Wiktionary:Över Oostnordseeplattdüütsch

Allgemeen ännern

Plattdüütsch/Neddersaks'sch is een germaansch Spraak, de in Noorddüütschland, in Noordsleswig, in'n Oosten vun de Nedderlannen und veelen Oorten buten vun Zentraleuropa snackt warrt. Et heff eenige Hööftdialekten un veele Unnerdialekten. De Höftdialekten sünd:

Nordneddersakssch in Noorddüütschland, Süüddäänmark (Noordsleswig) un Grunneng in de Nedderlannen
Westfäälsch in Westfalen un Oostnedderlannen
Mecklenbörgsch mit Mecklenbörg un Vorpommern
Ostfäälsch in Süüdneddersaksen
Brandenborgsch oder Märksch in de Mark Brandenborg
Plautdietsch (ok Mennonitenplatdüütsch), in Kanada, in'n USA und anners wo

Fröher hett dat noh in Preußen een plattdüütsche Dialekten geven, aver de weern da hütt nich mehr snakt.

Düsse Hööftdialekten unnerdeelen sick wedder in veele Dialekten, in Norddüütschland sünd de Ünnerscheede nich so groot, awer in Westfalen sünd de deelwies so groot, datt de een de annern nich richtig verstahn kuun, wenn de ut twee wiet vuneenannner (entfernten?) Rebeede sünd.

Neddersakssch is een egen Spraak, keen Dialekt vun de Hoogdüütsch, un is mit de Nedderlandsch, de Freesch, de Englisch un de Hoogdüütsch verwandt.

In de Wöörbook heff we för de meesten Ünnerdialekten een egen Spraakcode un een egen Kategorie; doto gefft datt ok noh Kategorien, de Ünnerdialekten to Hööftdialekten tosammenfaten doon un denn gevt datt noh een Kategorie, wo all Hööftdialekten tosammen fatt sünd. Un wiel de in Holland annere Rechtschrievregeln as in Düütschland heff, heff we noh een Kategorie nds-de und nds-nl, wo de mit de gliecke Rechtschrieven drin sünd.

En beten anners is datt mit de Plautdietsch, datt is blot in de Kategorie för all Dialekten binnen, wiel dat een egen Hööftdialekt is, de de Mennoiten in Russland snaken.

What to call Low German/Saxon on Wiktionary ännern

Low German is the most common name of the dialect continuum, and is the name used on Wiktionary. It is a calque of Plattdüdesch (and its forms) or Nedderdüdesch. Platt means "flat" and is interpreted as "relating to the lowlands". At the time this name spread (in the Renaissance), however, plat had the general meaning of "intelligible". Nedder, on the other hand, actually means "nether" and relates to the lowlands in contrast to the German highlands, the Alps, Harz mountains, etc. Düdesch is related to the English word Dutch and the dutch word Duits, and referred (at the time it spread) to any continental West Germanic language.

Low Saxon is another name often used in English. This name derives from that of the Saxon tribe which spoke Old Saxon, the lect from which Low German evolved. This name (as Nedersaksisch) is the most common name of the language in the Netherlands. However, there is a dialect group called "Low Saxon" spoken in Lower Saxony in Germany, which Low German should not be confused with.

On Wiktionary, the form(s) of Low German spoken in Germany are called Low German, the form(s) spoken in the Netherlands are called Dutch Low Saxon, and the form spoken by Mennonites and others outside central Europe are called Plautdietsch.

Historical stages of the Saxon language ännern

Low German developed from the language Old Saxon. The earliest predecessors of the language were the West Germanic dialects spoken by the Saxon tribes. Middle Low German was heavily influenced the languages of the Hanseatic League's trading partners: Old/Middle Danish, Swedish, Norwegian.

Key to pronunciation ännern

About the nature of long vowels ännern

Both Low German and Middle Low German have two kinds of vowel sounds that are traditionally called 'long', for all vowels but the closed ones (i.e. /uː/, /yː/, /iː/). The first are diphthongs that descend from earlier long vowels, and the second are the same as the equivalent short vowel but pronounced long. These latter ones are called "tonlang" (sound-long) in German. The sound-long vowels are often vowels which were short in Old Saxon but stood in an open syllable, and thus were lengthened by regular sound change.

