| Westphalian | |
|---|---|
| Westfalish | |
| Westfäölsk, Westfäälsk, Westföölsk | |
| Native to | Germany,[1]Netherlands |
| Region | Westphalia,[1] southwestLower Saxony, eastern Netherlands |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wep |
| Glottolog | west2356 |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Westphalian orWestfalish (Standard High German:Westfälisch[vɛstˈfɛːlɪʃ]ⓘ,Standard Dutch:Westfaals[ʋɛstˈfaːls]ⓘ) is one of the major dialect groups ofLow German.[2] Its most salient feature is itsdiphthongization (rising diphthongs). For example, speakers sayiäten ([ɪɛtn̩]) instead ofetten oräten for "to eat". (There is also a difference in the use of consonantswithin the Westphalian dialects: North of theWiehengebirge, people tend to use unvoiced consonants, whereas south of the Wiehengebirge they tend to use the voiced equivalents, e.g.Foite >Foide.)
The Westphalian dialect region includes the north-eastern part ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia, i.e. the formerPrussian province of Westphalia, withoutSiegerland and Wittgenstein, but including the southern part of former government districtWeser-Ems (e.g. the region aroundOsnabrück and the landscape ofEmsland in modern Lower Saxony).
Traditionally, allDutch Low Saxon dialects are considered Westphalian, with the notable exception ofGronings, which is grouped with theNorthern Low Saxon andFriso-Saxon dialects.[citation needed] The rising diphthongisation is still noticeable in the dialects ofRijssen,Enter andVriezenveen. 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.
Among the Westphalian language there are different subgroups of dialects:[3]
Westphalian dialects in Westphalia
Westphalian dialects in the Netherlands:
Westphalian dialects in Lower Saxony and Groningen
Westphalian has many lexical similarities and other proximities toEastphalian, extending to the East and slightly to the North of the area where Westphalian is spoken.
The Westphalian vowel breaking is a sound change found in many Westphalian dialects. In this process, short vowels in open, stressed syllables are turned into diphthongs, for example:[4]
Originally, these syllables in Old Saxon had short vowels. In other Low German dialects, these vowels were simply lengthened (e.g. Westphalian briäken – North Low Saxon breken).
At the end of the Old Saxon period, final syllables became weakened, so the main stress shifted entirely to the stem syllable. It then became difficult to maintain at the same time the shortness, openness, and strong stress of the vowel. Westphalian solved this by adding another short sound after the original short vowel. This kept the sound system close to the old one.
Even today, Westphalian preserves almost all (7 out of 8) of the original short vowels in open syllables..
In the past, this feature occurred over a larger area, including places like Lippe and the Westmünsterland, where it is no longer found today. Even in dialects without this breaking, the distinctions between the old short vowels are still mostly preserved.
Declension
Adjectives
| Case/Gender | South Westphalian | East Westphalian | Münsterländisch | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | |
| Strong declension patterns | ||||||||||||
| Nominativ | -en | -e | -∅/-te | -e | -en | -e | -∅/-et | -e | -en | -e | -∅ | -e |
| Genitiv | – | – | – | – | – | – | -er | – | – | – | ||
| Dativ | -en/-em | -er | -en/-em | -en | -en | -e(n) | -en | -en | -en | -e | -∅ | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -∅/-te | -e | -en | -e | -∅/-et | -e | ||||
| Weak declension patterns | ||||||||||||
| Nominativ | -e | -e | -e | -en | -e | -e | -e | -en | -e | -e | -e | -en |
| Genitiv | – | – | – | – | – | – | -er | – | – | – | ||
| Dativ | -en | -en | -en | -en | -en | -en | -en | -en | -en | -e | -e | -en |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -e | -en | -en | -e(n) | -e | -en | ||||
| Case/Gender | South Westphalian | East Westphalian | Münsterländisch | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | |
| Strong declension of "lütk" (small/little) | ||||||||||||
| Nominativ | lütken | lütke | lütk | lütke | lütke(n) | lütke | lütk(et) | lütke | lütken | lütke | lütk | lütke |
| Genitiv | – | – | – | – | – | – | (lütker) | – | – | – | ||
| Dativ | lütkem/lütken | lütker | lütkem/lütken | lütken | lütken | lütke(n) | lütken | lütken | lütken | lütke | lütk | lütke |
