Low German (in Low German, Platt(düütsch) or Nedderdüütsch) is any of a variety of West Germanic languages spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. It also includes Afrikaans, which is spoken in South Africa, and Plautdietsch, which is spoken by Mennonite communities in North America. Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League.

Low German is also sometimes used to refer to any German dialect which differs from the official German language, but this is not linguistic use. It tends to lead to confusion when discussing the German language: many High German dialects are called Low German, a term properly used only for the dialects and languages described here.

The term "Low German" is often restricted to Low Saxon, one of its three main branches, or extended to all of West Germanic except for High German. We cut a middle path in this article. The other branches of Low German (besides Low Saxon) are Low Franconian and East Low German. The other branches of West Germanic (besides Low German and High German) are Frisian and English. The northern dialects of Low German (Low Saxon and Dutch) can also be classified together with English and Frisian as the North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic languages.

Low German is distinguished from High German principally in that the latter underwent a consonant shift in the 700s and 800s. In High German, /k/, /p/, /t/ became /(k)x/ (only in some dialects), /pf/, /ts/ in initial positions and /x/, /f/, /s/ in medial and final positions. In Low German (as well as English and Frisian), the old /k/, /p/, /t/ are still there, as in English "better", Dutch "beter", German "besser".

Family tree

Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there is not thought to have been any single "Proto-Low German". The earliest recorded form of Low German is known as Old Saxon, a member of the Low Saxon branch.

• Low Franconian
  • Dutch (in the Netherlands and northern Belgium)
  • West Flemish (in West Flanders and nearby areas of Belgium, Zeeland in the Netherlands, and France)
  • Limburgs (in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium)
  • Kleverlands (in Germany)
  • Afrikaans (in South Africa)

• Low Saxon
  • Westphalian (in Westphalia, in Germany)
  • Eastern Friesland Low Saxon (in East Frisia / Eastern Friesland, Germany)
  • Several other dialects in Germany
  • Plautdietsch (in Canada and the United States)
  • Achterhoeks (in Gelderland, in the Netherlands)
  • Drents (in Drenthe, in the Netherlands)
  • Gronings (in Groningen, in the Netherlands)
  • Sallands (in central Overijssel, in the Netherlands)
  • Stellingwerfs (in Stellingwerven, in Friesland, in the Netherlands)
  • Twents (in eastern Overijssel, in the Netherlands)
  • Veenkoloniaals (in eastern Groningen, the Netherlands)
  • Veluws (in Gelderland, in the Netherlands)
  • Westerwolds (in eastern Groningen, the Netherlands)
• East Low German
  • Mecklenburgisch (in Mecklenburg)
  • Pommersch (in Pomerania)
  • Brandenburgisch (in Brandenburg)
  • Berlinerisch (in Berlin)
  • West Prussian (nearly extinct)
  • East Prussian (nearly extinct)

External links

• http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/index-engl.htm
• http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/po-engl.htm
• http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/plattewelt.htm
• http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/
• http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/lowsax.htm
• http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/lowsax-nl.htm
• http://www.plattmaster.de/
• Ethnologue report for Low Saxon-Low Franconian (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=767)