Some confusion exists about the terminology of these vowels. Traditional grammars do not refer to the diphthongs as such, but call them simply "long vowels", and the speakers of most Low German dialects often think of them in those terms (much as the sound of the English eye is considered a ‘long i’ in traditional English grammar despite its diphthongal character). When speaking of "diphthongisation", especially regarding the dialects of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, an author might refer to a more open version of the diphthong rather than the existence of a diphthong in contrast to a monophthong. For example, someone pronouncing the "long E" as /eɪ/ might refer to /ɛɪ/ and /aɪ/ as "diphthongs" but consider /eɪ/ a "normal E".

The following is not a complete depiction of all sounds in all dialects but is an exemplative overview.

Letter	Short	Long	Soundlong
⟨A⟩	/a/ or /ɒ/	/oɒ/	/aː/ or /ɒː/
⟨E⟩	/ɛ/	/eɪ/ or /ɛɪ/	/ɛː/
⟨O⟩	/ɔ/	/oʊ/ or /ɔʊ/	/ɔː/
⟨Ö⟩ (and other spellings)	/œ/	/øʏ/ or /œʏ/	/œː/

Some of the sound-long vowels have had special characters in some areas or in the writing of some authors. The most widespread are "ę" for /ɛː/, "æ" for /ɶː/ (and to a much lesser extent for /œː/) and "œ" for /œː/. "Ä" has been used for both /ɛː/ and /ɶː/.

Key to dialectal pronunciation ännern

In general, the most closed version (on the left) is spoken in the west (e.g. Lower Saxony), while the most open (on the right) versions are from the east, especially rural (not urban) parts of Mekelnborg-Vörpommern.

E = /ɛɪ/ = /eɪ/~/ɛɪ/~/aɪ/
O = /ɔʊ/ = /oʊ/~/ɔʊ/~/ɒʊ/
Ö = /œʏ/ = /øʏ/~/œʏ/~/ɶʏ/; [eɪ] (w:Königsbarg, Low Prussian)
Ü etc. (long) = /yː/; [iː] (Low Prussian)
Ü etc. (short)= [ʏ]; [ɪ] (Low Prussian)
R = /r/ = [r]~[ɾ] (except in syllable coda)
A = /ʌ/ = [a]~[æ]~[ʌ]~[ɒ]

The Merger of monophthongal A and O ännern

Due to the relative similarity of the sounds of lengthened A and lengthened O, both were used somewhat interchangeably in Middle Low German writing. Later, "A" replaced the letter "O" in the quasi-standard that Middle Low German had developed. This was because, at some point in history, most Low German dialects merged the sound-long A with the sound-long O. Later many merged the long A with the sound-long A as well. Which sound was kept and which was lost was random throughout the dialects. In addition, Low German orthography became more varied and also more randomized in later periods, so that words might be written with either A or O in a region (e.g. apen and open), while not necessarily giving away the pronunciation.

Comparison of Low German and Dutch Low Saxon orthographies ännern

Some important differences between Dutch-influenced orthography of Dutch Low Saxon and the German-influences orthography of Low German pertain to the representation of the following:

Issue	Netherlands	Germany
IPA /z/	z	s
IPA /s/	s	s, ss, ß, z
IPA /y/	u	ü
IPA /ø/, /œ/	eu	ö (rarely æ for /œ/)
vowel length in closed syllables	doubled vowel	doubled consonant or H
capitalisation of nouns	No	Yes

For example, compare Dutch Low Saxon zes (“six”) and kruus (“cross”) with German Low German sess (“six”) and Krüüz (“cross”).

Dutch speakers usually use a double vowel (Laand) or an E (woenen) to show the length of a vowel in a closed syllable. German speakers use an H (wahnen), or an E only after an I (Priel). The difference can be seen in the spellings of the word which means "year", which is pronounced either /jɒːɾ/ or /jɔːɾ/ or with /-ɐ/ instead of /ɾ/: it is written as jaar and joar in Dutch Low Saxon, but as Jahr, Johr or some variant thereof in Germany.

Influenced by standard High German, which capitalizes nouns, many Low German authors also capitalize nouns, and capitalized nouns are the norm (lemma form) for Low German. Many Dutch Low Saxon speakers do not capitalize nouns, and uncapitalized nouns are the norm (lemma form) for Dutch Low Saxon.