| Accusative | lütken | lütke | lütk | lütke | lütken | lütke | lütk(et) | lütke | ||||
| Weak declension of "lütk" (small/small) | ||||||||||||
| Nominativ | dai lütke | dai lütke | dat lütke | dai lütke | de/dai lütke | de lütke | dat/et lütke | de lütken | däi lütke | däi lütke | dat lütke | däi lütke |
| Genitiv | – | – | – | - | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | - |
| Dativ | diem lütken | dier lütken | diem lütken | dai lütken | dän/däm lütken | de lütken | dän/däm lütken | dän lütken | den lütken | däi lütke | dat lütke | däi lütken |
| Accusative | dien lütken | dai lütke | dat lütke | dai lütken | dän lütken | de lütke(n) | dat/et lütke | de lütken | ||||
| Case/Gender | South Westphalian | East Westphalian | Münsterländisch | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd masc. | 3rd fem. | 3rd neut. | 1st | 2nd | 3rd masc. | 3rd fem. | 3rd neut. | 1st | 2nd | 3rd masc. | 3rd fem. | 3rd neut. | ||
| Singular | Nominative | ik | deu (-de, -te) | hai (-he) | sai (-se) | iet (-et, -t) | ik | diu, du | håi, he | såi, se | et, it | ik | du (-de) | häi (-he) | säi (-se) | et (-t) |
| Genitive | – | – | – | – | – | muine | duine | – | – | – | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Dative | mäi | däi | iemme (-me) | ier | iemme (-me) | mui, mi | dui, di | (h)äm, än | üar | äm, än, en | mi | di | em | üör | et (-t) | |
| Accusative | mik | dik | ienne (-ne) | sai (-se) | iet | än, en | såi, se | et | ||||||||
| Plural | Nominative | fäi | äi | säi | wui | jui, ji | såi, se | wi | ji (-ji, -e) | säi (-se) | ||||||
| Genitive | – | – | – | iuse | jiue | – | - | - | - | |||||||
| Dative | us | ugg | ienne (-ne) | us | jiu, ju | en, üar | us | ju | üör | |||||||
| Accusative | säi, se | såi, se | säi (-se) | |||||||||||||
Possessive Pronouns
| South Westphalian | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | |
| 1. Sg. | mäin | – | mäinem/mäinen | mäinen | mäine | – | mäiner | mäine | mäin | – | mäinem/mäinen | mäinen | mäine | – | mäinen | mäine |
| 2. Sg. | däin | – | däinem/däinen | däinen | däine | – | däiner | däine | däin | – | däinem/däinen | däinen | däine | – | däinen | däine |
| 3. Sg. masc. | säin | – | säinem/säinen | säinen | säine | – | säiner | säine | säin | – | säinem/säinen | säinen | säine | – | säinen | säine |
| 3. Sg. fem. | ier(e) | – | ierem/ieren | ieren | iere | – | ierer | iere | ier(e) | – | ierem/ieren | ieren | iere | – | ieren | iere |
| 3. Sg. neutr. | säin | – | säinem/säinen | säinen | säine | – | säiner | säine | säin | – | säinem/säinen | säinen | säine | – | säinen | säine |
| 1. Pl. | use | – | usem/usen | usen | use | – | user | use | use | – | usem/usen | usen | use | – | usen | use |
| 2. Pl. | ugge | – | uggem/uggen | uggen | ugge | – | ugger | ugge | ugge | – | uggem/uggen | uggen | ugge | – | uggen | ugge |
| 3. Pl. | iere | – | ierem/ieren | ieren | iere | – | ierer | iere | iere | – | ierem/ieren | ieren | ier | – | ieren | iere |
| East Westphalian | ||||||||||||||||
| Person | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | Nom | Gen | Dat | Akk | |
| 1. Sg. | muin | – | muinen | muinen | muine | – | muine(n) | muine | muin | – | muinen | muin | muine | muiner | muinen | muine |
| 2. Sg. | duin | – | duinen | duinen | duine | – | duine(n) | duine | duin | – | duinen | duin | duine | duiner | duinen | duine |
| 3. Sg. masc. | suin | – | suinen | suinen | suine | – | suine(n) | suine | suin | – | suinen | suin | suine | suiner | suinen | suine |
| 3. Sg. fem. | üar | – | üaren | üaren | üare | – | üare(n) | üare | üar | – | üaren | üar | üare | üarer | üaren | üare |
| 3. Sg. neutr. | suin | – | suinen | suinen | suine | – | suine(n) | suine | suin | – | suinen | suin | suine | suine | suinen | suine |
| 2. Pl. | iuse | – | iusen | iusen | iuse | – | iuse(n) | iuse | iuse | – | iusen | iuse | iuse | iuser | iusen | iuse |
| 1. Pl. | jiue | – | jiuen | jiuen | jiue | – | jiue(n) | jiue | jiue | – | jiuen | jiue | jiue | jiuer | jiuen | jiue |
| 3. Pl. | üar | – | üaren | üaren | üare | – | üare(n) | üare | üar | – | üaren | üar | üare | üarer | üaren | üare |
| Münsterländisch | ||||||||||||||||
| Person | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Nom | Gen | Objective | Nom | Gen | Objective | Nom | Gen | Objective | Nom | Gen | Objective | |||||
| 1. Sg. | min | – | minen | mine | – | mine | min | – | min | mine | – | mine | ||||
