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Middle Low German

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Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German . It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225/34 ( Sachsenspiegel ). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Middle Low German was the leading written language in the north of Central Europe and served as a lingua franca in the northern half of Europe. It was used parallel to medieval Latin also for purposes of diplomacy and for deeds .

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71-566: While Middle Low German (MLG) is a scholarly term developed in hindsight, speakers in their time referred to the language mainly as sassisch (Saxon) or de sassische sprâke (the Saxon language). In contrast to Latin as the primary written language, speakers also referred to discourse in Saxon as speaking/writing to dǖde , i.e. 'clearly, intelligibly'. This contains the same root as dǖdisch 'German' (cf. High German : deutsch , Dutch duits ( archaically N(i)ederduytsche to mean

142-641: A court and poetry language ( Minnesang ) under the rule of the House of Hohenstaufen . The term "High German" as spoken in central and southern Germany ( Upper Saxony , Franconia , Swabia , Bavaria ) and Austria was first documented in the 15th century. Gradually driving back Low German variants since the Early modern period , the Early New High German varieties, especially the East Central German of

213-528: A feudal system as it was known in the rest of Europe . Instead, the system implemented in Frisia was a system of fellowship which has some similarity to older forms of rule known from Germanic cultures of the North. There was a specific relation of dependence between the inhabitants of the ruled area and the chieftain, but the people retained their individual freedom and could move where they wanted. The Frisians controlled

284-467: A large part of Eastern Friesland over several generations until a former follower, Focko Ukena from Leer , defeated the last Tom Brok. But a party of opposing chieftains under the leadership of the Cirksenas from Greetsiel defeated and expelled Fokko, who later died near Groningen. After 1465 one of the last chieftains from the house of Cirksena was made a count by Emperor Frederick III and accepted

355-496: A lengthening e or i , by doubling the following consonants (after short vowels) or by adding h after the following consonants. Lasch distinguished the following large dialect groups, emphasising that she based it strictly on the orthography, which may often omit strongly dialectal phenomena in favour of more prestigious/"standard" forms. Nevertheless, the dialect groups broadly correspond with modern ones. Westphalian ( HG : Westfälisch , Dutch : Westfaals ): Broadly speaking,

426-771: A long stretch of coastal regions from the Zuiderzee in the West to East Prussia in the East. Its orthographic habits come closest to what was traditionally perceived as a MLG standard (the Lübeck standard , nowadays disputed). Some features: Short /e/ and /i/ in open syllables are stretched into a [ɛː] -like vowel. The personal suffixes -er and -ald appear as -ar and -old . The pronouns mî (1.sg.), dî (2.sg.) and jû (2.pl.) are used for both dative and accusative. Three subgroups can be distinguished: (1) East Frisian and Oldenburgish , i.e.

497-673: A natural border. Main cities: Hanover , Hildesheim , Brunswick , Goslar , Göttingen , Magdeburg , Halle (early times). The area within the Elbe's drainage was established by colonisation and is in many ways special. The southern part of this Elbe Eastphalian ( HG : Elbostfälisch ) area switched to High German already in Late Medieval times. Some features : Umlaut is more productive, occurring before -ich and -isch (e.g. sessisch 'Saxon, Low German') and shifting also e to i (e.g. stidde for stêde 'place'). Diphthongised short /o/

568-549: A population of approximately 469,000 people and an area of 3,142 square kilometres (1,213 sq mi). There is a chain of islands off the coast, called the East Frisian Islands ( German : Ostfriesische Inseln ). From west to east, these islands are Borkum , Juist , Norderney , Baltrum , Langeoog and Spiekeroog . The geographical region of East Frisia was inhabited in Paleolithic times by reindeer hunters of

639-445: A sign of length, like oi = /oː/ ). The "breaking" of old short vowels in open syllables and before /r/ was often marked in writing (e.g. karn instead of korn ). Old geminated /jj/ and sometimes /ww/ was hardened into [ɡ] ; /ft/ frequently shifted to /xt/ (sometimes reversed in writing); /s/ instead of /ʃ/ ( sal vs schal ). The native present plural verbs was -et but the written norm often impressed -en . Similarly,

