Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'',
''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch'';
Luxembourgish: ) is a
West Germanic language
The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages). The West Germanic branch is classically subdivided into t ...
that is spoken mainly in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of the
Moselle Franconian language
__NOTOC__
Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish.
It is spoken in the southern Rhineland and along the c ...
, Luxembourgish has similarities with other varieties of
High German
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 ...
and the wider group of
West Germanic languages
The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germanic ...
. The status of Luxembourgish as an official language in Luxembourg and the existence there of a regulatory body have removed Luxembourgish, at least in part, from the domain of
Standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
, its traditional .
History
Luxembourgish was considered a German dialect like many others until about
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
but then it underwent
ausbau
In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss in ...
, that is it created its own standard form in vocabulary, grammar and spelling and therefore is seen today as an independent language, an
ausbau language
In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss in ...
.
Due to the fact that Luxembourgish has a maximum of some 285,000 native speakers, resources in the language like books, newspapers, magazines, television, internet etc. are limited. Since most Luxembourgers also speak Standard German and French there is strong competition with these two which both have very large language resources and therefore the use of Luxembourgish up to now remains quite limited.
Language family
Luxembourgish belongs to the
West Central German
West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. Its dialects are Franconian and comprise the parts of the Rhinelandic continuum located south of the Benrath line isogloss, including ...
group of
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 ...
and is the primary example of a
Moselle Franconian
__NOTOC__
Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian dialects, Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish.
It is spoken in the southe ...
language.
Speech
![Supermarket Luxembourg meat section sign 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Supermarket_Luxembourg_meat_section_sign_3.jpg)
Luxembourgish is considered the
national language
A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the te ...
of Luxembourg and also one of the three administrative languages, alongside
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
**Ger ...
and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
In Luxembourg, 77% of citizens can speak Luxembourgish. Luxembourgish is also spoken in the
Arelerland
The Land of Arlon (Luxembourgish/german: Arelerland, , ; french: Pays d'Arlon, ; Dutch: ''Land van Aarlen'' )In isolation, ''van'' is pronounced . is the traditionally Luxembourgish-speaking part of Belgian Lorraine, which is now predominantly ...
region of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
(part of the
Province of Luxembourg
Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...
) and in small parts of
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
In the
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
**Ger ...
Eifel
The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...
and Hunsrück regions, similar local
Moselle Franconian
__NOTOC__
Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian dialects, Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish.
It is spoken in the southe ...
dialects of German are spoken. The language is also spoken by a few descendants of Luxembourg immigrants in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Other
Moselle Franconian dialects
__NOTOC__
Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish.
It is spoken in the southern Rhineland and along the c ...
are spoken by ethnic Germans long settled in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
(Siebenbürgen).
Moselle Franconian dialects outside the Luxembourg state border tend to have far fewer French loanwords, and these mostly remain from the French Revolution.
The political party that places the greatest importance on promoting, using and preserving Luxembourgish is the
Alternative Democratic Reform Party
The Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR; lb, Alternativ Demokratesch Reformpartei, french: Parti réformiste d'alternative démocratique, german: Alternative Demokratische Reformpartei) is a conservative and mildly populist political party ...
(ADR) and its electoral success in the
1999 election pushed the CSV-DP government to make knowledge of it a criterion for
naturalisation
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
. It is currently also the only political party in Luxembourg that wishes to implement written laws also in Luxembourgish and that wants Luxembourgish to be an officially recognized
language of the European Union. In this context, in 2005, politician
Jean Asselborn
Jean Asselborn (; born 27 April 1949) is a Luxembourgish politician who has served in the government of Luxembourg as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2004. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2004 to 2013, under Prime Minister Jean-Cl ...
of
LSAP
The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, french: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, german: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic, p ...
rejected a demand made by ADR to make Luxembourgish an official language of the European Union citing financial reasons and the suffiency of official
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
**Ger ...
and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
Varieties
There are several distinct dialect forms of Luxembourgish including Areler (from
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is t ...
), Eechternoacher (
Echternach
Echternach ( lb, Iechternach or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in L ...
), Kliärrwer (
Clervaux
Clervaux (; lb, Clierf or (locally) ; german: Clerf) is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg, administrative capital of the canton of Clervaux.
