South Guelderish ( nl, Zuid-Gelders , german: Südgeldersch, ''Kleverländisch'') refers to the easternmost group 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 ...
dialects spoken along the
lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
(Dutch
Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine bend ...
and German
Niederrhein). In its narrower sense, the term refers strictly to the
Rivierenlands (
nl),
Nijmeegs, and Liemers sub-dialects; in its broader sense, the term encompasses also
North Limburgish in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and Kleverlander (around
Cleves
Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
; Dutch ''Kleverlands'', German ''Kleverländisch'') in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. South Guelderish (in the narrow sense) — especially Rivierenlands — is sometimes included as part of
Brabantic
Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic or Brabantine ( nl, Brabants, Standard Dutch pronunciation: , ), is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant, which corresponded mainly to the Dutch provi ...
, a more widely spoken Dutch dialect and the closest relative of South Guelderish. Alternatively, it is considered to extend southward into Northern
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
until the
Uerdingen line
The Uerdingen Line (german: Ürdinger Linie, Uerdinger Linie, nl, Uerdinger linie; named after Uerdingen by Georg Wenker) is the isogloss within West Germanic languages that separates dialects which preserve the ''-k'' sound in the first person ...
. It is arguably more appropriate to group South Guelderish (narrow sense), North Limburgish and, Kleverlander into one dialect group—East Dutch.
In the Netherlands, South Guelderish is spoken in the following regions: North
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
, the
Veluwezoom National Park,
Rijk van Nijmegen
The Rijk van Nijmegen ({{IPA-nl, ˌrɛikfɑˈnɛimeːɣə(n)) is a region in the southeast of Gelderland. The region is located around the city of Nijmegen, south of the Waal and east of the Land van Maas en Waal.
The area owes its name to t ...
,
Land van Maas en Waal
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...
, the
Bommelerwaard
Bommelerwaard is a district in Gelderland, Netherlands.
The Bommelerwaard is situated among three rivers: the Meuse ( nl, Maas) in the south(east), the Waal in the north and the Afgedamde Maas in the west. It is formed by the area of two municip ...
, the , the
Betuwe
Batavia (; , ) is a historical and geographical region in the Netherlands, forming large fertile islands in the river delta formed by the waters of the Rhine (Dutch: ''Rijn'') and Meuse (Dutch: ''Maas'') rivers. During the Roman empire, it was an ...
,
Land van Cuijk
Land van Cuijk is a municipality in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands, formed from the merger of Boxmeer, Cuijk, Sint Anthonis, Mill en Sint Hubert and Grave. The municipality came into existence on 1 January 2022. It belongs to the regio ...
and
Liemers.
Status
The political status of
Low Franconian
Low Franconian, Low Frankish, NetherlandicSarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman: ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics'', University of California Press, 1991, p. 321. (Calling it "Low Frankish (or Netherlandish)".)Scott Shay ...
(or East Dutch) dialects, including South Guelderish, has long differed greatly between the Netherlands and Germany. In the Netherlands, East Dutch has long been subject to the influence of Standard Dutch. Since it is a Dutch dialect, it is already similar enough to the standard language to have not been greatly influenced. In Germany, however, since 1713, when Prussia took control of the area, dialects such as Kleverlander have been in retreat under the pressure of Standard German, to which they were previously only distantly related. This influence has been strongest in the vocabulary used, in areas where Low Franconian was previously spoken.
Furthermore, large-scale
industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
in the
Cleves
Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...
–
Duisburg
Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...
area in Germany, as well as the resulting
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
, during the late 19th century and the 20th century, has greatly reduced its use today, leaving very few native speakers. For example, in Duisburg (though traditionally within the South Guelderish area), it has virtually died out. (See
Duisburg Platt Dialect
Duisburg dialect (german: Duisburger Platt, ; nl, Duisburgs, ; Duisburg dialect: ''Düsbergsch Platt'') is an extinct dialect that was spoken in the German city of Duisburg. It was part of the broader South Guelderish (Cleverlands) dialect gro ...
).
As noted before, South Guelderish is sometimes included within Brabantic. That is because there exists no tight
isogloss
An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major d ...
bundle between the Brabantic and South Guelderish dialects. Instead, change occurs in two individual steps: the ''alt''-''oud'' isogloss, between
Groesbeek
Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, when ...
and
Nijmegen
Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
, and the ''ies''-''ijs'' and the ''huis-huus'' isoglosses west of Nijmegen.
In diaspora
* A dialect of possibly South Guelderish origin spoken in the United States is
Pella Dutch
Pella Dutch, also known as Iowa Dutch, is a dialect of the Dutch language spoken in Pella, Iowa. It is a subdialect of South Guelderish.
Pella Dutch's origins began with the migration of a group of 800 Dutch settlers under the leadership of Dom ...
.
External links
The Lower Rhine And South Sleswick: Two Border Regions And Their Relation To Their Neighbours And Minorities
{{Languages of the Benelux
Low Franconian languages
Languages of Germany
Languages of the Netherlands
Dutch dialects
German dialects
History of Gelderland
Culture of Gelderland
Culture of Limburg (Netherlands)
Culture of North Brabant
North Rhine-Westphalia
Rhineland