710-425: A similar way the oblique form mik ('me') with "standard" mî . Unusually, there is also a dative pronoun (1.sg. mê ). Lexically, close connections with Nordalbingian. Unusual plural menne ('men'). (South) Brandenburgish ( HG : (Süd-)Brandenburgisch ) and East Anhaltish ( HG : Ostanhaltisch ): Roughly between the middle Elbe and the middle Oder, and along the middle Havel, bordering old Sorbian territory to

781-521: A technical term, the "high" in High German is a geographical reference to the group of dialects that forms "High German" (i.e. "Highland" German), out of which developed Standard German , Yiddish and Luxembourgish . It refers to the Central Uplands ( Mittelgebirge ) and Alpine areas of central and southern Germany; it also includes Luxembourg, Austria, Liechtenstein, and most of Switzerland. This

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852-657: Is ôstersch (lit. 'East-ish') which was at first applied to the Hanseatic cities of the Baltic Sea (the 'East Sea'), their territory being called Ôsterlant ('East-land'), their inhabitants Ôsterlinge ('Eastlings'). This appellation was later expanded to other German Hanseatic cities and it was a general name for Hanseatic merchants in the Netherlands, e.g. in Bruges where they had their komptôr (office; see Kontor ). In

923-635: Is "Geest" and Heathland . The original language of East Frisia was East Frisian , which now is almost extinct , largely replaced by East Frisian Low Saxon . Original East Frisian survived somewhat longer in several remote places as for example in the islands, such as Wangerooge . Today a modern variant of East Frisian can be found in the Saterland , a district near East Frisia. In former times people from East Frisia who left their homes under pressure had settled in that remote area surrounded by moors and kept their inherited language alive. This language which forms

994-672: Is Low German but whose inhabitants already spoke mostly/exclusively High German when the Reformation set in). Sub-periods of Middle Low German are: Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League , spoken all around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea . It used to be thought that the language of Lübeck was dominant enough to become a normative standard (the so-called Lübecker Norm ) for an emergent spoken and written standard, but more recent work has established that there

1065-517: Is a modern term used with varying degrees of inclusivity. It is distinguished from Middle High German , spoken to the south, which was later replaced by Early New High German . Though Middle Dutch is today usually excluded from MLG (although very closely related), it is sometimes, especially in older literature, included in MLG, which then encompasses the dialect continuum of all high-medieval Continental Germanic dialects outside MHG , from Flanders in

1136-416: Is also added to black tea in the winter. The tea is alleged to cure headaches, stomach problems, and stress, among many other ailments. The tea is not only a kind of beverage for the population, but also part of its cultural tradition. Over the years the region developed a unique tea ceremony that can be strictly observed in older households. As a part of these rules, the oldest woman in the round has to serve

1207-426: Is also used to flavour the tea. The tea is generally served in traditional small cups, with little cookies during the week and cake during special occasions or on weekends as a special treat. Some of the most common traditional cakes and pastries to accompany tea are apple strudel , black forest cake , and other cakes flavored with chocolate and hazelnut. Brown rum , mixed with kluntjes and left for several months,

1278-681: Is an accepted version of this page The High German languages ( German : hochdeutsche Mundarten , i.e. High German dialects ), or simply High German ( Hochdeutsch [ˈhoːxˌdɔɪ̯t͡ʃ] ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses in central and southern Germany , Austria , Liechtenstein , Switzerland , Luxembourg , and eastern Belgium , as well as in neighbouring portions of France ( Alsace and northern Lorraine ), Italy ( South Tyrol ),

1349-473: Is called the time of the "Friesische Freiheit" (Frisian freedom) and is represented by the still well-known salute " Eala Frya Fresena " (Get Up, Free Frisian!) that affirmed the non-existence of any feudality. Frisian representatives of the many districts of the seven coastal areas of Frisia met once a year at the Upstalsboom, located at Rahe (near Aurich ). In the early Middle Ages, people could only settle on

