Gronings (; gos, Grunnegs or Grönnegs), is a collective name for some
Friso-Saxon dialects
Friso-Saxon ( nl, friso-saksisch) is a group of West Germanic dialects found around the North Sea coast of the Netherlands and Germany, in an area historically known as Frisia. They are dialects of Low German/Low Saxon which have experienced str ...
spoken in the province of
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
and around the Groningen border in
Drenthe
Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...
and
Friesland
Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
. Gronings and the strongly related
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
in
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
have a strong
East Frisian influence and take a remarkable position within
West Low German
Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...
. The dialect is characterized by a typical accent and vocabulary, which differ strongly from the other Low Saxon dialects.
Area
The name ''Gronings'' can almost be defined geographically, as can be seen on the map below. This is especially true for the northern part of Drenthe (number 8 on that map). The ''Drents'', spoken in the north of the province of
Drenthe
Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...
(
Noordenveld
Noordenveld () is a municipality in the northeastern part of the Netherlands.
Population centres
Water Board Noordenveld
Noordenveld is also the name of a former Water Board, which had its office in Roden. Water Board Noordenveld arose from ...
) is somewhat related with the Groninger language, but the core linguistics is ''Drents''. For the dialects in the southeast, called ''
Veenkoloniaals'', it is a bit different on both sides of the Groningen-Drenthe border, as the dialect spoken there is much more related to ''Gronings''. In the easternmost part of the
Frisian municipality of
Noardeast-Fryslân
Noardeast-Fryslân is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2019 and consists of the former municipalities of Dongeradeel, Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland, all three of which dissol ...
, the western dialect called ''
Westerkwartiers'' is also spoken, as well as a separate Groningen dialect called ''
Kollumerpompsters''. The latter is spoken in the Frisian village of
Kollumerpomp and has more
West Frisian influences, while most Groningen dialects have a strong influence from the
East Frisian language
East Frisian is one of the Frisian languages. Its last surviving dialect is spoken in Saterland in Germany.
There were once two main dialects, ''Ems'' and ''Weser''. Weser, including the Wursten and Wangerooge dialects, held out until the 20 ...
.
Dialects
Gronings can be subdivided into eight dialects:
#''Kollumerpompsters''
#''Westerkwartiers''
#''Stadjeders''
#''Hogelandsters''
#''Oldambtsters''
#''Westerwolds''
#''Veenkoloniaals''
#''Noord-Drents''
Example
Though there are several differences between the dialects, they form a single dialect group. Most words are written the same way, but the pronunciation can differ. The examples show the pronunciation.
*''Westerkertiers'': t Eenege dat wie niet doun is slik uutdeeln
*''Stadsgrunnegs'' (city): t Oinege dat wie noit doun is baaltjes oetdailn
*''Hoogelaandsters'': t Ainege dat wie nait dudden is slik oetdijln
*''Westerwoolds'': t Einege dat wie nich dun is slikkerij uutdeiln
*''Veenkelonioals'': t Ainege wat wie nait dudden is slikke uutduiln
*
East Frisian Low Saxon
East Frisian Low German or East Frisian Low Saxon is one of the Northern Low Saxon dialects, a West Low German dialect spoken in the East Frisian peninsula of northwestern Lower Saxony. It is used quite frequently in everyday speech there. Ab ...
: Dat eenzige, dat wi neet doon is Slickeree utdelen.
*
North German Low Saxon: Dat eenzige, dat wi nich doot, (dat) is Snabbelkraam uutdeeln.
*Standard
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
: Het enige wat we niet doen is snoep uitdelen.
*Standard
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: Das einzige, was wir nicht machen
"was wir nicht ''tun''" ist Süßigkeiten austeilen.
*
Scots: The anerly thing we dinnae dae is gie oot snashters.
*
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: The only thing we don't do is hand out sweets.
Classification
There are many uncertainties about the classification and categorization of Gronings. Some linguists see it as a variety of
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
, also called ''Nedersaksisch'' in the Netherlands. These words are actually more political than linguistic, because they unite a large group of very differing varieties. Categorizing Gronings as Low German could be considered correct, but there is controversy surrounding the existence of the linguistic unity of Low German.
Others, especially German linguists, see Gronings-East Frisian as a separate group of
German dialects
German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language. Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath the Benrath line are dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant ...