The town's arms, granted in 1896, show three blackbirds on a gold ground in the chief of a red ...
), Miseler (
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
), Stater (
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
), Veiner (
Vianden
Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...
), Minetter (Southern Luxembourg) and Weelzer (
Wiltz
Wiltz ( lb, Wolz or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in north-western Luxembourg, capital of the canton Wiltz. Wiltz is situated on the banks of the river Wiltz. It was also a battleground in the Battle of the Bulge, near the en ...
). Further small vocabulary differences may be seen even between small villages.
Increasing mobility of the population and the dissemination of the language through mass media such as radio and television are leading to a gradual standardisation towards a "Standard Luxembourgish" through the process of
koineization.
[Ammon, Ulrich - Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt (de Gruyter Mouton)](_blank)
Surrounding languages
There is no distinct geographic boundary between the use of Luxembourgish and the use of other closely related High German dialects (for example,
Lorraine Franconian
Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plàtt'' or ''lottrìnger Plàtt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...
); it instead forms a
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...
of gradual change.
Spoken Luxembourgish is relatively hard to understand for speakers of German who are generally not familiar with Moselle Franconian dialects (or at least other
West Central German
West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. Its dialects are Franconian and comprise the parts of the Rhinelandic continuum located south of the Benrath line isogloss, including ...
dialects). They can usually read the language to some degree. For those Germans familiar with Moselle Franconian dialects, it is relatively easy to understand and speak Luxembourgish as far as the everyday vocabulary is concerned.
The large number of French loanwords in Luxembourgish may hamper communication about certain topics, or with certain speakers (who use many French loanwords).
Writing
Standardisation
A number of proposals for standardising the
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
of Luxembourgish can be documented, going back to the middle of the 19th century. There was no officially recognised system until the adoption of the "OLO" () on 5 June 1946. This orthography provided a system for speakers of all varieties of Luxembourgish to transcribe words the way they pronounced them, rather than imposing a single, standard spelling for the words of the language. The rules explicitly rejected certain elements of German orthography (, the use of and , the capitalisation of nouns). Similarly, new principles were adopted for the spelling of French loanwords.
* , , , (cf. German , ', ', ')
* , , , (cf. French ', ', ', ')
This proposed orthography, so different from existing "foreign" standards that people were already familiar with, did not enjoy widespread approval.
A more successful standard eventually emerged from the work of the committee of specialists charged with the task of creating the ''Luxemburger Wörterbuch'', published in 5 volumes between 1950 and 1977. The orthographic conventions adopted in this decades-long project, set out in Bruch (1955), provided the basis of the standard orthography that became official on 10 October 1975. Modifications to this standard were proposed by the ''
Permanent Council of the Luxembourguish language'' and adopted officially in the spelling reform of 30 July 1999. A detailed explanation of current practice for Luxembourgish can be found in Schanen & Lulling (2003).
Alphabet
The Luxembourgish alphabet consists of the
26 Latin letters plus three letters with diacritics: , , and . In
loanwords
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...
from French and Standard German, other diacritics are usually preserved:
* French: , , , etc.
* German: , (from German ), etc.
In German loanwords, the digraphs and indicate the diphthong , which does not appear in native words.
Orthography of vowels
:
:
:
Eifeler Regel
Like many other varieties of Western High German, Luxembourgish has a rule of final ''n''-deletion in certain contexts. The effects of this rule (known as the "Eifel Rule") are indicated in writing, and therefore must be taken into account when spelling words and morphemes ending in or . For example:
* "when I go", but "when we go"
* "thirty-five", but "forty-five".
Phonology
Consonants
The consonant inventory of Luxembourgish is quite similar to
that of Standard German.
* occurs only in loanwords from Standard German. Just as for many native speakers of Standard German, it tends to be simplified to word-initially. For example, ''Pflicht'' ('obligation') is realised as or, in careful speech, .
* is realised as when it occurs after , e.g. ''zwee'' ('two').
* appears only in a few words, such as ''spadséieren'' ('to go for a walk').
* occurs only in loanwords from English.
* have two types of allophones:
alveolo-palatal
In phonetics, alveolo-palatal (or alveopalatal) consonants, sometimes synonymous with pre-palatal consonants, are intermediate in articulation between the coronal and dorsal consonants, or which have simultaneous alveolar and palatal articul ...
and uvular . The latter occur before back vowels, and the former occur in all other positions.
** The allophone appears only in a few words, and speakers increasingly fail to distinguish between the alveolo-palatal allophones of and the postalveolar phonemes .
* Younger speakers tend to vocalize a word-final to .
Vowels
* The front rounded vowels appear only in loanwords from French and Standard German. In loanwords from French, nasal also occur.
* has two allophones:
** Before velars: close-mid front unrounded , which, for some speakers, may be open-mid , especially before . The same variation in height applies to , which may be as open as .
** All other positions: mid central vowel, more often slightly rounded than unrounded .
* Phonetically, the long mid vowels are raised close-mid (near-close) and may even overlap with .
** before is realised as .
* is the long variant of , not , which does not have a long counterpart.
* appears only in loanwords from Standard German.
* The first elements of may be phonetically short in fast speech or in unstressed syllables.
* The and contrasts arose from the former lexical tone contrast; the shorter were used in words with Accent 1, and the lengthened were used in words with Accent 2.
Grammar
Nominal syntax
Luxembourgish has three
genders
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
(masculine, feminine, and neuter), and three
cases (nominative, accusative, and dative). These are marked morphologically on
determiners
A determiner, also called determinative (abbreviated ), is a word, phrase, or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and generally serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determiner m ...
and
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not co ...
s. As in German, there is no morphological gender distinction in the plural.
The forms of the articles and of some selected determiners are given below:
As seen above, Luxembourgish has plural forms of ''en'' ("a, an"), namely ''eng'' in the nominative/accusative and ''engen'' in the dative. They are not used as indefinite articles, which—as in German and English—do not exist in the plural, but they do occur in the compound pronouns ''wéi en'' ("what, which") and ''sou en'' ("such"). For example: ''wéi eng Saachen'' ("what things"); ''sou eng Saachen'' ("such things"). Moreover, they are used before numbers to express an estimation: ''eng 30.000 Spectateuren'' ("some 30,000 spectators").
Distinct nominative forms survive in a few nominal phrases such as ''der Däiwel'' ("the devil") and ''eiser Herrgott'' ("our Lord"). Rare examples of the genitive are also found: ''Enn des Mounts'' ("end of the month"), ''Ufanks der Woch'' ("at the beginning of the week"). The functions of the genitive are normally expressed using a combination of the dative and a possessive determiner: e.g. ''dem Mann säi Buch'' (lit. "to the man his book", i.e. "the man's book"). This is known as a
periphrastic genitive, and is a phenomenon also commonly seen in dialectal and colloquial German, and in Dutch.
The forms of the personal pronouns are given in the following table (unstressed forms appear in parentheses):
The 2pl form is also used as a polite singular (like French ''vous'', see
T-V distinction); the forms are capitalised in writing:
:''Wéi hues du de Concert fonnt?'' ("How did you
nformal sg.like the concert?")
:''Wéi hutt dir de Concert fonnt?'' ("How did you
nformal pl.like the concert?")
:''Wéi hutt Dir de Concert fonnt?'' ("How did you
ormal sg. or pl.
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the history of Arda, also called the history of Middle-earth, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional univer ...
like the concert?")
Like most varieties of colloquial German, but even more invariably, Luxembourgish uses definite articles with personal names. They are obligatory and not to be translated:
:''De Serge ass an der Kichen.'' ("Serge is in the kitchen.")
A feature Luxembourgish shares with only some western dialects of German is that women and girls are most often referred to with forms of the ''neuter'' pronoun ''hatt'':
:Dat ass d'Nathalie. Hatt ass midd, well et vill a sengem Gaart geschafft huet. ("That's Nathalie. She is tired because she has worked a lot in her garden.")
Adjectives
Luxembourgish morphology distinguishes two types of adjective:
attributive
In grammar, an attributive expression is a word or phrase within a noun phrase that modifies the head noun. It may be an:
* attributive adjective
* attributive noun
* attributive verb
or other part of speech, such as an attributive numeral.
...
and
predicative.
Predicative adjectives appear with verbs like ''sinn'' ("to be"), and receive no extra ending:
* De Mann ass grouss. (''masculine'', "The man is tall.")
