Low German Language in German Research: Difference between revisions

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-The Low German Language in German Research
+Some people become somewhat incensed when they are told that their ancestors spoke ‘Low German.’ Their response is something like “My ancestors were good people/nobility (or some such thing) and would have spoken good German.” Well, ‘Low German’ is good German; it is just a different language. Unfortunately, this language has the word ‘German’ in its name. Perhaps it would be looked upon more favorably if it had a name totally different, one that reflected its long and noble heritage. But, alas, in English at least, this language must live in the shadow of its more powerful neighbor, Standard (High) German.
-<br>Some people become somewhat incensed when they are told that their ancestors spoke ‘Low German.’ Their response is something like “My ancestors were good people/nobility (or some such thing) and would have spoken good German.” Well, ‘Low German’ is good German; it is just a different language. Unfortunately, this language has the word ‘German’ in its name. Perhaps it would be looked upon more favorably if it had a name totally different, one that reflected its long and noble heritage. But, alas, in English at least, this language must live in the shadow of its more powerful neighbor, Standard (High) German.
 <br>Low German is spoken in the north, or low lands, of Germany. Two thousand years ago, there were many Germanic dialects, including Bavarian, Alemannic, Frankish, and Saxon, from which Low German developed. About 1500 years ago, a series of sound changes occurred which started in the southern part of the Germanic-speaking region and slowly spread northward. Various dialect features stopped at different places. These features are still with us today and are the main criteria for delineating modern German dialects. Low German is set off from the High (from the ‘highlands’ of the German-speaking region) and Middle German dialects by not having participated in any of the sound changes. Therefore, it is a very conservative language in many features. Its consonants sound more like those of English than to those of High German. Low German also looks and sounds very much like its sister language Dutch.