. The East Frisian influence, the sounds ''ou'', ''ai'' and ''ui'' and the typical accent are crucial here. Gronings-East Frisian would be categorized as
Friso-Saxon dialects
Friso-Saxon ( nl, friso-saksisch) is a group of West Germanic dialects found around the North Sea coast of the Netherlands and Germany, in an area historically known as Frisia. They are dialects of Low German/Low Saxon which have experienced str ...
instead of Low German. Other linguists categorize all Gronings-East Frisian dialects as North Low German. In that case, all the other Low German varieties in the Netherlands are categorized as
Westphalian.
Dutch linguists in particular classify Gronings as
Dutch Low Saxon
Dutch Low Saxon ( or ''Nederlaands Nedersaksies''; nl, Nederlands Nedersaksisch) are the Low Saxon dialects of the Low German language that are spoken in the northeastern Netherlands and are written there with local, unstandardised orthographi ...
, in Germany also called ''Westplatt''. In this case the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
influence is crucial, while the dialects on the other side of the national border are strongly influenced by
High German languages
The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); 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 ...
. These influences concern especially the vocabulary, like the Dutch word ''"voorbeeld"'' (example) which is ''"veurbeeld"'' in Gronings while the East Frisian dialects use ''"biespööl"'', which is related to the High German word ''"beispiel"''. In this case there is no separation between Groningen-East Frisian (or North Low Saxon) and Westphalian, but rather a difference between Groningen and East Frisian. The national border would equal the linguistic border.
Origin
The Gronings dialects are a kind of mix between two languages:
Old Frisian
Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries along the North Sea coast, roughly between the mouths of the Rhine and Weser rivers. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland (today's Northern Friesl ...
(
East Frisian) and Middle Low German. East Frisian was spoken in the ''
Ommelanden
The Ommelanden (; ) are the parts of Groningen province that surround Groningen city. Usually mentioned as synonym for the province in the expression ("city and surrounding lands").
The area was Frisian-speaking, but under the influence of th ...
'' (surrounding lands of the city of
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
), while the city, the surrounding rural area called and the eastern lordship of
Westerwolde were Low Saxon. When the city of Groningen developed an important position in the Ommelanden, a switch from East Frisian to Saxon occurred, although it was not a complete switch because there are many East Frisian influences in the "new" Groningen language. Many East Frisian words and grammatic features are still in use today. In less than one century, the same process also started in
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
, from the city of Emden, which was influenced by the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
. This explains the strong relation between both varieties.
In the second half of the 16th century Gronings started to evolve towards
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...
because of the strong influence of the new standard language. But because of the political, geographical and cultural isolation of Groningen, a strong provincialism in the first half of the 19th century caused Gronings to develop itself in a significant way. The sounds that are used today were formed in this period.
Usage
Daily life
Today, according to an investigation among the listeners to the regional broadcasting station (''Radio Noord''), approximately 65% of them can speak and write Gronings. Perhaps, if the larger cities and villages of
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
,
Hoogezand-Sappemeer
Hoogezand-Sappemeer () is a former municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It was the third most-populous municipality in the province of Groningen, after Groningen and Oldambt. It was formed in 1949 by the merger of the former municipaliti ...
,
Veendam
Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck.
A Holland America Line cruise ship ...
,
Stadskanaal
Stadskanaal () is a town and municipality with a population of 32,715 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. It was named after the canal Stadskanaal.
From 1800 until 1900 this area was ideal for its peat mining, and so ...
,
Delfzijl
Delfzijl (; gos, Delfsiel) is a city and former municipality with a population of 25,651 in the province of Groningen (province), Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Delfzijl was a sluice between the Delf (canal), Delf and the Ems (riv ...
and
Winschoten
Winschoten (; gos, Winschoot) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt in the province of Groningen which has 38,213 inhabitants.
...
are excluded from this count, the percentage would rise to about 80%. Of course, this is not a representative picture of the linguistic capacity of the inhabitants of Groningen province. Most of the older people use Gronings as their main language. Until the second half of the 20th century, Gronings was more important in Groningen than Dutch. Younger people also speak the language, however in a regiolectical mixed way, because many pure Gronings words are lost. The youngest generation passed to Dutch.
Since the second half of the 20th century, the usage of the language is declining. Because of globalization, other languages like Dutch and English are becoming more important. Parents today chose to raise their children in the Dutch language.
