Native to Germany ISO 639-2 nds | Region East Frisia ISO 639-3 nds (partial) | |
Language family Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
Low German
West Low German
Northern Low Saxon Dialects Schleswigsch
Holsteinisch
Ollnborger Platt
East Frisian Low Saxon
North Hanoveranian
Dithmarsch
Emsländisch | ||
Northern Low Saxon (in Low German: Noordneddersassisch) is a West Low German dialect.
As such, it covers a great part of the West Low-German-speaking areas of northern Germany, with the exception of the border regions where Eastphalian and Westphalian are spoken. However, Northern Low Saxon is easily understood by speakers of these dialects.
Northern Low Saxon can be divided into Holsteinisch, Schleswigsch, East Frisian Low Saxon, Dithmarsch, North Hanoveranian, Emsländisch, and Oldenburgisch.
Holsteinisch is spoken in Holstein, the southern part of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, in Dithmarschen, around Neumünster, Rendsburg, Kiel and Lübeck. The Lübeck dialect ("Lübsch") was a lingua franca for the Hanseatic league in the Middle Ages.
Schleswigsch (German pronunciation: [ˈʃleːsvɪkʃ]) is spoken in Schleswig, which is divided between Germany and Denmark. It is mainly based on a South Jutlandic substrate. Therefore, it has some notable differences in pronunciation and grammar with its southern neighbour dialects. The dialects on the west coast of Schleswig and some islands show some North Frisian influences.
Oldenburg dialect (Low Saxon: Ollnborger Platt, German: Oldenburger Platt) is spoken around the city of Oldenburg. It is limited to Germany. The main difference between it and East Frisian Low Saxon, which is spoken in the Frisian parts of Low Saxony, is the lack of a Frisian substrate. Ollnborger Platt is spoken in the city of Bremen as Breemsch ("Bremian"), which is the only capital where Ollnborger Platt is spoken. Minden in Westphalia, where Ollnborger Platt is traditionally spoken, possibly belongs partially to the area.
Characteristics
The most obvious common character in grammar is the forming of the perfect participle. It is formed without a prefix, as in English, Danish, Swedish, Norse and Frisian, but unlike standard German, Dutch and some dialects of Westphalian and Eastphalian Low Saxon:
The diminutive (-je) (Dutch and Eastern Frisian -tje, Eastphalian -ke, High German -chen, Alemannic -le, li) is hardly used. Some examples are Buscherumpje, a fisherman's shirt, or lüttje, a diminutive of lütt, little. Instead the adjective lütt is used, e.g. dat lütte Huus, de lütte Deern, de lütte Jung.
There are a lot of special characteristics in the vocabulary, too, but they are shared partly with other languages and dialects, e.g.: