Re: Reinventing NATLANGs

From: Michael Adams

"Niederdeutsch does that include in some aspects English? Or was the shift
the divide between Frisian and English?

What about dielects/seperate lanugages like Dutch or Yiddish? As well as
forms outside of what is now Germany and related areas..

English seemed to have had some Nordic influences from an early day, even
before the move to Britain.

Mike"

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Mike,

"Niederdeutsch" does not include 'aspects' (not 100% sure what you're
referring to here) of English. "Niederdeutsch" are the Low Saxon dialects
that are spoken within the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.
There are also Low Saxon dialects on the Netherlands side of the political
boarder, but they are generally referred to as "the Saxon dialects of
Dutch".

Linguistically seen this division is arbitrary.

When "Niederdeutsch" in its late mediaeval form was still the primary
trading language of the eastern North Sea and the Baltic trade, both Dutch
and Low Saxon were referred to as "Nederduitsch", so the division is more
politically motivated than linguistic.

That said, though the similarities between the dialects along the border are
unmistakable and mutual comprehension by dialects speakers is no problem,
the dialects have become greatly influenced by the respective regional and
national standards in their respective countries.

Dan