From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Missingsch is a type of Low-German-coloured dialect or sociolect of German. It is characterised by
Low-German-type structures and the presence of numerous loanwords (especially calques) from Low German in
German (“High German”).
A more technical definition of “Missingsch” is that it is a type
of contact
variety, specifically a type of German variety with a “Low
German” (Low Saxon) substratum. This is the
result of linguistic, cultural, educational and political Germanisation of
the region that is now Northern Germany. This process of Germanisation began in
earnest in the late seventeenth century, after the demise of the Hanseatic
League and thus the erosion of its Middle-Saxon-speaking power.
Pressures to adopt German and at the same time being held back by
insufficient access to formal (by now solely German language)
education in the lower social classes led to various stages of
transition from “Low German” to “High German.” These generally
low-prestige language varieties continued to be spoken (rarely
written) until the late twentieth century, though some people still
continue and promote them now, very often for their supposed
entertainment value, typically in comical veins.
Perhaps the best-known remaining domain of Missingsch is that of
“Klein Erna jokes” — usually told entirely in Missingsch — in which
laconic humour glorifies low-class wit and comments on working
class conditions; e.g.
- Mamma aus’n Fenster: „Klein Erna, muscha die Katze nich
immer an Schwanz ziehn!“ Klein Erna: „Tu ich scha auch gaa nich.
Die Katze zieht immer, ich halt ihr bloß fest!“ (Mum callin’
down from the window: “Li’l Erna, stop pullin’ the cat’s tail, will
ya?!” Li’l Erna: “But it ain’t me doin’ it! The cat keeps pullin’.
I’m jus’ holdin’ ’er.”)
- Mamma: „Klein Erna, komm ra-auf, Füße waschen, Mamma
braucht die Kumme gleich zu Sala-at!“ (Mum: “Li’l Erna, come
on upstai-airs! Time to wash yer fee-eet! Mum needs the bowl for
saaalad!”)
- Klein Erna geht mit ihr’n Heini in Dunkeln spazieren. Und
wie sie inne Gegend von Bismarckdenkmal sind und ’n büschen
rumknutschen, sagt Klein Erna mit’n mal: „Heini, wis ma sehn, wo
ich an Blinddaam opariert bin?“ „O ja, Klein Erna, zeig mal her!“
„Kuck mal, da unten, wo die vielen Lichter brennen, da is das
Hafenkrankenhaus. Da bin ich an Blinddaam opariert!“ (Li’l
Erna’s walkin’ with ’er Ricky in the dark. An’ as they’re by the
Bismarck Memorial an’ are doin’ a bit o’ knoodlin’, says Erna,
“Say, Ricky, d’ya wanna see where I had my appendix out?” “Oh, yes,
Li’l Erna. Come on! Show me!” “Look, down there, where all the
lights are, that’s where the Harbour Hospital is. That’s where I
had my appendix out.”)
From a linguistic point of view, Missingsch varieties did not
become extinct as such. They merely developed into more
“cleaned-up” northern varieties of German, varieties that use
numerous Missingsch elements, especially in their casual registers.
As such, Missingsch has been influencing the development of
Standard German, mostly indirectly by way of northern German
dialect contributions. Obvious examples are Low Saxon loanwords
such as tschüß ‘bye’ (cf. Low Saxon: adschüüß,
tschüüß). However, most influences are not as clearly
noticeable as they involve lexical and idiomatic choices. A case of lexical choice is
Sonnabend (cf. Low Saxon Sünnavend, Standard
German Samstag) ‘Saturday’.
There are numerous parallel cases to that of Missingsch. These
are found in many situations in which languages came to be
supplanted by other languages. Within a Northern European context
there is the case of Stadsfries in the northern parts of the Netherlands and the
case of sociolects of Scottish
English that have particularly strong Scots characteristics.
While there have been many varieties of Missingsch throughout
Northern Germany, those of larger cities are best known, such as
those of Hamburg, Bielefeld, Bremen, Flensburg and Gdańsk/Danzig.
The name “Missingsch” refers to the city of Meissen (Meißen), which lies outside
the traditional Saxon-speaking region (although the state in which
it is situated at one time acquired the misleading name
Saxony, originally the name of what is now Northern
Germany). Meissen’s Central German dialect was considered exemplary
and was highly influential between the fifteenth century and the
establishment of Modern Standard German. The name
Missingsch is the Low Saxon equivalent of what in German
is Meißnerisch, rather than, as often stated, derived from
the German name Meißnerisch.