1420-643: Is no evidence for this and that Middle Low German was non-standardised. Middle Low German provided a large number of loanwords to languages spoken around the Baltic Sea as a result of the activities of Hanseatic traders. Its traces can be seen in the Scandinavian , Finnic , and Baltic languages , as well as Standard High German and English . It is considered the largest single source of loanwords in Danish , Estonian , Latvian , Norwegian and Swedish . Beginning in

1491-475: Is opposed to Low German , which is spoken in the lowlands and along the flat sea coasts of the North German Plain . High German can be subdivided into Upper German ( Oberdeutsch ) and Central or Middle German ( Mitteldeutsch , this includes Luxembourgish , which itself is now a standard language ). High German varieties are distinguished from other West Germanic varieties in that they took part in

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1562-460: Is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula , to the east of West Frisia and to the west of Landkreis Friesland but is known to have extended much further inland (As far south as modern Cologne, Germany) before modern representations of the territory. Administratively, East Frisia consists of the districts Aurich , Leer and Wittmund and the city of Emden . It has

1633-465: Is rarely marked as such, contrary to other dialects. Before /r/ , e and a are frequently interchanged for each other. Unstressed o (as in the suffix -schop ) frequently changes into u ( -schup ). The modal verb for 'shall/should' features /ʃ/ , not /s/ (i.e. schal ). The past participle's prefix was commonly spoken e- but mostly written ge- under prescriptive influence. The local form ek ('I' (pron. 1.sg.)) competed with "standard" ik ; in

1704-578: Is the dominant church, while in Leer, Norden and Aurich the Lutherans are the dominant church. However, the main church of the Reformed Christians is in Leer. There are 266,000 Lutherans and about 80,000 Reformed – so about 346,000 of the approximately 465,000 citizens of East Frisia profess one of the two denominations. The Concordat of Emden in 1599 set rules for the cooperation of Lutherans and Calvinists in

1775-708: The Wends along the lower Elbe until about 1700 or the Kashubians of Eastern Pomerania up to modern times. In the North, the Frisian -speaking areas along the North Sea diminished in favour of Saxon, esp. in East Frisia which largely switched to MLG since the mid-14th century. North of the Elbe , MLG advanced slowly into Sleswick , against Danish and North Frisian , although the whole region

1846-638: The Czech Republic ( Bohemia ), and Poland ( Upper Silesia ). They are also spoken in diasporas in Romania , Russia , Canada , the United States , Brazil , Argentina , Mexico , Chile , and Namibia . High German is marked by the High German consonant shift , separating it from Low German (Low Saxon) and Low Franconian (including Dutch ) within the continental West Germanic dialect continuum . As

1917-487: The Hamburg culture . Later there were Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements of various cultures. The period after prehistory can only be reconstructed from archaeological evidence. Access to the early history of East Frisia is possible in part through archaeology and in part through the studying of external sources such as Roman documents. The first proven historical event was the arrival of a Roman fleet under Drusus in 12 BC;

1988-477: The High German consonant shift ( c.  AD 500 ) to various degrees. To see this, compare the following: In the southernmost High Alemannic dialects, there is a further shift: Sack (like English/Low German "sack/Sack") is pronounced [z̥ak͡x] ( [k] to [k͡x] ). Old High German evolved from about 500 AD. Around 1200 the Swabian and East Franconian varieties of Middle High German became dominant as

2059-505: The Lower Rhine , MLG bordered on closely related Low Franconian dialects whose written language was mainly Middle Dutch . In earlier times, these were sometimes included in the modern definition of MLG (cf. Terminology ). In the South, MLG bordered on High German dialects roughly along the northern borders of Hesse and Thuringia . The language border then ran eastwards across the plain of