* D'Fra ass grouss. (''feminine'', "The woman is tall.")
* D'Meedchen ass grouss. (''neuter'', "The girl is tall.")
* D'Kanner si grouss. (''plural'', "The children are tall.")
Attributive adjectives are placed before the noun they describe, and change their ending according to the grammatical gender, number, and case:
* de grousse Mann (''masculine'')
* déi grouss Fra (''feminine'')
* dat grousst Meedchen (''neuter'')
* déi grouss Kanner (''plural'')
Curiously, the definite article changes with the use of an attributive adjective: feminine ''d
''' goes to ''déi'' (or ''di''), neuter ''d
''' goes to ''dat'', and plural ''d
''' changes to ''déi''.
The
comparative
In general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as wel ...
in Luxembourgish is formed analytically, i.e. the adjective itself is not altered (compare the use of -''er'' in German and English; ''tall'' → ''taller'', ''klein'' → ''kleiner''). Instead it is formed using the adverb ''méi'': e.g. ''schéin'' → ''méi schéin''
* Lëtzebuerg ass méi schéi wéi Esch. ("Luxembourg is prettier than Esch.")
The
superlative
Comparison is a feature in the morphology or syntax of some languages whereby adjectives and adverbs are inflected to indicate the relative degree of the property they define exhibited by the word or phrase they modify or describe. In languages t ...
involves a synthetic form consisting of the adjective and the suffix ''-st'': e.g. ''schéin'' → ''schéinst '' (compare German ''schönst'', English ''prettiest''). Attributive modification requires the emphatic definite article and the inflected superlative adjective:
* dee schéinste Mann ("the most handsome man")
* déi schéinst Fra ("the prettiest woman")
Predicative modification uses either the same adjectival structure or the adverbial structure ''am''+ -''sten'': e.g. ''schéin'' → ''am schéinsten'':
* Lëtzebuerg ass dee schéinsten / deen allerschéinsten / am schéinsten. ("Luxembourg is the most beautiful (of all).")
Some common adjectives have exceptional comparative and superlative forms:
* gutt, besser, am beschten ("good, better, best")
* vill, méi, am meeschten ("much, more, most")
* wéineg, manner, am mannsten ("few, fewer, fewest")
Several other adjectives also have comparative forms, not commonly used as normal comparatives, but in special senses:
* al ("old") → ''eeler'' Leit ("elderly people"), but: ''méi al'' Leit ("older people, people older than X")
* fréi ("early") → de ''fréiere'' President ("the former president"), but: e ''méi fréien'' Termin ("an earlier appointment")
* laang ("long") → viru ''längerer'' Zäit ("some time ago"), but: eng ''méi laang'' Zäit ("a longer period of time")
Word order
Luxembourgish exhibits "verb second" word order in clauses. More specifically, Luxembourgish is a
V2-
SOV language SOV may refer to:
* SOV, Service Operations Vessel
* SOV, a former ticker symbol for Sovereign Bank
* SOV, a legal cryptocurrency created by the Sovereign Currency Act of 2018 of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
* SOV, the National Rail station ...
, like German and Dutch. In other words, we find the following finite clausal structures:
* the finite verb in second position in declarative clauses and ''wh''-questions
::Ech kafen en Hutt. Muer kafen ech en Hutt. (lit. "I buy a hat. Tomorrow buy I a hat.)
::Wat kafen ech haut? (lit. "What buy I today?")
* the finite verb in first position in yes/no questions and finite imperatives
::Bass de midd? ("Are you tired?")
::Gëff mer deng Hand! ("Give me your hand!")
* the finite verb in final position in subordinate clauses
::Du weess, datt ech midd sinn. (lit. "You know, that I tired am.")
Non-finite verbs (infinitives and participles) generally appear in final position:
* compound past tenses
::Ech hunn en Hutt kaf. (lit. "I have a hat bought.")
* infinitival complements
::Du solls net esou vill Kaffi drénken. (lit. "You should not so much coffee drink.")
* infinitival clauses (e.g., used as imperatives)
::Nëmme Lëtzebuergesch schwätzen! (lit. "Only Luxembourgish speak!")