Contrary to popular belief, Missingsch is not a dialect of Low
German. Furthermore, Missingsch it is not simply “German with a Low
German accent,”
as which it is often described. Its “Low German” (Low Saxon)
influences are not restricted to its phonology but involve morphological and syntactic structures (sentence
construction) and its lexicon (vocabulary) as well. It is a
type of German variety with the minimally qualifying
characteristic of a clearly noticeable “Low German” (Low Saxon)
substratum.
Traditional German varieties of Berlin qualify as Missingsch as well, though few
people think of Berlinerisch as a Missingsch variety
these days. Berlin is still surrounded by traditionally
Low-German-speaking areas of the southeastern or Brandenburg type.
Before it became the center of the Prussian state, Berlin, too, was
Low-German-speaking. As such it adopted German earlier than did
other northern centers. Typical Berlinerisch is thus
technically a Missingsch group with an additional Western Slavic (probably Old Lower Sorbian) substratum, since before Saxon and Low Franconian colonisation the area
was Slavic-speaking.
In his novel Schloss Gripsholm (Gripsholm
Castle), Kurt Tucholsky broaches the issue of
Missingsch and provides samples.
Phonological
characteristics
- Missingsch phonology
tends to be closely related, if not identical, to that of the
corresponding Low Saxon varieties. Noteworthy among these in the
Northern Low Saxon area are the following:
- Long /a/ is pronounced semi-rounded ([ɒː]) as in most Low Saxon
varieties; e.g. Abend [ʔɒːmt] ~ [ʔɒːmp] (Standard
[ˈʔɑːbənt]) ‘evening’, Straßenbahn [ˈstrɒːsm̩bɒːn]
(Standard [ˈʃtʁɑːsənbɑːn]) ‘tramway’, ‘streetcar’.
- Short vowels are lengthened
before sonorants, without
any other change of articulation; e.g. Ball [baˑl] ‘ball’,
Kind [kʰɪ͂ˑnt] ‘child’, auch [ʔaˑʊx] ‘also’,
Land [la͂ˑnt] ‘land’, ‘country’.
- There is a noticeable degree of nasalisation before syllable-final nasal consonants; Kind
[kʰɪ͂ˑnt] ‘child’, Köm [kʰø͂ːm] ‘caraway schnaps’,
lang [la͂ˑŋk] ‘long’.
- /d/ is assimilated to preceding /n/; e.g. Kinder =
Kinner [kʰɪ͂ˑnɝ] ‘children’, anders =
anners [ʔa͂ˑnɝs] ‘different’.
- In original Missingsch, as in most Low Saxon varieties,
syllable-initial /s/ followed by /p/ or /t/ does not take on a “sh”
sound; e.g. Straße [ˈstrɒːse] (Standard [ˈʃtʁɑːsə], Low
Saxon Straat [ˈstrɒːt]) ‘street’, Sprache
[ˈsprɒːxe] (Standard [ʃpʁɑːxə], Low Saxon Spraak
[ˈsprɒːk]) ‘language’.
- What are affricate consonants in other German
dialects tend to be fricative in Missingsch; e.g. Zeit
[saˑɪt] ‘time’, Pferd [feɝt] ‘horse’ (cf. Standard
Zeit [ʦʰaɪt], Pferd [pfʰeʁt]).
- Aspiration of
voiceless stops and affricates is limited to the syllable with
main stress; e.g. Pocke
[ˈpʰɔke] (Standard [ˈpʰɔkʰə]) ‘pock’, pikant [piˈkʰa͂ˑnt]
(Standard [pʰiˈkʰant]) ‘spicy’, Peter [ˈpʰeːtɝ] (Standard
[ˈpʰeːtʰɚ]) ‘Peter’, Papa [ˈpʰapa] (Standard [ˈpʰapʰɑ] or
[pʰɑˈpʰɑ]) ‘dad’. (Unaspirated variants tend to be heard and
spelled as voiced by the average North German, hence the spelling
Pogge, Peder and Pabba.)