2130-512: The Luther Bible , formed an important basis for the development of Standard German. Divisions between subfamilies within Germanic are rarely precisely defined, because most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there has never been an original " Proto-High German ". For this and other reasons, the idea of representing

2201-624: The Napoleonic Wars East Frisia was occupied first by Prussian and then by Russian soldiers and in 1813 was it was re-annexed by Prussia. However, in 1815, Prussia had to cede East Frisia to the Kingdom of Hanover , which itself was annexed by Prussia in 1866. The landscape is influenced by its proximity to the North Sea. The East Frisian Islands stretch for 90 kilometres along the coast. They offer dunes and sand beaches, though in their center they have grass and woods as well. The area between

Middle Low German - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-516: The Reformation period. Menno Simons , founder of the Mennonite church, found refuge there. In 1654 the counts of East Frisia, seated at Aurich, were elevated to the rank of princes. Their power, however, remained limited because of a number of factors. Externally East Frisia became a satellite of the Netherlands, Dutch garrisons being stationed in different cities permanently. Important cities like Emden were autonomously administered by their citizens,

2343-469: The contemporary version of the Dutch language ) both from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz lit. "of the people"; 'popular, vernacular') which could also be used for Low German if the context was clear. Compare also the modern colloquial term Platt(dütsch) (from platt 'plain, simple') denoting Low (or West Central ) German dialects in contrast to the written standard . Another medieval term

2414-417: The 14th century Oldenburg gave up on plans to conquer Ostfriesland, restricting their attacks to irregular invasions, killing livestock then leaving. The East Frisian chieftains used to provide shelter for pirates such as the famous Klaus Störtebeker and Gottfried Michaelsen , who were a threat to the ships of the powerful Hanseatic League which they attacked and robbed. In 1400 a punitive expedition of

2485-549: The 15th century, Middle Low German fell out of favour compared to Early Modern High German, which was first used by elites as a written and, later, a spoken language. Reasons for this loss of prestige include the decline of the Hanseatic League, followed by political heteronomy of Northern Germany and the cultural predominance of Central and Southern Germany during the Protestant Reformation and Luther's translation of

2556-612: The 16th century, the term nedderlendisch (lit. 'Lowland-ish, Netherlandish ') gained ground, contrasting Saxon with the German dialects in the uplands to the south. It became dominant in the High German dialects (as ENHG niderländisch , which could also refer to the modern Netherlands ), while sassisch remained the most widespread term within MLG. The equivalent of 'Low German' ( NHG niederdeutsch ) seems to have been introduced later on by High German speakers and at first applied especially to Netherlanders. Middle Low German

2627-483: The Bible . The description is based on Lasch (1914) which continues to be the authoritative comprehensive grammar of the language but is not necessarily up-to-date in every detail. It is not rare to find the same word in MLG affected by one of the following phonological processes in one text and unaffected by it in another text because the lack of a written standard, the dialectal variation and ongoing linguistic change during

2698-571: The Carolingian empire, East Frisia lost its former bindings, and a unity of independent self-governed districts was established. Their elections were held every year to choose the "Redjeven" (councillors), who had to be judges as well as administrators or governors. This system prevented the establishment of a feudalistic system in East Frisia during medieval times. Frisians regarded themselves as free people not obliged to any foreign authority. This period

2769-576: The Chauci; however, after the second century AD there is no mention of the Chauci. They were partly displaced by Frisian expansion after about 500, and were later partially absorbed into the Frisian society. Saxons also settled the region and the East Frisian population of medieval times is based on a mixture of Frisian and Saxon elements. Nevertheless, the Frisian element is predominant in the coastal area, while

2840-401: The East Frisian people drink more tea than any other people group, about 300 litres per person every year. Strong black tea is served whenever there are visitors to an East Frisian home or other gathering, as well as with breakfast, in mid-afternoon and mid-evening. The tea is sweetened with kluntjes , a rock candy sugar that melts slowly, allowing multiple cups to be sweetened. Heavy cream

