Nehrungisch

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Nehrungisch
Nehrungisch; Mundart der Frischen Nehrung und der Danziger Nehrung
Native toPoland, Russia (formerly Germany)
RegionVistula Spit
EthnicityGermans
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3–

Nehrungisch is a dialect (Mundart) of Low Prussian, belonging to Low German. It was spoken in East Prussia and West Prussia, in the region around the Vistula Spit (Frische Nehrung) near Gdansk. The easternmost locality where this variety was spoken was Narmeln.[1] Between Narmeln and Neutief (Westsamländisch speaking), ran the sharpest border within Low Prussian.[1] It was spoken from Narmeln to Krakau (Krakowiec).[2]

The dialect survives only in Chortitza-Plautdietsch, a dialect of Low Prussian brought to Ukraine by migrants from the Vistula region.[citation needed] Chortitza-Plautdietsch had no major linguistic difference from the original variety of Danziger Nehrung, which had changed by 1880.[3] By 1880, the most conspicuous features, such as /eiw/ for /au/, had become limited to the Vistula Spit.[3] Most residents of Chortitza Colony were from the Vistula Spit region (Danziger Nehrung in German).[4] Sommerfelder, Reinländer Mennoniten Gemeinde, Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference and are of Chortitza origin. [5] Many of the southern Mexican members of the Kleine Gemeinde are defectors from the Old Colony.[6] Nehrungisch has features in common with Eastern Low Prussian, that are not shared in-between.[7] Numerous words were known on Frische Nehrung only in the 20th century, but usual in Danzig and the Weichselwerder in the beginning of the 19th century, as reflected by the vocabulary of Mennonite Low German.[8]

Phonology[]

Vowels[]

Nehrungisch has /i/ before /nt/ in words such as kint (English child).[9]

It has non-velar /a/ as /au/.[10]

In originally closed syllables excluding before original /r/, /ld/ and /lp/, /e/ is given as front vowel /a/.[11]

Middle Low German /û/ became /yɐ/ before /r/ in Chortitza-Plautdietsch.[12]

It has shortened /u/ before gutturals.[13]

It occurs, that Frische Nehrung and Chortitza-Plautdietsch have /ê/ instead of /au/ of Molotschna Plautdietsch, given as /a/ otherwise.[14]

From Narmeln to Kąty Rybackie, in originally open syllables before /k/ and /x/, /a/ became [e:o], West of this an [e:ɐ].[15] Chortitza-Plautdietsch is spoken in Mexico in Altkolonie and Blumenau.[16]

The Chortitza-related /oa/ diphthongs before velars are [œɐ], [ɛɐ], [øɐ], [eɐœʊ], [ɛʊ], [øʊ], and [eʊ].[17]

There are varieties of Chortitza-Plautdietsch rendering Middle Low German /ê/ as [øi], for example [øint] meaning one and [zøit] meaning sweet.[18]

The West of the Nehrung had /ōe/ for the /ēo/ of the East of the Nehrung, for example in krōech/krēoch for High German Krug and kōechen/kēochen for High German Kuchen.[19]

Consonants[]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch has lost /r/ before dentals as an off-glide.[20]

The /n/ of /an/, /un/, and /in/ is lost before /r/, /l/, /m/ and /n/.[21]

It exhibits rhotacisation of /d/ between vowels as /r/.[22]

Flemish influence[]

Within the coastal area from Gdańsk to Elbląg, the denomination Flemish Mennonites used to predominate within the Mennonites.[23] It is possible to explain basically palatised vowels of Chortitza-Plautdietsch from East Flemish.[4] Nehrungisch and Chortitza-Plautdietsch palatise velar vowels.[11] East Flemish has long /o/ as /y.ə/ and Chortitza-Plautdietsch has long /o/ as /yɐ/.[24] Hollandic and Flemish have long /u/ as long /y/, Chortitza-Plautdietsch has Hüs and Müs.[25] Palatalisation occurs before /g, k and ch/ in East Flemish and Chortitza-Plautdietsch.[24] Nehrungisch and Chortitza-Plautdietsch have the feature to have kept the full plural ending /-en/, which possibly is influence of the Dutch language.[26] Most of the earliest Mennonite settlers in Ukraine were Flemish Mennonites from the northern delta (Nehrung) region. [27]

Palatalisation[]

Its palatalisation is more likely to originate from the Baltic/West Prussia than from Frisian.[28] Chortitza-Plautdietsch has palatalisation given as /kj/ and /gj/, which probably used to exist in West Prussia as well.[28] The Eastern part of the Nehrung as well as Tiegenhofer Niederung had the slight palatalization of /k/ to /kj/, in particular of diminutive ending /-ke/ such as in frǖkjen for High German Frauchen and maunkjen for High German Mannchen.[19]