- Syllable-final /r/ is realized as a vowel and merges with
certain preceding vowels; e.g. fertig [ˈfɛætɪç] ~
[ˈfɛːtɪç] ‘ready’, ‘completed’, warten [ˈvaːtn̩] ~
[ˈvɒːtn̩] ‘to wait’, Korb [kʰɔɝp] ~ [kʰɔːp] ‘basket’,
Körper [ˈkʰœæpɝ] ‘body’
- Preceding a syllable-final velar consonant, /l/ tends to change
into a high vowel; e.g. Milch [mɪˑiç] (Standard [mɪlç])
‘milk’, Balken [ˈbaˑɪkŋ̩] (Standard [ˈbalkʰən]) ‘beam’,
solch [zɔˑɪç] (Standard [ˈzɔlç]) ‘such’, welk
[vɛˑik] (Standard [vɛlk]) ‘withered’, Erfolg [ʔɝˈfɔˑɪç]
(Standard [ʔɝˈfɔlk]) ‘success’. (Similar cases of assimilation of
/l/ can be observed in Bavarian
German).
- Final /g/ is always pronounced as a fricative, and the
preceding vowel is usually short; e.g. richtig [ˈrɪçtɪç]
(southern [ˈrɪçtik]) ‘correct’, Tag [tʰax] (southern
[tʰɑːk]) ‘day’, Berg [bɝːç] ‘mountain’, ‘hill’,
Zug [ʦʰʊx] ~ [sʊx] (southern [ʦʰuːk]) ‘train, ‘draught’,
weg [vɛç] (southern [vɛk]) ‘away’, but Weg [veːç]
(southern [veːk]) ‘way’ (cf. Low Saxon: richtig [ˈrɪçtɪç]
‘correct’, Dag [dax] ‘day’, Barg [baːx]
‘mountain’, ‘hill’, Tog [tʰɔx] ‘train’, ‘draught’,
weg [vɛç] ‘away’, but Weg [vɛç] ‘way’ vs
Weeg’ [veːˑj] ~ [veːç] ‘ways’). To express this
orthographically, many people spell these richtich,
Tach, Berch, Zuch, wech and
Weech respectively (in Low Saxon richtich,
Dach, Barch, Toch, wech,
Wech and Weeg ~ Weech
respectively).
- In original Missingsch, syllable-initial /r/ is apical ([r], as
in Italian
and as in original Low Saxon). Uvular /r/ ([ʁ], as in Standard French, Danish and
Modern Hebrew) became acceptable with advanced
Germanisation.
(The same happened to Low Saxon is some communities.)
Lexical
characteristics
- Missingsch uses numerous Low Saxon words and expressions:
- phonologically adapted loans; e.g.
- Buddel [ˈbʊdl̩] (< Low Saxon Buddel
[ˈbʊdl̩], cf. Standard German Flasche) ‘bottle’
- dröge ~ dröög ~ drööch ‘(awfully)
dry’ (e.g. food), ‘boring’ (< Low Saxon dröge
[ˈdrøˑɪge] ~ dröög’ [ˈdrøːɪj] ‘dry’) in addition to
ordinary German-based trocken [ˈtrɔkŋ̩] ‘dry’
- Fahrtuch [ˈfɒːɝtux] (< Low Saxon Fahrdook
[ˈfɒːɝdɔʊk], cf. German Wischtuch) ‘cleaning rag’
- Klöterbüchse [kløːtɝˌbʏkse] (< Low Saxon
Klœterbüx(e) [klœːtɝˌbʏks(e)] ~ [kløːtɝˌbʏks(e)], Standard
German Rassel) ‘(baby) rattle’
- Schiet [ʃiːt] inoffensive for ‘dirt’, ‘inferior
stuff’, ‘problem’, ‘nuisance’, ‘nonsense’ (< Low Saxon
Schiet with the same meanings) in addition to the
offensive German-based cognate Scheiße ‘shit’, ‘crap’
- Sott [ˈzɔt] ~ Sutt [ˈzʊt] (< Low Saxon
Sott [ˈzɔt] ~ Sutt [ˈzʊt], cf. Standard German
Ruß) (1) ‘soot’, (2) ‘luck’
- Sottje [ˈzɔtje] ~ [ˈzɔʧe] ~ Suttje [ˈzʊtje] ~
[ˈzʊʧe] (< Low Saxon Sottje [ˈzɔtje] ~ [ˈzɔʧe] ~
Suttje [ˈzʊtje] ~ [ˈzʊʧe] < Sott [ˈzɔt] ~
Sutt [ˈzʊt]; ‘soot’, cf. Standard German
Schornsteinfeger) ‘chimney-sweep’
- calques and semi-calques; e.g.