2911-574: The Hanseatic League against East Frisia succeeded. The chieftains had to promise to discontinue their support for the pirates. In 1402 Störtebeker, who was not a Frisian by birth, was captured and executed in Hamburg. The range of power and influence differed between the chieftains. Some clans achieved a predominant state. One of these was the Tom Broks from the Brokmerland (nowadays: Brookmerland ) who ruled

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2982-492: The Middle Low German (MLG) era. General notes Specific notes on nasals (Indented notes refer to orthography.) Specific notes on stops and fricatives Specific notes on approximants Modern renderings of MLG (like this article) often use circumflex or macron to mark vowel length (e.g. â or ā ) to help the modern reader, but original MLG texts marked vowel length not by accents but by doubling vowels, by adding

3053-659: The Prince not having much influence on them. A Frisian Parliament, the Ostfreesk Landschaft, was an assembly of different social groups of East Frisia, jealously protecting the traditional rights and freedoms of the Frisians against the Prince. East Frisian independence ended in 1744, when the region was taken over by Prussia after the last Cirksena prince had died without issue. There was no resistance to this takeover, since it had been arranged by contract beforehand. Prussia respected

3124-478: The Southeast. Main cities: Berlin , Frankfurt/Oder , Zerbst . A colonial dialect strongly influenced by settlers speaking Low Franconian. Also strongly influenced by High German early on. Some features : Old long ê and ô were diphthongised into [iə] and [uə] , written i and u . Old Germanic coda /n/ is restored, contrary to Ingvaeonic sound changes , e.g. gans 'goose'. Present plural of verbs features

3195-757: The West to the eastern Baltic. Middle Low German covered a wider area than the Old Saxon language of the preceding period, due to expansion to the East and, to a lesser degree, to the North. In the East, the MLG-speaking area expanded greatly as part of the Ostsiedlung (settlement of the East) in the 12th to 14th century and came to include Mecklenburg , Brandenburg , Pomerania and (Old) Prussia , which were hitherto dominated by Slavic and Baltic tribes. Some pockets of these native peoples persisted for quite some time, e.g.

3266-423: The area between the middle Weser and lower Rhine . Main cities: Münster , Paderborn , Dortmund , Bielefeld , Osnabrück . Some Saxon dialects in the modern Netherlands (esp. modern Gelderland and Overijssel ) belonged to this group. Dutch influence on them strongly increased since the 15th century. Some features : In the West, strong influence from Low Franconian orthographic patterns (e.g. e or i as

3337-475: The area of East Frisia, the tea can also be poured out of the cup into its saucer and drunk from there. If you don't want any more tea, you have to put your spoon into the cup or else the host will refill your cup immediately after everyone in the round finished their current cup of tea. East Frisia is predominantly Protestant. In Rheiderland , Krummhörn and around Emden , the Reformed Church ( Calvinism )

3408-531: The areas further east, like Mecklenburg , Pomerania , northern Brandenburg (Prignitz, Uckermark, Altmark), Old Prussia , Livonia . Very close to Nordalbingian . While the Eastern dialects are today clearly distinguished from the West by their uniform present plural verb ending in -en (against Western uniform -(e)t ), in MLG times, both endings competed against each other in West and East. Main towns: Lübeck, Wismar , Rostock , Stralsund . High German influence

3479-472: The areas west of the lower Weser , in the North including dialects on Frisian substrate. As can be expected, there is much Westphalian, Dutch and Frisian influence ( hem next to em 'him'; plurals in -s ; vrent next to vrünt 'friend'). (2) Nordalbingian , between the lower Weser and the lower Elbe , and also Holstein on the right bank of the lower Elbe . main towns: Hamburg , Bremen , Lunenburg , Kiel . (3) East Elbian , including Lübeck and

3550-590: The attempts of German states to conquer the coasts. During the 14th century adherence to the Redjeven constitution decayed. Catastrophes and epidemics such as pestilence intensified the process of destabilization. This provided an opportunity for influential family-clans to establish a new rule. As chieftains (in Low German : "hovedlinge"; in standard German : "Fürsten") they took control over villages, cities, and regions in East Frisia; however, they still did not establish

