Franconian languages

As a Franconian West Germanic languages, the languages ​​and dialects are referred to by the Franks at the time of their ethnogenesis (3rd century ) were spoken or spoken from the north and east of the later Frankish Empire (5th - 9th centuries) have developed Franconian dialects.

These include:

• The historical languages ​​of the Salian Franks, the Rhine francs ( → Origin of Ripuarian dialect ) and from these derived Mosel francs ( Moselle Franconian dialects → )
• Which differ from those early Franconian languages ​​or dialects deriving in today's spoken dialects in Germany, the Benelux countries and Lorraine - in the broadest sense as Low Franconian and West Middle German ( with the contained Ripuarian, Moselle Franconian and Rhine Franconian dialects ) denotes
• Rhein- Maasländisch, a font and firm language that was used in the Middle Ages in the Rhine -Meuse delta German - Dutch
• Modern Central European languages ​​( with the caveat that this was added to different backgrounds and elements of other Germanic dialects in itself ), including: German: With the Second Sound Shift evolved from the old-fashioned language of the Old High German and in other stages of development - which were included in other German dialects - from the 17th century up to today's Modern High German standard language.
• Dutch and Afrikaans
• Luxembourgish: Status as a separate language is politically motivated primarily by structural and linguistic criteria "only" a variant of the Moselle Franconian.
• ( German ) dialects, their respective mappings to the Franconian languages ​​in the original sense is not fully understood, including: the so-called " settlers dialects "; For example, despite its, misleading, Transylvanian - Saxon name Franconian (Romania )
• The East Frankish ( the "classic" colloquial Lemberger) and south ( Rhine ) Franconian dialects are spoken in francs and in adjacent areas in the transition region from central Germany to the Upper German dialect region.

• 2.1 Fränkisch on the Lower Rhine in the Netherlands and in Belgium: Low Franconian
• 2.2 Fränkisch in the Central German: West Central German languages
• 2.3 East Frankish and Südfränkisch

History

The Franks ( literally " the brave, Bold " ) formed in the 3rd century during the retreat of the Romans from the occupied part of Germania one of the Germanic tribes United, which later gave rise to the people of the Franks.

The (proto ) - Frankish tribes settled first of the Rhine and kept coming to raids in Gallo- Roman territory before. From the settling of the Overijssel on the Lower Rhine to the Salland tribes, the sub- tribe of the Salian Franks formed, also called the Salian Franks. The metropolitan area of Cologne settled over the middle Rhine to the Lahn tribes were gradually on the Rhine Franks and from these derived Moselle Franconia. Salfranken and Rhine Franks expanded initially spatially separated until they were united in the 5th century under the Merovingian Clovis.

Early Franconian dialects

The Low Franconian dialects in the Netherlands, Belgium and the German Lower Rhine region are attributed to dialects of Salfränkischen. Located in the Greater Cologne (Kölsch ) / Bonn / Aachen ( Öcher Platt) and the spoken Ripuarian in Moselle from Trier to Luxembourg to spoken Moselle Franconian include the so- called Middle Franconian today. The further south spoken Rhine Franconian, but especially the Upper German dialects Franconia (South, East Frankish ) came under the strong influence of Alemannic and, in the case of the East Frankish, of Bavarian dialects. They have more in common with the southern neighbor dialects than with the original Frankish idioms. Therefore, they are grouped together with those also to the Upper German dialects. However, this is also likely to be that these regions were inhabited before the Frankish conquest and colonization of Alemannic and Bavarian settlers, but also other remnants of the great migrations that were not simply sold as part of the integration into the Frankish Empire, but integrated into it, resulting in the Upper German dialects mixing of the Frankish settlers and the subject Altsiedler elbgermanisch - suebischer origin are likely to have formed.

Historically (from the 5th / 6th century ) there was an equating the terms Rhine Franks and Ripuarians. But this can not be related to the present dialects, because only spoken in the space between the West and the Bergisch Cologne / Aachen / Bonn dialects are called " Ripuarian ". The term "Rhine Franconian " is used for the Franconian dialects above the central Rhine area of the mouth of the Main and in its upper reaches to Osthessen.

The large area of ​​expansion of the Frankish dialects shows the importance of the Franconian for the emergence of a common German lingua franca. Under the rule of the Franks, the medieval German state system began to emerge, it emerged firm and compensation languages ​​among the various tribal territories. The Franks were also the ones which united all the (East ) Franconian West Germanic Reich settled large strains and thus laid the foundation for the emergence of a common German people. The others settled in present-day German-language area Germanic tribes, the Saxons ( alto, today Lower Saxony, but not the people in the same state ), Bavaria (or Bavarians ), Alemanni (formerly unified Swabia / Suevi ), Hesse and Thuringia ( whose original languages largely lost ) took structuring elements from the Frankish language and influenced the Frankish retroactively far beyond its peripheral areas beyond.

Thanks to the emergence of various mixed dialects the Frankish lost its uniformity. The since the 6th century advancing from the south High German sound shift lifted from the earlier linguistic area, different dialect regions with different sound stand out. This led to a diversification of Franconian dialects in Low German, Middle German and Upper German varieties. This classification, particularly for middle between German and Low German, but says nothing about the family relationship of the respective dialects in the border area. This classification follows pure according to technical aspects, while the vocabulary coincides largely still in the Central and Low Franconian dialects.

The distinction between the Frankish idioms according to the sound level or the degree of progress of the second sound shift resulted in a generally accepted level grouping ( Rhenish subjects). However, the demarcation is difficult because in the transition region between the Middle and Upper German or medium and low German often several sound options in the same area are used in parallel.

For example: mitteldt. " Pund " / oberdt. "Pound ", mitteldt. " Ioffe " ( run ) / niederdt. " Lope " mitteldt. " Losse " ( blank ) / niederdt. "Late "

Retrieved from " Frencisk " to " Diutisk " to "flat Duytsche "

The early Franks called their language simply " Frencisk " (or " Frencisg " ) - although in different regions of the dialects - as heutztage - differed and further developed. There are few written sources for the language of the early Franks. An old Franconian sentence is handed down from the Merovingian period, comes from the Frankish people right from the 6th to the 8th century ( the Salic Law and the Lex Ripuaria ):

When the western part of the Frankish Franks people ( in present-day France and Wallonia ) language from the eastern part ( in today's Benelux and Germany ) began to separate, it came into conflict with the label " Frencisk " ( Lemberger). The West Franks, who had gradually taken over the Gallo-Roman language, claimed the term " Francaise " ( Franconian = French) for their new language, Old French. In the eastern kingdom, a new term set for one's own language by " Diutisk " ( German ) This term was borrowed from an old Germanic name " Theodosius " for people, and immersed in the Latin writings of the early Middle Ages as " theodisca lingua " in what way. means a lot as vernacular. First, based only on the "language" of the people, the root word also got the meaning of the "people per se " to the year 1000 - and not just for the people of Frankish origin, but for all ethnic groups in the Germanic Frankish kingdom. This was also true for Luxembourg, Flemish and Dutch, who up to the kingdom of separation after the abdication of Emperor Charles V ( 1500-1558 ) also known as " German " or "Low German " designated (see the term "Dutch " for the English " Dutchman ").

On East Frankish ( German ) side, there was a name " Walhisc " ( Welsch, originally a tribe of Gauls ) for the Gallo- Roman population in the West Frankish kingdom, including the now Romanized West Franks. The meaning of " Vlašský " = Foreign-language = foreigner stayed in Germany until modern times (see gibberish, and slang ).

In West Frankish (French ) side, there was to distinguish the inhabitants of Ostfrankenreiches to denote " Allemant " ( for the Germans, derived from the Germanic tribe of the " Alemanni "). This name is - in modified forms - in many countries continues.

From the time of the linguistic separation of the (now French ) Westfrankenbahn of the (now German / Dutch / Flemish ) Franks in the Eastern Empire, there is an important language certificate: Oaths of Strasbourg of the year 842 you sealed the alliance of two grandsons of Charlemagne ( Charles the Bald and Louis the German ) against their brother Lothar. Because the wake of the language of the other side (no longer) understood the oaths were made in two languages ​​- in a precursor form of Old French ( the language of Charles ) and Altfränkisch ( the language of Louis ). The antiquated oath text read:

In the 12th century a " famous " sentence is dated, which is the most important Altniederländisches ( altfränkisches ) written document - Hebban olla vogala - an almost poetic rhyme:

Only the written documents from the 14th to 16th centuries are more understandable to modern readers in spirit. In the Rhine -Meuse delta German - Dutch had at that time - emerged a font and firm language, which replaced the Latin so far mainly used for writing edicts - in the Lower Franconian language area: Rheinmaasländisch.