- Bickbeere [ˈbɪkˌbeːre] (< Low Saxon
Bickbeer [ˈbɪkbeːr] ~ [ˈbɪkbɛːr], cf. Standard German
Blaubeere, Heidelbeere) ‘blueberry’
- Blumenpott [ˈbluːm(ː)pɔt] (< Low Saxon
Blomenpott [ˈblɔˑʊm(ː)pɔt], cf. Standard German
Blumentopf) ‘flowerpot’
- Grünhöker [ˈgryːnhøːkɝ] (< Low Saxon
Gröönhœker [ˈgrœɪnhøːkɝ] ~ [ˈgrɔˑɪnhøːkɝ], cf. Standard
German Gemüsehändler) ‘greengrocer’
- Grünzeug [ˈgryːnʦɔˑɪç] ~ [ˈgryːnsɔˑɪç] (<
Grööntüüg [ˈgrœɪntyːç] ~ [ˈgrɔˑɪntyːç], cf. Standard
German Gemüse) ‘vegetable(s)’
- Handstein [ˈhaˑn(t)staˑɪn] ~ [ˈhaˑn(t)ʃtaˑɪn] (<
Low Saxon Handsteen [ˈhaˑn(t)stɛˑɪn], cf. Standard German
Waschbecken) ‘wash basin’
- Kantstein [ˈkʰaˑn(t)staˑɪn] ~ [ˈkʰaˑn(t)ʃtaˑɪn] (<
Low Saxon Kantsteen [ˈkʰaˑn(t)stɛˑɪn], cf. Standard German
Bordstein) ‘curb stone’
- Stickhusten [ˈstɪkˌhuːstn̩] ~ [ˈʃtɪkˌhuːstn̩] (<
Low Saxon Stickhoosten [ˈstɪkˌhɔʊstn̩], cf. Standard
German Keuchhusten) ‘whooping cough’
- Wurzel [ˈvʊˑɝʦl̩] ~ [ˈvʊˑɝsl̩] (< Low Saxon
Wortel [ˈvɔˑɝtl̩] ~ Wottel [ˈvɔtl̩], literally
‘root’) ‘carrot’ (cf. Standard German Möhre ‘carrot’,
Wurzel ‘root’)
- zus(ch)nacken [ˈʦʰuːˌsnakŋ̩] ~ [ˈʦʰuːˌʃnakŋ̩] ~
[ˈsuːˌsnakŋ̩] ~ [ˈsuːˌʃnakŋ̩] (< Low Saxon tosnacken
[ˈtʰɔˑʊˌsnakŋ̩], cf. Standard German zureden,
ermuntern) ‘encourage’
Many of the above-mentioned words are used in casual-style
Northern German dialects that descended from Missingsch at least in
part.
Morphological and
syntactic characteristics
- as in Low Saxon, no distinctive marking for dative case and accusative case, using one or the other
German marker for both cases; e.g.
- Wenn du mich (dat.) das nich
geben tus(t), denn kanns(t) du mich (acc.)
nich besuchen or Wenn du mir
(dat.) das nich geben tus(t), denn kanns(t) du
mir (acc.) nich besuchen (cf. Low
Saxon: Wenn du mi dat nich gäven deis(t), denn
kanns(t) (du) mi nich besöken, Standard
German: Wenn du es mir nicht gibst, darfst du
mich nicht besuchen.) ‘If you don’t give it
to me (dat.) you may not visit me
(acc.).’
- Genitive constructions are as in Low Saxon; e.g.
- seine Deerns Fernseher, seine Deern ihr
Fernseher, der Fernseher von seine Deern (cf. Low
Saxon: sien Deerns Feernseher, sien Deern ehr
Feernseher, de Feernseher vun sien Deern, Standard
German: der Fernsehapparat seiner Freundin) ‘his
girlfriend’s television set’
- In the Northern Low Saxon area, Missingsch uses das
for both ‘that’ (Standard das, Low Saxon dat) and
‘it’ (Standard es, Low Saxon dat); e.g.