3621-700: The county of East Frisia. Since then it is a special feature of the Protestant Landeskirchen in East Frisia, that Lutherans and Calvinists are members of each other's local church communities in places, where only one of both exists. East Frisia is a rural area. However, there are some industrial sites such as the Volkswagen car factory in Emden and the Enercon (windturbine) company in Aurich . Leer is, after Hamburg ,

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3692-629: The greatest reform of Frisian society in history: He introduced mayors, where the local administration was still in the hands of autonomous groups of elders (like the Diekgreven, Kerkenolderlings etc.), introduced the Code Civil and reformed the ancient Frisian naming system by newly introducing family names in 1811. In the following years the East Frisians registered their family names, often depending on their father's name, area or (if unfree) master. After

3763-436: The higher situated Geest areas or by erecting in the marsh-areas " Warften ", artificial hills to protect the settlement, whether a single farming estate or a whole village, against the North Sea floods. In about 1000 AD the Frisians started building large dikes along the North Sea shore. This had a great effect on establishing a feeling of national identity and independence. Until the late Middle Ages Ostfriesland resisted

3834-523: The islands and the coast is unique in the world: the tide leaves a broad stretch of mudflat with creeks that attract an extraordinary number of species, worms and crabs as well as birds or seals . For this reason, the UNESCO World Heritage Fund declared the Wadden Sea , which had already been a national park, a global heritage site. Away from the coastal area, much of the physical geography

3905-506: The middle Elbe until it met the (then more extensive) Sorb -speaking area along the upper Spree that separated it from High German. The border was never a sharp one, rather a continuum . The modern convention is to use the pronunciation of northern maken vs. southern machen ('to make') for determining an exact border. Along the middle Elbe and lower Saale rivers, Low German began to retreat in favour of High German dialects already during Late Medieval times (cf. Wittenberg whose name

3976-594: The mouth of the Ems river and threatened the ships coming down the river. For this reason the County of Oldenburg made several attempts to subjugate East Frisia during the 12th century. Thanks to the swampy terrain, the Frisian peasants defeated the Oldenburgian armies every time. In 1156 even Henry the Lion failed to conquer the region. The conflicts lasted for the next few centuries. In

4047-447: The other guests with tea, starting with the second oldest and then going down in age regardless of gender. The "kluntje" must be placed inside the teacup before the tea is poured right on top of it. After that some heavy cream is added carefully just as a top layer so it can make "clouds" (wulkjes) that swim on the tea itself. It's then forbidden to stir the tea, so the layers stay mild, strong and then sweet from top to bottom. Depending on

4118-492: The participle prefix ge- was usually written, though probably only spoken in the Southwest. Lexically, strong connections with adjacent dialects further north (East Frisian and Oldenburgish), e.g. godensdach ('Wednesday') instead of middeweke . Westphalian was and is often thought to be altogether the most conservative dialect group. North Low Saxon ( HG : Nordniedersächsisch , Dutch : Noord-Nedersaksisch ): Spoken in

4189-521: The population of the higher Geest area expresses more Saxon influence. Historical information becomes clearer by early Carolingian time, when a Frisian kingdom united the whole area from present-day West Frisia (the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and part of North Holland ) throughout East Frisia up to the river Weser . It was ruled by kings like the famous Radbod whose known names were still mentioned in folk tales until recent times. Frisia

4260-465: The region is again suffering from the loss of young educated people, who go away to find better employment in, for example, southern Germany. Many communities face a rising number of aged people, creating structural problems in the future. There are few academic jobs in the area, and those are focused on engineering. The closest universities are the University of Oldenburg and Groningen . A Fachhochschule

4331-433: The relationships between West Germanic language forms in a tree diagram at all is controversial among linguists. What follows should be used with care in the light of this caveat. East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland ( German : Ostfriesland ; East Frisian Low Saxon : Oostfräisland ; Saterland Frisian : Aastfräislound ) is a historic region in modern Lower Saxony , Germany . The modern province

