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| East Low German | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Germany,Poland,Brazil |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | nds forLow German |
| ISO 639-3 | nds forLow German |
| Glottolog | nort2627 |
 Low German dialects. East Low German includes the four dialects in the east [Note: The map confuses East Pomeranian (cp.Farther Pomerania), West Prussian (cp.West Prussia) and East Prussian (cp.East Prussia).] | |
East Low German (German:ostniederdeutsche Dialekte, ostniederdeutsche Mundarten, Ostniederdeutsch) is a group ofLow German dialects spoken in north-easternGermany as well as by minorities in northernPoland. Together withWest Low German dialects, it forms a dialect continuum of theLow German language.Before 1945, the dialect was spoken along the entire then-German-settledBaltic Coast fromMecklenburg, throughPomerania,West Prussia into certain villages of theEast PrussianKlaipėda Region.[1][2]
East Pomeranian, Central Pomeranian and West Pomeranian should not be confused with theWest SlavicPomeranian language (German:Pomoranisch).
East Low German belongs to thedialect continuum of theWest Germanic languages. It developed from the olderMiddle Low German.
In the West it fades intoWest Low German. The distinction is usually made referring to the plural endings of the verbs: East Low German endings are based on the old first person ending: -e(n), whereas West Low German endings are based on the old second person ending: -(e)t. The categorization of the Low German dialects into an Eastern and a Western group is not made by all linguists.
In the South, it fades intoEast Central German. The difference is that the East Low German varieties have not been affected by theHigh German consonant shift. The areas affected by the High German consonant shift are still expanding today, especially theBerlinerisch dialect that is gaining ground on theBrandenburgisch dialect by which it is surrounded.
East Low German dialects are:[3]
Instead ofMecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch alsoMecklenburgisch andVorpommersch are used.[4]
For some it also includesPlautdietsch (originating fromDanzig),[citation needed] which is spoken byMennonites inNorth America,Mexico and a few other places in the world. InBerlin a version of Brandenburgisch was spoken in medieval times until the city took up anEast Central German dialect that incorporated Brandenburgisch elements and developed into today'sBerlin[er]isch.
The German dialects of Pomerania are compiled and described in thePommersches Wörterbuch ("Pomeranian Dictionary"), adictionary of the German dialects spoken within theProvince of Pomerania's borders in 1936.
East Pomeranian dialect of East Low German is also spoken inBrazil (seePomerode, inSanta Catarina,Santa Maria de Jetibá, inEspírito Santo, andArroio do Padre,Morro Redondo,Turuçu,Canguçu,São Lourenço do Sul andPelotas, inRio Grande do Sul).
By the early Middle Ages, Pomerania waslargely populated bySlavic Pomeranians andLiuticians, who spoke thePomeranian andPolabian languages.During the High Middle Ages,Germans from northern parts of theHoly Roman Empire settled in Pomerania as part of the medievalOstsiedlung. Most Slavic Pomeranians gradually becameGermanized. The new Pomeranian dialects which emerged from the admixture of the Low German dialects of the settlers are classified as East Low German.[5]
AfterWorld War II, Germans east of theOder-Neisse line wereexpelled to post-war Germany. Most varieties of East Pomeranian dialect have largely died out in the following decades as the expellees were assimilated into their new homes, although West Pomeranian and Central Pomeranian are still spoken inVorpommern (Western or Hither Pomerania), part of theGerman state ofMecklenburg-Vorpommern.[2]
As a result of German immigration toBrazil, there are still some communities speaking East Pomeranian inRio Grande do Sul,Santa Catarina andEspírito Santo.[6]
Fritz Reuter andHeinrich Bandlow are among the most famous East Low German writers.
Die ond. [= ostniederdeutschen] Dialekte gliedern sich in drei größere Dialektlandschaften, das Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersche, das Mittelpommersche und das Märkisch-Brandenburgische.
Der niederdeutsche Sprachraum umfasst dieniederfränkischen,westniederdeutschen (Westfälisch, Ostfälisch, Nordniedersächsisch) undostniederdeutschen Dialekte (Mecklenburgisch, Vorpommersch, Brandenburgisch, Märkisch).
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