Here is an example from this period, one of detained from Duisburg St. John Kaplan John Wassenberch in 1517 " weather forecast":

The above excerpt can easily see how to the Low Franconian platform in the German Lower Rhine spoken a certain "closeness " of the " Rheinmaasländischen " to today's Dutch. The term used in the north and west of Germany Platt or Low German for their own dialect derives not from some of them that it is spoken on the " open country "; rather the antiquated meant " plat" although "flat ", but also means " loud and clear ".

In a Delft Bible of the year 1524 by the "flat Duytsche " is mentioned. In the Rhineland, there are the sayings, "flat vür the couplers " to tell someone something ( clearly to say in the face ). Since there were differences between the " ground " style upscale booths and the " language of common Vokes " in the old-fashioned language area, was in this sense " speak Platt" as much as " plain text talk ". plaintext, which every farmer and craftsman understood. Platt therefore was the language of the common people itself.

Outline Franconian languages, dialects and dialects

A special feature of the Franconian is that its dialects extend over the entire low -, mid- and upper German language area:

Fränkisch on the Lower Rhine in the Netherlands and in Belgium: Low Franconian

• Dutch language (Netherlands, Belgium, France, North Rhine -Westphalia, Suriname) Dutch and Utrecht
• Flemish and Brabants (Flanders and Brabant (Antwerp, Brussels), southern Netherlands, Lille Nord-Pas de Calais in France ( Calais, Dunkirk ) ) Western Flemish dialect group

• Kleverländisch (eastern Netherlands, German Niederrhein to Kleve and Duisburg) Klevisch - Weselisch
• Mölmsch Mülheim an der Ruhr
• Ostbergisch - Low Franconian dialect group in Bergisch Land

• Krieewelsch - Krefeld Platt
• West Bergisch or low Bergisch - Limburg dialect group in Bergisch Land

The Lower Franconian did not participate in the High German consonant shift - on the basis of independent development but this is no longer counted by philologists to the Low German dialects or the Lower Saxon dialects but recognized as an independent branch of the languages ​​of the West Germanic dialect continuum on the European mainland. Appears only in the immediate border area, according to a Middle Franconian shifted t often than z or s, and occasionally a k as ch (eg Limburg " I " or " me " instead of " ik " or " mij " in Dutch.

Fränkisch in the Central German: West Central German languages

• Central Franconian Ripuarian, also Ripuarian - Franconian ( Greater Cologne / Bonn / Aachen Bergisch Gladbach and Leverkusen, lower victory and Southern Bergisch Land, parts of the North Eifel and the area to Neuenahr ( Rhineland -Palatinate ), northern German - eastern Belgium to Eupen, and in the Netherlands Kerkrade, Bocholtz and Vaals )
• Moselle Franconian ( in the northern and western Rhineland -Palatinate: mid Rhineland with the centers Koblenz ( Koblenz Platt) and Trier on the Rhine north of Oberwesel / Sankt Goar, in the north-western Saarland Merzig to Nonnweiler, on the northern slope of the Hunsrück, in the department of Moselle in France ( Lorraine ), in the southern German - eastern Belgium near Sankt Vith, Eifel and Westerwald and the winning country in North Rhine -Westphalia and Rhineland- Palatinate.
• Luxembourgish, even Luxembourgish ( Luxembourg, Belgium and Lorraine in France )

In the Middle Franconian High German sound shift is not as far advanced as in the Rhine Franconian. t and k at the end of a word (eg, " wat " / what, " ik " / I ) and p at the word beginning and end (eg, " pan" / pan, "op" / on ) remain unshifted. German magazine " front " ch ( / ç / ) is otherwise pronounced almost the entire Rhineland as ʃ ( "sh" ) (Central and Rhine Franconian, Südniederfränkisch )