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4402-582: The second most important location for shipping companies in Germany. Although just on the other side of the border to Emsland , the Meyer Werft is an important employer for East Frisians as well. Main industrial sites are the harbours of Emden and Leer , and Wilhelmshaven east of East Frisia. Around 1900, many people left East Frisia due to lack of jobs and emigrated to the United States or elsewhere. Today

4473-401: The ships sailed into the course of the Ems river and returned. The earlier settlements, known solely through material remnants but whose people's name for themselves remains unknown, led up to the invasion of Germanic tribes belonging to the Ingvaeonic group. Those were Chauci mentioned by Tacitus , and Frisians . The region between the rivers Ems and Weser was thereupon inhabited by

4544-435: The smallest language-island in Europe is called Saterland Frisian or, by its own name, Seeltersk . It is spoken by about 1000 people. East Frisian Low Saxon (or Eastern Friesland Low Saxon, as some people prefer to say for a better distinction from East Frisian, which is Frisian but not Low Saxon) is a variant of Low German with many of its own features due to the Frisian substrate and some other influences originating in

4615-501: The sovereignty of the Holy Roman Empire . However, in 1514 the emperor ordered that a duke of Saxony should be the heir to the count of East Frisia. Count Edzard of East Frisia refused to accept this order and was outlawed. Twenty-four German dukes and princes invaded Frisia with their armies. Despite their numerical superiority they failed to defeat Edzard, and in 1517 the emperor had to accept Edzard and his descendants as counts of East Frisia . East Frisia played an important role in

4686-435: The suffix -en . Lack of negative determiner nên ('no' (attr.)), instead: keyn , similar to High German. The past participle retains the prefix ge- . Lack of gaderen ('to gather') and tőgen ('to show'); instead of them, forms close to High German, i.e. samenen and teigen . In East Anhaltish, distinction of dative and accusative pronouns (e.g. mi vs mik , cf. HG mir and mich ). High German This

4757-444: The traditional autonomy of the Frisians, governed by the Frisian chancellor Sebastian Homfeld. In 1806 East Frisia (now called Oostfreesland) was annexed by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland and later became part of the French Empire . Most of East Frisia was renamed the Département Ems-Oriental, while a small strip of land, the Rheiderland, became part of the Dutch Département Ems-Occidental. The French Emperor Napoléon I undertook

4828-438: The varied history of East Frisia. It is similar to the Gronings dialect spoken in the adjacent Netherlands province of Groningen. In modern Germany, East Frisians in general are the traditional butt of ethnic jokes similar to Polish jokes in the United States. This is mainly the case in the North. In an otherwise coffee drinking country, East Frisia is noted for its consumption of tea and its tea culture . Per capita,

4899-404: Was a short-lived kingdom, and it was crushed by Pippin of Herstal in 689. East Frisia then became part of the Frankish Empire . Charles the Great then divided East Frisia into two counties. At this time, Christianization by the missionaries Liudger and Willehad started; one part of East Frisia became a part of the diocese of Bremen , the other the diocese of Münster . With the decay of

4970-403: Was ruled by Denmark . MLG exerted a huge influence upon Scandinavia (cf. History ), even if native speakers of Low German were mostly confined to the cities where they formed colonies of merchants and craftsmen. It was an official language of Old Livonia , whose population consisted mostly of Baltic and Finnic tribes. In the West, at the Zuiderzee , the forests of the Veluwe and close to

5041-419: Was strong in the Teutonic Order , due to the diverse regional origins of its chivalric elite, therefore MLG written culture was neglected early on. Eastphalian ( HG : Ostfälisch ): Roughly the area east of the middle Weser , north and partly west of the Harz mountains, reaching the middle Elbe , but leaving out the Altmark region. In the north, the sparsely populated Lunenburg Heath forms something of

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