permission granted)
References
★
Kleine niederrheinische Sprachgeschichte (1300-1900) : eine regionale Sprachgeschichte für das deutsch-niederländische Grenzgebiet zwischen Arnheim und Krefeld : met een Nederlandstalige inleiding, , Georg, Cornelissen, Stichting Historie Peel-Maas-Niersgebied, 2003,
★ Frins, Jean (2005): ''Syntaktische Besonderheiten im Aachener Dreilãndereck. Eine Übersicht begleitet von einer Analyse aus politisch-gesellschaftlicher Sicht''. Groningen: RUG Repro [Undergraduate Thesis, Groningen University]
★ Frins, Jean (2006): ''Karolingisch-Fränkisch. Die ''plattdůtsche'' Volkssprache im Aachener Dreiländereck''. Groningen: RUG Repro [Master's Thesis, Groningen University]
★
Klankleer van het Hasselt dialect, , L., Grootaers, de Vlaamsche Drukkerij, 1930,
★
The dialect of Maastricht, , C., Gussenhoven, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 1999
★
The phonology of tone and intonation in the Dutch dialect of Venlo, , C., Gussenhoven, Journal of Linguistics, 1999
★
The dialect of Hasselt, , Jörg, Peters, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 2006
★
Dieksjneèèr van 't (H)essels. Nederlands-Hasselts Woordenboek, , X., Staelens, de Langeman, 1989,
External links
★
On Limburgian Tones (in Dutch)
★
map of dialects spoken in Dutch Limburg
★
Advice of recognition of the Limburgish as regional language (in Dutch)
★
Limburgian Dictionary from
Webster's Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition
★
The visit of the ladies of Charity by Alphonse Olterdissen translated from the dialect of Maastricht into English for
Crossroads, a web magazine for expatriates in Maastricht, the Netherlands
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