These rules interact so that in subordinate clauses, the finite verb and any non-finite verbs must all cluster at the end. Luxembourgish allows different word orders in these cases:
::Hie freet, ob ech komme kann. (cf. German ''Er fragt, ob ich kommen kann.'') (lit. "He asks if I come can.")
::Hie freet, ob ech ka kommen. (cf. Dutch ''Hij vraagt of ik kan komen.'') (lit. "He asks if I can come.")
This is also the case when two non-finite verb forms occur together:
::Ech hunn net kënne kommen. (cf. Dutch ''Ik heb niet kunnen komen.'') (lit, "I have not be-able to-come")
::Ech hunn net komme kënnen. (cf. German ''Ich habe nicht kommen können.'') (lit, "I have not to-come
be-able")
Luxembourgish (like Dutch and German) allows prepositional phrases to appear after the verb cluster in subordinate clauses:
::alles, wat Der ëmmer wollt wëssen iwwer Lëtzebuerg
::(lit. "everything what you always wanted know about Luxembourg")
Vocabulary
Luxembourgish has borrowed many French words. For example, the word for a bus driver is ''Buschauffeur'' (as in
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 ...
and
Swiss German
Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...
), which would be ''Busfahrer'' in German and ''chauffeur de bus'' in French.
Some words are different from Standard German, but have equivalents in German dialects. An example is ''Gromperen'' (potatoes – German: ''Kartoffeln''). Other words are exclusive to Luxembourgish.
Selected common phrases
![Moien](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Moien.jpg)
''Note: Words spoken in sound clip do not reflect all words on this list.''
Neologisms
Neologisms
A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
in Luxembourgish include both entirely new words, and the attachment of new meanings to old words in everyday speech. The most recent neologisms come from the English language in the fields of
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
, and the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
.
Recent neologisms in Luxembourgish include:
* direct loans from English: ''Browser'', ''Spam'', ''CD'', ''Fitness'', ''Come-back'', ''Terminal'', ''Hip'', ''Cool'', ''Tip-top''
* also found in German: ''Sichmaschinn'' (search engine, German: ''Suchmaschine''), ''schwaarzt Lach'' (
black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
, German: ''Schwarzes Loch''), ''Handy'' (mobile phone), ''Websäit'' (webpage, German: ''Webseite'')
* native Luxembourgish
** ''déck'' as an emphatic like ''ganz'' and ''voll'', e.g. ''Dëse Kuch ass déck gutt!'' ("This cake is really good!")
** recent expressions, used mainly by teenagers: ''oh mëllen!'' ("oh crazy"), ''en décke gelénkt'' ("you've been tricked") or ''cassé'' (French for "(you've been) owned")
Academic projects
Between 2000 and 2002, Luxembourgish linguist
Jérôme Lulling
Jérôme Lulling is a linguist from Luxembourg who has been a leading figure in preservation and educational efforts relating to the Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgis ...
compiled a lexical database of 125,000-word forms as the basis for the first Luxembourgish
spellchecker In software, a spell checker (or spelling checker or spell check) is a software feature that checks for misspellings in a text. Spell-checking features are often embedded in software or services, such as a word processor, email client, electronic di ...
(Projet C.ORT.IN.A).
The LaF (''Lëtzebuergesch als Friemsprooch'' – Luxembourgish as a Foreign Language) is a set of four language proficiency certifications for Luxembourgish and follows the
ALTE framework of language examination standards. The tests are administered by the Institut National des Langues Luxembourg.
The "Centre for Luxembourg Studies" at the
University of Sheffield
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
was founded in 1995 on the initiative of Professor Gerald Newton. It is supported by the government of Luxembourg which funds an
endowed chair
A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...
in Luxembourg Studies at the university.
The first class of students to study the language outside of the country as undergraduate students began their studies at the 'Centre for Luxembourg Studies' at Sheffield in the academic year 2011–2012.
Endangered status claims
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
declared Luxembourgish to be an endangered language in 2019, adding it to its ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''.
Additionally, some local media have argued that the Luxembourgish language is at risk of disappearing, and that it should be considered an
endangered language
An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead langu ...
. Even though the government claims that more people than ever are able to speak Luxembourgish, these are
absolute numbers and often include the many
naturalized citizens who have passed the ''Sproochentest,'' a language test that certifies the knowledge of merely A.2. in speaking and B.1. in understanding.