Media
In the media Gronings is used frequently. For example, on the local radio station ''Radio Noord'', Gronings is used by the presenters and listeners. On local television Gronings is used less, but the
weather forecast
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
is always presented in Gronings. The news is always presented in Dutch, since not all viewers understand Gronings. In the second half of 2007, the local television broadcast a series in Gronings called . Another program that is in and about Gronings is ''Grunnegers'', which is actually some kind of education in Gronings.
Examples of Gronings magazines are (language and signs) and , which actually means
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
.
There are many Gronings dictionaries as well. The first official dictionary was the "Nieuw Groninger Woordenboek" and was put together by
Kornelis ter Laan
Kornelis ter Laan ( Gronings: ''Knelis ter Loan'') (8 July 1871 – 6 March 1963), also referred to as Kees ter Laan and Klaas ter Laan, was a Dutch politician and linguist.
He published as K. ter Laan.
Biography
Ter Laan was born on 8 July 1871 ...
. This dictionary and the writing system used in the book became the basics of each dictionary and writing system ever since.
More recent is "Zakwoordenboek Gronings – Nederlands / Nederlands – Gronings" by , which is a little less specific.
K. G. Pieterman wrote a dictionary of Gronings
alliteration
Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
s which is titled ''Gezondhaid en Groutnis'' (sanity and greetings).
Education and culture
Although Gronings, as part of Low Saxon, is an official language, it is not a mandatory subject in schools. Still, many primary schools in Groningen choose to give attention to the regional language. This attention varies from inviting storytellers to teaching about the language. In secondary schools Gronings does not receive much attention.
At the
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...
it is possible to study the language. In October 2007 Gronings became an official study within the faculty of ''letteren'' (language and literature). The new professor, Siemon Reker, had already undergone many studies in the language and is famous for his dictionary.
Another possible way to learn Gronings is taking classes. In the last few years the trend of people taking courses has risen. More and more people, also people from outside who come to live in the area in which Gronings is spoken, are interested in the language and are willing to take courses. There are two types of courses. The first one is understanding and the second one is understanding and speaking.
Every year around March Het Huis van de Groninger Cultuur (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: House of the Groningen Culture) organises a writing contest in every municipality in Groningen.
Everyone can participate and send in a poem or some prose. The winners of the different ages succeed to the provincial round.
Music
Well known Groningen musical artists are Wia Buze, Alje van Bolhuis, Alex Vissering, Eltje Doddema, Pé Daalemmer & Rooie Rinus, Burdy, Hail Gewoon and
Ede Staal
Ede Ulfert Staal (2 August 1941 – 22 July 1986) was a Dutch singer-songwriter from the Northern province of Groningen (province), Groningen who sang mainly in Gronings dialect.
Early life
Ede Staal was born in 1941 in Warffum, the son of a Nati ...
(†). Every year the supply of successful artists in regional languages in the Netherlands is rising.
Frisian substratum
Some linguists classify Gronings to North Low Saxon, to which also
East Frisian belongs. Both related dialects are characterized by an East Frisian influence. Hence other linguists classify Gronings-East Frisian as a separate group of Northwest Low Saxon or Friso-Saxon dialects. The most important similarities are grammar features and the vocabulary. The most important differences are the writing system and the loanwords. The East Frisian writing system is based on High German while Gronings uses many Dutch features. For example, the word for “ice skate” is in Gronings “scheuvel” and in East Frisian “Schöfel”, while the pronunciation is almost alike. Here are a few examples of words compared to West Frisian, East Frisian Low Saxon, German, Dutch and English.
The East Frisian combination -oo (for example in ''Bloot'' = blood) is pronounced like -ow in the English word “now”(''
lowt'; Gronings: ''blowd''). In some parts of the
Rheiderland
The Rheiderland is a region of Germany and the Netherlands between the River Ems and the Bay of Dollart. The German part of the Rheiderland lies in East Frisia, west of the Ems. The Dutch part (written: ''Reiderland'') lies in the Dutch provinc ...
they say ''blyowt'', which is a leftover of Frisian in this area. The East Frisian combination -aa (for example in ''quaad'') is pronounced like –a in the British English word “water”. In Gronings this sound is written like –oa. The word water would be written like “woatah” in Gronings. The pronunciation of the word “quaad” is similar to the Gronings word “kwoad”, which means “angry”. The East Frisian combination -ee and -eei (for example in ''neet'') are pronounced like the –y in the English word “fly” (''
yt'; Gronings: ''nyt'')*.
