South Bergish
Encyclopedia
South Bergish dialects or Upper Bergish (German: ) is a term used for the collection of local languages of the Bergisches Land Region
East of the Rhine and approximately south of the Wupper
and north of the Sieg
in West Germany. These dialects are all part of the Ripuarian group and thus are also called East Ripuarian. Ripuarian languages are also spoken West of the Rhine until the German border, and in some small areas next to the respective borders in Belgium
and in the Netherlands
. Ripuarian Bergish languages belong to the Middle German
group, and thus are varieties of High German, where they belong to the northmost ones. In the North, they border to the East Bergish
and the West Bergish aka Low Bergish
language groups, which are part of the Low Franconian group like Dutch
.
In popular view, rather than scientific, South Bergish dialects are often referred to as Bergish
by locals, or as Rhinelandic
by outsiders.
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes...
East of the Rhine and approximately south of the Wupper
Wupper
The Wupper is a right tributary to the Rhine river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous area of the Bergisches Land Berg County and enters the Rhine at Leverkussen, south of Düsseldorf...
and north of the Sieg
Sieg
The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany named after the Sigambrer. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and 153 kilometres in length....
in West Germany. These dialects are all part of the Ripuarian group and thus are also called East Ripuarian. Ripuarian languages are also spoken West of the Rhine until the German border, and in some small areas next to the respective borders in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Ripuarian Bergish languages belong to the Middle German
Middle German
In linguistics, Middle German can refer to a few variants of the German language:* Middle Low German , the northern dialects in the 11th-15th centuries...
group, and thus are varieties of High German, where they belong to the northmost ones. In the North, they border to the East Bergish
East Bergish
East Bergish is a group of dialects of the Bergisches Land Region in West Germany. It combines features the of Westphalian group, Limburgish, and the South Guelderish or Cleverlands group, it is usually seen as part of the latter. South Guelderish covers much of the Lower Rhine area in Germany and...
and the West Bergish aka Low Bergish
Low Bergish
Low Bergish, or Western Bergish, is a group of local languages of the Bergisches Land Region east of the Rhine in West Germany. It is part of the Limburgish language group, which extends far beyond the rivers Rhine and Maas into the Netherlands and Belgium. They are also part of the East Limburgish...
language groups, which are part of the Low Franconian group like Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
.
In popular view, rather than scientific, South Bergish dialects are often referred to as Bergish
Bergish dialects
Bergish is a term used for the collection of local languages of the Bergisches Land Region East of the Rhine in West Germany. It is more a popular term, rather than one of linguistic relevance. The reason is that, the regions local dialects belong to several quite distinct groups inside the...
by locals, or as Rhinelandic
Rhinelandic
Rhinelandic is a term occasionally used for linguistic varieties of a region on both sides of the Middle and Lower Rhine river in Central West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It has at least two distinct meanings which often can only be determined from the fine grain context in...
by outsiders.
See also
- Meuse-RhenishMeuse-RhenishMeuse-Rhenish or Rheinmaasländisch is a modern term that geographically refers to the literature written in mediæval times in the greater Meuse-Rhine area. This area stretches in the northern triangle roughly between the rivers Meuse and Rhine...
- Rheinischer Fächer (in the German Wikipedia)
Literature
- Georg WenkerGeorg WenkerGeorg Wenker was a German linguist who began documenting German dialect geography during the late nineteenth century. He is considered a pioneer in this field and has contributed several groundbreaking publications, most notably, the Deutscher Sprachatlas.- Biography :Georg Wenker was born in...
: Das rheinische Platt. 1877. - Georg Wenker: Das rheinische Platt, (Sammlung deutsche Dialektgeographie Heft 8), Marburg, 1915.
- Georg Cornelissen, Peter HonnenPeter HonnenPeter Honnen is a German linguist and specialist researcher of the languages of the Rhineland. He was born in Rheinhausen, Germany....
, Fritz Langensiepen (Hrsg.): Das rheinische Platt. Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Handbuch der rheinischen Mundarten Teil 1: Texte. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln. 1989. ISBN 3-7927-0689-X - Maria Loiuse Denst: Olper Platt - Bergisches Mundart-Wörterbuch für Kürten-Olpe und Umgebung. Schriftenreihe des Bergischen Geschichtsvereins Abt. Rhein-Berg e. V. Band 29. Bergisch Gladbach 1999. ISBN 3-932326-29-6
- Hans Bruchhausen und Heinz Feldhoff: Us Platt kalle un verstonn - Mundartwörterbuch Lützenkirchen-Quettingen. Bergisch Gladbach 2005. ISBN 3-87314-410-7
- Leo Lammert und Paul Schmidt: Neunkirchen-Seelscheider Sprachschatz, herausgegeben vom Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Neunkirchen-Seelscheid 2006. (ca. 7300 Wörter)
- Gustav Hermann Halbach: Bergischer Sprachschatz - Volkskundliches plattdeutsches Remscheider Wörterbuch. Remscheid 1951
- Theodor Branscheid (Hrsg): Oberbergische Sprachproben. Mundartliches aus Eckenhagen und Nachbarschaft. Band 1, Eckenhagen, 1927.
- Werner Heinrichs: Bergisch Platt - Versuch einer Bestandsaufnahme, Selbstverlag, Burscheid, 1978
- Manfred Konrads: Wörter und Sachen im Wildenburger Ländchen, Rheinland-Verlag, Köln, 1981
- Helmut Fischer: Wörterbuch der unteren Sieg. Rheinische Mundarten. Beiträge zur Volkssprache aus den rheinischen Landschaften Band 4. Rheinland Verlag, Köln, 1985. ISBN 3-7927-0783-7