Luxembourgish language expert and historian
Alain Atten argues that not only the absolute number of Luxembourgish speakers should be considered when defining the status of a language, but also the proportion of speakers in a country. Noting that the proportion of native Luxembourgish speakers has decreased in recent decades, Atten believes that Luxembourgish will inevitably disappear, stating:
"''It is simple math, if there are about 70% foreigners and about 30% Luxembourgers (which is the case in Luxembourg City), then it can impossibly be said that Luxembourgish is thriving. That would be very improbable.''"
Alain Atten also points out that the situation is even more dramatic, since the cited percentages take only the residents of Luxembourg into account, excluding the 200,000 cross-border-workers present in the country on a daily basis.
This group plays a major role in the daily use of languages in Luxembourg, thus further lowering the percentage of Luxembourgish speakers present in the country.
The following numbers are based on statistics by ''STATEC'' (those since 2011) and show that the percentage of the population that is able to speak Luxembourgish has been constantly diminishing for years (Note that the 200,000 cross-border workers are not included in this statistic):
It has also been argued that two very similar languages,
Alsatian and
Lorraine Franconian
Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plàtt'' or ''lottrìnger Plàtt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...
, which were very broadly spoken by the local populations at the beginning of the 20th century in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and in
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
respectively, have been nearly completely supplanted by
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and that a similar fate could also be possible for Luxembourgish. Another example of the replacement of Luxembourgish by French occurred in
Arelerland
The Land of Arlon (Luxembourgish/german: Arelerland, , ; french: Pays d'Arlon, ; Dutch: ''Land van Aarlen'' )In isolation, ''van'' is pronounced . is the traditionally Luxembourgish-speaking part of Belgian Lorraine, which is now predominantly ...
(historically a part of Luxembourg, today in Belgium), where the vast majority of the local population spoke Luxembourgish as a native language well into the 20th century. Today, Luxembourgish is nearly extinct in this region, having been replaced by French.
According to some Luxembourgish news media and members of
Actioun Lëtzebuergesch (an association for the preservation and promotion of the language), the biggest threat to the existence of Luxembourgish is indeed French, since French is the predominant language of most official documents and street signs in Luxembourg, thus considerably weakening the possibilitiy for Luxembourgish learners to practice the newly learned language.
In most cases this passively forces expats to learn French instead of Luxembourgish.
In 2021 it was announced that public announcements in Luxembourgish (and in German as well) at
Luxembourg Airport
Luxembourg Airport is the main airport in Luxembourg. Previously called ''Luxembourg Findel Airport'' due to its location at Findel, it is Luxembourg's only international airport and is the only airport in the country with a paved runway. It i ...
would cease; it would only be using French and English for future public announcements. This will cause Luxembourgish to go unused at Luxembourg Airport after many decades.
Actioun Lëtzebuergesch declared itself to be hugely upset by this new governmental measure, citing that other airports in the world seem to have no problems making public announcements in multiple languages.
According to a poll conducted by AL, 92.84% of the Luxembourgish population wished to have public announcements to be made in Luxembourgish at Luxembourg Airport.
Further fears of Luxembourgish's replacement by French were fueled in 2021 when
ASTI
Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a ''comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed t ...
(''Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés'') wished to see Luxembourgish removed as the national language of Luxembourg (as written in the constitution), claiming that the national language of Luxembourg should by law be defined as the one that is most used in the local population, hinting that French would be the better choice.
According to
ADR ADR or adr may refer to:
Computing
* Asynchronous DRAM refresh, an approach for persistent memory found in some Intel Xeon processors
* The adr microformat, part of the hCard microformat
* Architectural decision record
* Action–domain–respond ...
politician
Fred Keup
Fred Keup (born 15 May 1980 in Luxembourg (city), Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourg, Luxembourgish politician ( Alternative Democratic Reform Party, ADR ) and a member of parliament at the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) (from October 14, 2020).
...
, Luxembourgish is already on its way to complete replacement by French.
See also
*
Erna Hennicot-Schoepges
Erna Hennicot-Schoepges (born 24 July 1941 in Dudelange) is a Luxembourgish politician for the Christian Social People's Party. She was until 2009 a Member of the European Parliament, sitting as a CSV member of the European People's Party.
Er ...