Among descendants of those who left Chortitza Colony for Orenburg Colony in 1894 have palatalization as in Molotschna Plautdietsch, being /c/ and /ɟ/.[29] This probably was caused by the foundation of a colony by people from Molotschna Colony close to the aforementioned colony in 1895 and the introduction of four years of alternative service in forestry for Mennonite men in the 1870s.[29] Chortitza-Plautdietsch has palatal oral stops <kj> and <gj>.[30]

Isoglosses[]

List of isoglosses within the original dialect area:[31][2]

  • /a/ mostly as /au/
  • Shortened /u/ in words such as hupe Nehrungisch mostly and Chortitza-Plautdietsch have no shortened /u/ before /p/.[32]
  • /n/-loss in kannst
  • Long /o/ is shortened before /l+dental/; umlaut lacks in words such as kaufen
  • Final /-n/
  • /l/-loss in willst and sollst
  • Loss of /n/ in /an-/, /in-/, /un-/ before fricatives, /r, l, m, n and g/.
  • büten, dün, glüpen etc. versus buten, dun, glupen etc.
  • haiwen, blaif etc. versus haue, blau etc. Most of the dialect and also Chortitza-Plautdietsch have High German /au/ as /eiw/, in words such as greiw (High German grau, English grey), in contrast to Werdersch and Molotschna-Plautdietsch.[33]

Grammar[]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch has accusative case.[34] Entire Low Prussian had both accusative and dative cases.[34]

In some cases, it has no prefix /ge-/.[15]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch has eant for them.[35]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch has the formal address using the pronoun of the second person, jie.[36]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch has infinitive and plural both ending on -en.[37]

For verbs with two preterite forms, Chortitza-Plautdietsch frequently uses the former conjunctive.[38] Chortitza-Plautdietsch has double infinitive forms.[14] Chortitza-Plautdietsch has a strong perfect participle of the word for to be.[39]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch has han for the infinitive have.[40]

Diaspora[]

Chihuahua, Mexico, Texas and Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia) have residents of Nehrungisch cum Chortitza origin.[41]


The speakers of Plautdietsch in Belize speak Chortitza-Plautdietsch.[42] Those Mennonites arriving in Belize from 1958 were Mexican Old Colony Mexican Sommerfelder and Mexican Kleine Gemeinde. Some of them migrated to Canada or Northern Mexico [17] Chortitza-Plautdietsch has respective infinitive, first person singular as well first person plural of to be senn and to have han.[39]

Among the descendants of those who left Chortitza for Canada in the 1870s, who live in many Latin American countries, there is only weak palatalization.[29] In 1874 Manitoba East Reserve Bergthal Colony and other parts of Chortitza Colony. [17] In 1891, Manitoba Bergthal families arrived in Saskatchewan.[17] In the 1940s and/or later Manitoba Altkolonie and Saskatchewan Altkolonie Mennonites immigrated to North Mexico.[17] Vocalism of Plautdietsch in Mexico, Bolivia and Texas mostly is different from that farther North.[17]

Chortitza-Plautdietsch is spoken in Menno Colony in Paraguay.[43] Reinfeld Colony in Misiones Department, Paraguay was founded by people from Sommerfeld and Bergthal settlements in Paraguay. In Mexico, the use of features of Chortitza-Plautdietsch to a large degree depends on whether a speaker is among the Old Colony Mennonites.[17] The Mennonite migrants to Canada in the 19th century mainly originated from Chortitza.[17]

Many speakers of Plautdietsch show main features of both Chortitza-Plautdietsch and Molotschna-Plautdietsch. There are phonological differences between the Plautdietsch of Catholics and that of Mennonites in Saskatchewan Valley in Canada.[44] This includes [iəә] for the phoneme /ea/ in both wea ‘was’ and Pead ‘horses’ for Mennonite speakers, whereas all of the Catholic speakers have [eəә].[44] The Catholic variety is traced to Ukraine.[44] There also are lexical differences.[44] It is apparent that the central cluster situated around the South Saskatchewan River falls largely within the core Old Colony and Bergthaler settlement region, demarcated by the historical boundaries of the Hague-Osler Mennonite Reserve.[44] The peripheral cluster in the northern and western regions of the valley encompasses areas more densely settled by Russländer immigrants after the mass emigration of Old Colony Mennonites and Bergthaler Mennonites to Latin America in the 1920s.[44] Mennonites from Mexico settled in Seminole, Texas.[17] There was a move North into the regions where the original group of settlers from the 1870s live.[17] They now have communities in Oklahoma and further north into Kansas. The Chortitza-related <oa>-diphthongs before velars are œɐ, ɛɐ, øɐ, eɐœʊ, ɛʊ, øʊ and eʊ.[17] For Molotschna-Plautdietsch [au]/[ɔ], it has [eiw]/[ɛːw]. [17] Non-Chortitza groups in Mexico have adopted many of the Chortitza features of the original settlers.[17] Mennonites in Campeche are predominantly Old Colony Mennonites, but there are also Sommerfeld and Kleine Gemeinde Mennonites.[17] Approximately 6,000 Mennonites in Gaines County, Texas speak Plautdietsch.[17]