| 2. Sg. | din | – | dinen | dine | – | dine | din | – | din | dine | – | dine | ||||
| 3. Sg. masc. | sin | – | sinen | sine | – | sine | sin | – | sin | sine | – | sine | ||||
| 3. Sg. fem. | üör | – | üören | üöre | – | üöre | üör | – | üör | üöre | – | üöre | ||||
| 3. Sg. neutr. | sin | – | sinen | sine | – | sine | sin | – | sin | sine | – | sine | ||||
| 1. Pl. | use | – | usen | use | – | use | use | – | use | use | – | use | ||||
| 2. Pl. | jue | – | juen | jue | – | jue | jue | – | jue | jue | – | jue | ||||
| 3. Pl. | üöre | – | üören | üöre | – | üöre | üöre | – | üöre | üöre | – | üöre | ||||
Reflexive pronouns
While Old Saxon has lost the Germanic third-person reflexive pronoun such as Old English and Old Frisian and instead resorts to the relevant personal pronoun, modern Low German borrows reflexive pronouns from German. In Sauerland, it is conjugated as in Proto-Germanic and Icelandic, while in other Westphalian dialects like Münsterländisch or East Westphalian it is not. In addition, a distinction in South Westphalian is made between the individual genders as well as individual and multiple people. In some dialects, there is still no distinction between reflexive and third-person pronouns in the onjective case.[9][10][11][12][13]
| Person/Case | Südwestfälisch | Ostwestfälisch | Münsterländisch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accusative | Dative | Accusative/Dative | Object Case | |
| 1. Singular | miek | mäi | mui, mi | mi |
| 2. Singular | diek | däi | dui, di | di |
| 3. Singular Mask. | siek | säi | sik | sik |
| 3. Singular Fem. | siek | säi/siek | sik | sik |
| 3. Singular Neutr. | siek | säi | sik | sik |
| 1. Plural | us | us | us | us |
| 2. Plural | uch | uch | jiu, ju | ju |
| 3. Plural | iärk | iärk | sik | sik |
Demonstrative Pronouns
| Case/Gender | South Westphalian | East Westphalian | Münsterländisch | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | Masc. | Fem. | Neutr. | Plural | |
| Strong declension patterns | ||||||||||||
| Nominativ | dai | dai | dat | dai | de/dai | de | dat | de | däi | däi | dat | däi |
| Dativ | diem | dier | diem | dai | dän/däm | de | dän/däm | dän | den | däi | dat | däi |
| Accusative | dien | dai | dat | dai | dän | -de | dat | de | ||||
Verbs
Conjugation patterns of East Westphalian[16]
| verbs | briäken, "to break" | täin "to pull" | doun, "to do" | gaun, "to go" | helpen, "to help" | küren, "to speak" | willen, "to want/ to become" | kwuomen, "to come" | haulen, "to hold" | skräggen, "to shout" | skäilen, "to scold" | beskriieben, "to describe" | wasken, "to wash" | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | briäken | täin | doun | gaun | helpen | küren | willen | kwuomen | haulen | skräggen | skäilen | beskriieben | wasken | |||
| Participle | Present | briäken | täin | doun | gaun | helpen | küren | willen | kwuomen | haulen | skräggen | skäilen | beskriieben | wasken | ||
| Past | bruoken | tuogen | daun | gaun | holpen | kürt | wolt | kwuom | haulen | skrägget | skuolen | beskriben | wasken | |||
| Indicative | Present | Singular | 1st person | briäke | tee | doo | goo | helpe | küre | will | kwuome | haule | skrägge | skäile | beskriiewe | waske |
| 2nd person | bräks | tüss | döss | gäis | helps | kürs | wüss | kümms | hölts | skrägges | skäils | beskrifs | waskes | |||
| 3rd person | briäk | tüt | dött | gäit | helpet | kürt | will | kümmp | hölt | skrägget | skäilt | beskrif | wasket | |||
| Plural | briäket | teet | doot | goot | helpet | kürt | willt | kwuomet | hault | skrägget | skäilt | beskriiewet | wasket | |||
| Past | Singular | 1st person | broik | toig | dää | göng | hölp | kürede | woll | kweimp | hoilt | skräggede | skoilt | beskreif | waskede | |
| 2nd person | broiks | toigs | dääs | göngs | hölpes | küredes | woss | kweimps | hoilts | skräggedes | skoils | beskreifs | waskedes | |||
| 3rd person | broik | toig | dää | göng | hölp | kürede | woll | kweimp | hoilt | skräggede | skoilt | beskreif | waskede | |||
| Plural | broiken | toigen | dään | göngen | hölpen | küreden | wollen | kweimen | hoilen | skräggeden | skoilen | beskreiwen | waskeden | |||
| Imperative | Singular | briäk | tee | dot | gong | help | kür | wuss | kwumm | haul | skrägge | skäil | beskriiew | waske | ||
| Plural | briäket | teet | doot | goot | helpet | kürt | willt | kwuomet | hault | skrägget | skäilt | beskriiewet | wasket | |||
Conjugation patterns of Vjens[17]
| verbs | bräken, "to break" | dòůn, "to do" | góón, "to go" | helpen, "to help" | wilen, "to want; to become" | hoolen, "to carry" | wasken, "to wash" | biiten, " to bite" | baigen, "to salvage" | waiken, "to work" | biieven, "to quake" | visken, "to fish" | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | bräken | dòůn | góón | helpen | wilen | hoolen | wasken | biiten | baigen | waiken | biieven | visken | |||
| Participle | Present | bräkend | dòůnd | góónd | helpend | wilend | hoolend | waskend | biitend | baigend | waikend | biievend | viskend | ||
| Past | ebräken | edòòn | egóón | ehölpen | ewilt | ehoolen | ewösken | ebjiten | ebjörgen | ewaiket | ebiievet | evisket | |||
| Indicative | Present | Singular | 1st person | bräke | dòůe | góó | helpe | wil | hoole | waske | biite | baige | waike | biieve | viske |
| 2nd person | brekst | dòůst | geist | helpst | wist | hóólst | waskest | bitst | baigst | waikst | biievst | viskest | |||
| 3rd person | brekt | dòůn | geiht | helpt | wil | hóólt | wasket | bit | baigt | waikt | biievt | visket | |||
| Plural | bräkt | dòůt | góót | helpt | wilt | hoolt | wasket | biitt | baigt | waikt | biievt | visket | |||
| Past | Singular | 1st person | brak | dee | göng | hölp | wól | höül | wöske | bjet | björg | waiken | biievde | viskede | |
| 2nd person | brakst | deest | göngst | hölpst | wóst | höülst | wöskest | bjetst | björgst | waikenst | biievdest | viskedest | |||
| 3rd person | brak | dee | göng | hölp | wól | höül | wöske | bjet | björg | waiken | biievde | viskede | |||
| Plural | brakken | deen | göngen | hölpen | wólen | höülen | wösken | bjeten | björgen | waiken | biievden | viskeden | |||
| Imperative | Singular | bräk | dòůe | góó | help | ? | hoole | waske | biite | baige | waike | biieve | viske | ||
| Plural | bräkt | dòůt | góót | helpt | wilt | hoolt | wasket | biitet | baigt | waikt | biievt | visket | |||
Subjuncive
However, compared to most other dialects, the Westphalian dialect has preserved an extremely complex conjugation of strong verbs with subjunctive.[18][19]
| Infinitive | Simple Past | Westphalian subjunctive 2 |
|---|---|---|
| suin (to be) | Ik was (I was) | ik wöre (I would be) |
| bluiven (to stay) | he blaiw (he stayed) | he bliewe (he would stay) |
| kriupen (to crawl) | he kraup (he crawled) | he krüäpe (he would crawl) |
| soöken (to search) | he sochte (he searched) | he söchte (he would search) |
| wieten (to know) | he wus (he knew) | he wüsse (he would know) |
Infinitive 2
In the very south of the East Westphalian language area, the original gerund of the West Germanic languages has been formally preserved.[20]
| Infinitive form | Gerund form |
|---|---|
| maken (to make) | to makene |
| kuoken (to cook) | to kuokene |
| schniggen (to snow) | to schniggene |
East Westphalian and South Westphalian dialects have also preserved the so-calleddative-e, adding a final -e to masculine and neuter nouns in the dative case, while Münsterländisch does not preserve it.[21]
| English | Proto-West Germanic | East Westphalian | Münster Westphalian | Westfrisian | Dutch | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the desk | diskē | den diske | den disk | - | - | dem Tisch |
| the day | dagē | den dage | den dag | de dei | de dag | dem Tag |
| the market | markatē | den markede | den market | de merk | de markt | dem Markt |
| the swine | swīnē | den swiene | dat swien | it swyn | het zwijn | dem Schwein |
| the water | watarē | den watere | dat water | it wetter | het water | dem Wasser |
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German Westphalian is currently spoken mostly by elderly people. The majority of the inhabitants of Westphalia proper speak (regionally coloured) standardGerman. This accent, however, does not stand out as much as for exampleBavarian, because Westphalia is closer to theHanover region, whose speech variety is generally considered to be standard modern German.
The Low Saxon dialects in the borderingTwente andAchterhoek 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 traditionallyLow German-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 inKruppwerke 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 includePölter[ˈpœltɐ] "pyjamas/pajamas",Plörre[ˈplœʁə] "dirty liquid", andMötke[ˈmœtkə] "mud, dirt".
Westphalian authors include:
Münsterländisch:
East Westphalian:
South Westphalian:
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