• Rhine Franconian Palatine (southern Rhineland -Palatinate, so Palatinate and Palatinate Forest to the centers of Ludwigshafen and Speyer ( front Palatine dialect group) to Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens and Zweibrücken (West Palatine dialect group), on the southern slope of the Hunsrück, in the southern and eastern Saarland with the population centers Saarbrücken and Neunkirchen - known for its easy nasalierenden pronunciation as " Saarland ", in the north of Alsace in France, in the department of Moselle in France ( Lorraine ), in the Palatinate in Baden- Württemberg Mannheim and Heidelberg, in Hesse on the mountain road and in the western Odenwald Bensheim, Four home and home Lampert ( Kurpfälzische dialects ). Pennsilfaanisch ( in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana as well as in Ontario, Canada )

• Südhessisch one speaks from and including Darmstadt north in the core area of the Rhine -Main region up to and including the Bavarian Aschaffenburg in the east. The Südhessische is the only genuine Hessian dialect Rhine Franconian and applies nationally as " Paradehessisch ".
• Mittelhessisch or Oberhessisch to Marburg and Giessen has many archaisms as the diphthongization of long vowels, such as " love " - " läib " or " cow " - " Kou ".
• Niederhessisch with the North Hessian dialects to Kassel and Bad Hersfeld and Fulda to osthessischen dialects bordering the East Frankish and is a Hessian- East Frankish - Thuringian mixed dialect. Located northwest of Kassel to Korbach in the former Principality of Waldeck, already the Frankish- Saxon language border is and you already speak some German and Westphalian Platt.

The Rhine Franconian has been through the High German consonant shift almost the same extent as the standard German. Remains only in word-initial p unshifted (eg, " Pund " / pounds, " Peffer " / pepper). Typical of the Palatinate and neighboring dialects is the ( Alemannic ) š before t and p ( " Fascht ", " Poscht ", " Kaschte [n ]"). It also occurs in southFrankish.

East Frankish and Südfränkisch

• East Frankish was born from the merger of Frankish, Thuringian and of Bavarian dialects; the tribes met in the Main area and settled in the hinterland jointly. East Frankish one speaks in the Franconian part of Bavaria state, ie, essentially in the districts of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia; the boundary to form Bairischen Fichtelgebirge, Altmühltherme and the Southern and Central Franconian Alb. The border to the Rhine Franconian runs through the Spessart. In Baden- Württemberg, one speaks it in the Hohenlohe region to Crailsheim and Künzelsau and in Taubergrund to Tauberbischofsheim and Wertheim. East Frankish dialects is referred to also in the whole of southern Thuringia (Thüringen south of the Rennsteig ), in the southern Rhön, even on the Hessian side and in the Saxon Vogtland Erzgebirge. The East Frankish is now simply referred to colloquially as " Frankish ". However, there is no single " Frankish " ( East Franconian ) dialect, certain terms are often referred to vary greatly from place to place. Example: Madla (Nuremberg), Madli ( Fürth ), Meudla ( Alfeld near Hersbruck ) for girls - all within a radius of about 30 km.
• Südfränkisch is a group of non-uniform transitional dialects of northern Baden- Württemberg, in the border area between northern and central German -speaking world. They originated in the tension between the Swabian- Alemannic, Rhine Franconian and East Frankish. The various idioms are restricted area and are spoken around the centers of Karlsruhe, Pforzheim and Heilbronn as well as in the Kraichgau. In Enztal east of Pforzheim, where Franconian and Swabian collide, it is called Enztal Franconian or Swabian Enztal (both names are used ). Originally this area was quite Frankish and part of the early medieval Duchy of Franconia. The dialects around Mosbach and Book are also attributed to the southFrankish group; the border to Kurpfälzische is not precisely defined.

South and East Frankish have the High German consonant shift ( consonant shift) participated to the same extent as the standard German and are therefore expected to the Upper German dialects, with the exception of the consonant "b ", which is still preserved as a "w" in southFrankish ( have = hawwe, over = ' niewer; Write = schreiwe ). From the vocal booth here although they are (usually ) middle German show, however, in the outskirts of rudimentary Vokaldiphtongierung.