List of surnames[]

This is a list of surnames common among Mennonites in Canada originating (indirectly) from Russia, in descending frequency. The number in brackets indicates the number of places they are higher then on a 21-entry list West Prussian Mennonite surnames.[45] This list only includes surnames higher on the list concerning Canada than on the list of surnames of West Prussian Mennonites.[45]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Mitzka (1922), pp. 117–135.
  2. ^ a b Mitzka (1968), p. 192.
  3. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 51.
  4. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 65.
  5. ^ https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=amishstudies
  6. ^ https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=amishstudies
  7. ^ Mitzka (1968), p. 209.
  8. ^ Jähnig & Letkemann (1985), p. 320.
  9. ^ Mitzka (1968), p. 195.
  10. ^ Mitzka (1968), p. 217.
  11. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 40.
  12. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 88.
  13. ^ Mitzka (1968), p. 218.
  14. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 179.
  15. ^ a b Ziesemer (1924), p. 132.
  16. ^ Brandt (1992), p. 252.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Burns (2016).
  18. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 61.
  19. ^ a b Jähnig & Letkemann (1985), p. 319.
  20. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 80.
  21. ^ Ziesemer (1924), pp. 132–133.
  22. ^ Ziesemer (1924), p. 133.
  23. ^ Penner (1952), p. 75.
  24. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 62.
  25. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 60.
  26. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 206.
  27. ^ https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/54ae60d4-a104-48bf-99a4-7fde5aa54af7/view/8e1e655a-71a9-4b2b-b724-0ed48ccb1089/Cox_Christopher_D_201501_PhD.pdf
  28. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 97.
  29. ^ a b c Siemens (2012), p. 98.
  30. ^ https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2jm9f41f
  31. ^ Siemens (2012), pp. 45–46.
  32. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 42.
  33. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 41.
  34. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 150.
  35. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 151.
  36. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 153.
  37. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 168.
  38. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 178.
  39. ^ a b Siemens (2012), p. 180.
  40. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 181.
  41. ^ Plewnia, Albrecht; Riehl, Claudia Maria (5 March 2018). Handbuch der deutschen Sprachminderheiten in Übersee. ISBN 9783823379287.
  42. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 68.
  43. ^ Siemens (2012), p. 242.
  44. ^ a b c d e f Cox (2015).
  45. ^ a b Penner (2009).

Bibliography[]

  • Brandt, Carsten (1992). Sprache und Sprachgebrauch der Mennoniten in Mexiko (in German). Marburg: Elwert. p. 252.
  • Burns, Roslyn (2016). "New World Mennonite Low German: An Investigating of Changes in Progress". UC Berkeley. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Cox, Christopher Douglas (2015). Quantitative perspectives on variation in Mennonite Plautdietsch (PDF) (Thesis). University of Alberta.
  • Jähnig, Bernhard; Letkemann, Peter, eds. (1985). Danzig in acht Jahrhunderten (in German). Nicolaus-Copernicus-Verlag.
  • Mitzka, Walther (1922). "Dialektgeographie der Danziger Nehrung". Zeitschrift für Deutsche Mundarten (in German). 17: 117–135. JSTOR 40498141.
  • Mitzka, Walther (1968). Kleine Schriften (in German). Walter de Gruyter & Co.
  • Penner, Horst (1952). Weltweite Bruderschaft (in German). Karlsruhe: Heinrich Schneider.
  • Penner, Nikolai (2009). The High German of Russian Mennonites in Ontario (PDF) (Thesis). Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: University of Waterloo.
  • Siemens, Heinrich (2012). Plautdietsch: Grammatik, Geschichte, Perspektiven (in German). Bonn: Tweeback Verlag. ISBN 9783981197853.
  • Ziesemer, Walther (1924). Die ostpreußischen Mundarten (in German). Breslau: Ferdinand Hirt.
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