- Ich mach das nich. (cf. Low Saxon: Ik mag dat
nich.) 1. ‘I don’t like that.’ (Standard German: Ich mag
das nicht, Mir gefällt das nicht.), 2. ‘I don’t like
it.’ (Standard German: Ich mag es nicht, Mir gefällt
es nicht.) (N.B.: The Missingsch sentence Ich mach das
nich can also mean ‘I don’t do that/it’, because what in
Standard German is (ich) mag ([mɑːk]) ‘(I) like’ in
Missingsch coalesces with what in Standard German is (ich)
mache ([ˈmaxə]) ‘(I) make’.)
- tun ‘do’ used to emphasise verbs; e.g.
- Arbeiten tu ich heute nich. (cf. Low
Saxon: Arbeiden do ik hüüt nich, Standard
German: Ich arbeite heute nicht.) ‘I don't
work today (but I do something else).’
- Tu ihn das man mal geben! (cf. Low Saxon: Do em
dat man maal gäven!, Standard German: Gib es ihm
nur!) ‘Do give it to him!’, ‘Go on and give it to him!’
- man (< Low Saxon man ‘only’, cf. Standard
German nur ‘only’) used to signal permission, advice or
mild command; e.g.
- Denn komm Sie man rein! (cf. Low Saxon: Denn kaamt
(Se) man rin!, Standard German: Dann kommen Sie nur
herein!) ‘Come on inside then!’
- Lass ihr man! (cf. Low Saxon: Laat ehr man!,
Standard German Lasse sie nur!) ‘You’d better let her be’,
‘Don’t mind her!’, ‘Forget about her!’
- Da (there) and hier (here) are not compounded
with a following prepositions; e.g.
- Da habbich kein Geld
für (cf. Low Saxon: Daar
heff ik keen Geld för, Standard German:
Dafür habe ich kein Geld.) ‘I don’t have
any money (to spare) for that/it.’
- Hast (du) da was
gegen?, Hassa was
gegen? (cf. Low Saxon: Hest (du)
daar wat gägen?, Standard
German: Hast du etwas dagegen?) ‘Do you
have anything against that/it?’, ‘Are you opposed to that/it?’, ‘Do
you have any objection?’
- Da! Hier kannst dir maal was Schönes
von kaufen. (cf. Low Saxon: Daar!
Hier kannst di maal wat Schööns
vun köpen. Standard German: Da!
Hiervon kannst du dir einmal etwas Schönes
kaufen.) ‘Here you go! Buy yourself something nice with
this.’
- development of the prepositions auf [ʔaˑʊf] ‘up’,
‘on’ and zu [ˈʦʰuː] ~ [ˈsuː] ‘to’ to adjectives denoting ‘open’ and ‘closed’, as
happened in Low Saxon with corresponding up [ʔʊp] ~
op [ʔɔp] and to [ˈtʰɔˑʊ] (and only to a limited
degree in Standard German, possibly under northern influence); e.g.
- Mach das Fenster auf! ~ Machas
Fenster auf! (< Low Saxon Maak dat
Fenster op!, cf. Standard German Öffne
das Fenster!) ‘Open the window!’
- Die Tür könn wir nu zumachen (<
Low Saxon De Dœr kœnt wi nu tomaken, cf.
Standard German Die Tür können wir jetzt schließen) ‘We
can close the door now.’
- Bei die aufe Tür kommp all so’n Viechzeug
rein (< Low Saxon Bi de oppe Dœr kümmt
all so’n Krimmeltüüg rin!, cf. Standard German Bei offener
Tür kommt alles mögliche Viehzeug herein, Bei offener Tür
kommen alle möglichen Viecher herein) ‘All kinds of critters
come inside when the door is open.’
- Bei die zue Gardine kann ich nich
lesen (< Low Saxon Bi de toe Gardien
kann ik nich läsen, cf. Standard German Wenn die Gardine
zugezogen ist, kann ich nicht lesen) ‘I can’t read when the
curtain is pulled shut.’
See also
External
links
Wikis
Map
Search