*
Literature of Luxembourg The literature of Luxembourg is little known beyond the country's borders, partly because Luxembourg authors write in one or more of the three official languages (French, German and Luxembourgish), partly because many works are specifically directed ...
*
Luxembourgish Swadesh List
*
Multilingualism in Luxembourg
Multilingualism is a part of everyday life for the population of Luxembourg. Legally and socially, different sectors of Luxembourg use French language, French, German language, German, and Luxembourgish language, Luxembourgish, which is a variety o ...
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Bruch, Robert. (1955) ''Précis de grammaire luxembourgeoise''. Bulletin Linguistique et Ethnologique de l'Institut Grand-Ducal, Luxembourg, Linden. (2nd edition of 1968)
*
* Schanen, François and Lulling, Jérôme. (2003)
Introduction à l'orthographe luxembourgeoise'. (text available in French and Luxembourgish)
Further reading
In English
* NEWTON, Gerald (ed.), ''Luxembourg and Lëtzebuergesch: Language and Communication at the Crossroads of Europe'', Oxford, 1996,
*
In French
* BRAUN, Josy, ''et al.'' (en coll. avec Projet Moien), ''Grammaire de la langue luxembourgeoise''. Luxembourg, Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle 2005.
* SCHANEN, François, ''Parlons Luxembourgeois, Langue et culture linguistique d'un petit pays au coeur de l'Europe''. Paris, L'Harmattan 2004,
* SCHANEN, François / ZIMMER, Jacqui, ''1,2,3 Lëtzebuergesch Grammaire''. Band 1: ''Le groupe verbal.'' Band 2: ''Le groupe nominal.'' Band 3:''L'orthographe.'' Esch-sur-Alzette, éditions Schortgen, 2005 et 2006
* SCHANEN, François / ZIMMER, Jacqui, ''Lëtzebuergesch Grammaire luxembourgeoise''. En un volume. Esch-sur-Alzette, éditions Schortgen, 2012.
In Luxembourgish
* SCHANEN, François, ''Lëtzebuergesch Sproocherubriken''. Esch-sur-Alzette, éditions Schortgen, 2013.
*
Meyer, Antoine, ''E' Schrek ob de' lezeburger Parnassus'', Lezeburg (Luxembourg), Lamort, 1829
In German
* BRUCH, Robert, ''Grundlegung einer Geschichte des Luxemburgischen'', Luxembourg, Publications scientifiques et littéraires du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, 1953, vol. I; ''Das Luxemburgische im westfränkischen Kreis'', Luxembourg, Publications scientifiques et littéraires du Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, 1954, vol. II
* MOULIN, Claudine and Nübling, Damaris (publisher): ''Perspektiven einer linguistischen Luxemburgistik. Studien zu Diachronie und Synchronie.'', Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg, 2006. This book has been published with the support of the
Fonds National de la Recherche
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...
*
* BERG, Guy, ''Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sin: Soziolinguistische und sprachtypologische Betrachtungen zur luxemburgischen Mehrsprachigkeit.'', Tübingen, 1993 (Reihe Germanistische Linguistik 140).
* (phrasebook) REMUS, Joscha, ''Lëtzebuergesch Wort für Wort''. Kauderwelsch Band 104. Bielefeld, Reise Know-How Verlag 1997.
* WELSCHBILLIG Myriam,
SCHANEN François,
Jérôme Lulling
Jérôme Lulling is a linguist from Luxembourg who has been a leading figure in preservation and educational efforts relating to the Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgis ...
, ''Luxdico Deutsch: Luxemburgisch ↔ Deutsches Wörterbuch'', Luxemburg (Éditions Schortgen) 2008
Luxdico Deutsch
External links
Conseil Permanent de la Langue Luxembourgeoise
;Spellcheckers and dictionaries
* Spellcheckers for Luxembourgish
Spellchecker.luSpellchecker.lu - Richteg Lëtzebuergesch schreiwenLuxdicoonline dictionary (24.000 words)
Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (Luxembourgish Online Dictionary)with German, French and Portuguese translations created by the CPLL
dico.lu – Dictionnaire Luxembourgeois//FrançaisLuxembourgish Dictionarywith pronunciation, translation to and from English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian
Luxogramm – Information system for the Luxembourgish grammar (University of Luxembourg, LU)
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