Duisburg dialect
Duisburg dialect (German: Duisburger Platt, pronounced [ˈdyːsbʊɐ̯ɡɐ ˌplat]; Duisburg dialect: Düsbergsch Platt) is an extinct dialect that was spoken in the German city of Duisburg. It was part of the broader South Guelderish (Cleverlands) dialect group – the easternmost of the Low Franconian languages. These languages, including Dutch, were spoken along the lower Rhine in the Netherlands and central western Germany. Through historical circumstances, Duisburg dialect – along with the other South Guelderish dialects – became more and more influenced by Standard German and, in particular, Central German dialects.
| Duisburg dialect | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Germany |
| Region | Duisburg |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
The dialect was located close to the northern side of the Uerdingen line, a linguistic isogloss within the continental West Germanic languages in Europe, separating dialects that preserve the -k sound in the first person singular pronoun word "ik" (north of the line) from dialects in which the word final -k has changed to a final -ch in the word "ich" (ç) (south of the line). That sound shift is the one that progressed the farthest north among the consonant shifts that characterize High German and Low German/Low Saxon dialects. The line passes through Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
During the 20th century, a Ruhr/Lower Rhine dialect, with traces of the old dialect in grammar, syntax and vocabulary gradually became dominant in the Duisburg region. The Duisburg dialect became extinct in spoken form, between the 1950s and 1970s.
Examples
Duisburg dialect:
- Wellem van der Weppe wor all fis op Johre, as hä sech en Frau nohm. Hä wor ömmer
- en betzke vörsechtig en allem.
- „Jezz bös do noch los on ledig,“ sagg hä sich, as hä fiefonvertig Johr old wor,
- „on wezz, wat do häss, ävver wat do kriggs, wenn do dich en Frau op de Hals
- hängs, dat wezz do noch lang nit!“
Dutch:
- Wellem van der Weppe was al jaren oud als hij een vrouw nam. Hij was immer
- een beetje voorzichtig in alle dingen.
- „Nu ben je nog los en ongehuwd“, zei hij als hij vijfenvertig jaar oud was,
- „en je weet wat je hebt, maar wat je krijgt als je je een vrouw op de hals haalt,
- dat weet je nog lang niet!“
English:
- Wellem van der Weppe was years old when he took a wife. He has always been
- a bit careful in all matters.
- "Now I am free and unmarried", he said when he was forty-five years old.
- "now I know what I have, but what I will get when I am saddled with a wife,
- that I do not know by far yet!"
German:
- Wilhelm van der Weppe war schon alt an Jahren, als er sich eine Frau nahm. Er war immer ein bisschen vorsichtig in allem.
- „Jetzt bist du noch frei und ledig,“ sagte er sich, als er fünfundvierzig Jahre alt war,
- und weißt, was du hast, aber was du bekommst, wenn du dir eine Frau an den Hals
- hängst, das weißt du noch lang nicht!“
| Duisburgsch | Dutch | English | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| all | al | already | bereits |
| as | als | when | als |
| äte(n) | eten | eat | essen |
| Daach | dag | day | Tag |
| dat | dat | that | das |
| drinke(n) | drinken | drink | trinken |
| ek | ik | I | ich |
| en betzke | een beetje | a bit | ein bisschen |
| et | het | it | es |
| fiefonvertig | vijfenvertig | forty-five | fünfundvierzig |
| glöhwe(n) | geloven | believe | glauben |
| hä | hij | he | er |
| loss | los | free | frei |
| make(n) | maken | make | machen |
| nehme(n) | nemen | take | nehmen |
| nit | niet | not | nicht |
| noch lang nit | nog lang niet | not yet so far | noch lange nicht |
| on | en | and | und |
| ohld | oud | old | alt |
| segge(n) | zeggen | say | sagen |
| tien | tien | ten | zehn |
| trecke(n) | trekken | pull (drag) | ziehen |
| tüschen [tyʃən] | tussen [ˈtɵsə(n)] | between | zwischen |
| twee | twee | two | zwei |
| vandaach [vanˈdaːx] | vandaag [vɑnˈdaːx] | today | heute |
| vörsechtig | voorzichtig | cautious | vorsichtig |
| weete(n) | weten | know | wissen |
| wat | wat | what | was |
Literature
- Georg Böllert: Ut Old Düsberg’s Tid, Georg Böllert, Duisburg, 1934
- Heinrich Neuse: Studien zur niederheinischen Dialektgeographie in den Kreisen Rees, Dinslaken, Hamborn, Mülheim, Duisburg in: DDG 8, Marburg, Friedrich (1915)