Linguistic distance from Standard Dutch
After
Limburgish
Limburgish ( li, Limburgs or ; nl, Limburgs ; german: Limburgisch ; french: Limbourgeois ), also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic, is a West Germanic language spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg (Netherlands), L ...
, Gronings is the dialect with the farthest distance from Standard Dutch. Reasons for this are vocabulary and pronunciation. The Gronings vocabulary is quite different from Dutch, for example:
:Gronings: ''Doe hest n hail ìnde luu dij scheuvellopen kinnen'',
:Dutch: ''Jij hebt heel veel werknemers (werklui) die kunnen schaatsen'',
:English: ''You have a lot of employees who can ice skate''
The pronunciation differs from the writing system. The -en ending of many words is pronounced like (ə or ən) in most varieties of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
. In Gronings and many other
Low Saxon
Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...
dialects these words are pronounced with a
glottal stop
The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
, thus making the words ending in , or .
The Groningen people speak quite fast compared to the Dutch people, with the result that a lot of words are pronounced together as one word.
Gronings is also a dialect with many unique expressions. One third of the language consists of these expressions. In the example sentence ''n hail ìnde'' is an example of those expressions. Many of these are given in the 'Nieuwe Groninger Woordenboek' by K. ter Laan published in 1977, (1280pp).
Because of this far distance from Standard Dutch and the official status of the neighbouring
West Frisian, Gronings is considered as a separate language by some of its native speakers, while linguists consider it part of
Dutch Low Saxon
Dutch Low Saxon ( or ''Nederlaands Nedersaksies''; nl, Nederlands Nedersaksisch) are the Low Saxon dialects of the Low German language that are spoken in the northeastern Netherlands and are written there with local, unstandardised orthographi ...
.
Phonology
Consonants
* // occurring before and after rounded vowels is pronounced as a labio-velar approximant //.
*// only occurs in word-medial position, in word-initial position, it is always pronounced as //.
*Other word-final consonants occur as syllabic, as a variant of a schwa sound // before a consonant (e.g. [] ~ []).
Vowels
* The starting point of varies from back to front .
Example
Lord’s Prayer
:Os Voader in Hemel, ''(litt. Our Father in Heaven)''
:dat Joen Noam haailegd worden zel, ''(litt. May Thy name be hallowed)''
:dat Joen Keunenkriek kommen mag, ''(litt. May Thy kingdom come)''
:dat Joen wil doan wordt ''(litt. May Thy will be done)''
:op Eerd net as in hemel. ''(litt. On earth, like in heaven)''
:t Stoet doar wie verlet om hebben ''(litt. The bread we need so badly)''
:geef os dat vandoag, ''(litt. give it to us today)''
:en reken os nait tou wat wie verkeerd doun, ''(litt. And do not blame us for the things we do wrong)''
:net zo as wie vergeven elk dij os wat aandut. ''(litt. As we forgive those who trespass against us)''
:En breng os nait in verlaaiden, ''(litt. And lead us not into temptation)''
:mor wil van verlaaider ons verlözzen. ''(litt. But deliver us from the tempter)''
:Den Joe binnen t Keunenkriek, ''(litt. Because Thou art the kingdom)''
:de Kracht en de Heerlekhaid. ''(litt. the Power and the Glory)''
:Veur in aiweghaid. ''(litt. For eternity)''
:Amen
Vocabulary
The Gronings vocabulary is strongly related to East Frisian Low Saxon, Saterfrisian and West Frisian. However, today the pure Gronings vocabulary is in decline. More and more Gronings words are being replaced by “Groningized” Dutch words. For example, the word “stevel” (boot, German “Stiefel”) is sometimes replaced by the word “leers” (Dutch “laars”). Although most people do know the pure words, they are less and less used, for example because people think others will not understand them or because they are too long and the Dutch word is much easier. An example of the latter is the word for sock, which is “Hozevörrel” in Gronings. The Dutch word “sok” is much easier, so it is more often used than hozevörrel.
Some often used Gronings words are listed below;
References
Further reading
*
External links
www.dideldom.comGroninganaKursus GrunnegsCourse in Gronings
Kursus GrunnegsCourse in Gronings on line
*Press releas
Simon Reker has become Regular Chairholder for Gronings at Groningen UniversityYouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
*Press releas
New teaching materials for younger pupilsYouTube
{{Authority control
Northern Low Saxon dialects
Languages of the Netherlands
Frisian languages
Culture of Drenthe
Culture of Friesland
Culture of Groningen (province)
Noardeast-Fryslân