Siegerländisch (, locally called ''Sejerlännr Pladd'') is the northeasternmost dialect of the Moselle Franconian Dialect Group. Siegerländisch is spoken in the region around the city of

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

in Germany. The dialect is also spoken in parts of northern

Altenkirchen Altenkirchen () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, capital of the Altenkirchen (district), district of Altenkirchen. It is located approximately 40 km east of Bonn and 50 km north of Koblenz. Altenkirchen is the seat of the ' ...

as well as parts of the

Westerwaldkreis The Westerwaldkreis ("District of Westerwald") is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein ...

. It has strong lexical similarities to the

Hessian dialects Hessian () is a West Central German group of dialects of the German language in the central German state of Hesse. The dialect most similar to Hessian is Palatine German language, Palatinate German () of the Rhine Franconian sub-family. However, ...

and to South Westphalian, which are spoken in surrounding regions. It belongs to the

West Central German West Central German () belongs to the Central German, Central, High German languages, High German dialect family of German language, German. It includes the following sub-families: * Central Franconian () ** Ripuarian language, Ripuarian (), spok ...

branch of the

High German languages The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), 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 Ben ...

. It is bounded on the north by the

Benrath line In German linguistics, the Benrath line () is the isogloss: dialects north of the line have the original in (to make), while those to the south have the innovative (). The line runs from Aachen in the west via Benrath (south of Düsseldorf) ...

, which separates it from the

Westphalian language Westphalian or Westfalish ( Standard High German: ', Standard Dutch: ') is one of the major dialect groups of Low German. Its most salient feature is its diphthongization (rising diphthongs). For example, speakers say () instead of or for "t ...

and thus from

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

, as well as on the east by the Sankt Goar line and on the west by the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

and the

Ripuarian language Ripuarian ( ) or Ripuarian Franconian is a German dialect group, part of the West Central German language group. Together with the Moselle Franconian which includes the Luxembourgish language, Ripuarian belongs to the larger Central Franconian ...

Phonological Features

The dialect features speaking patterns such as saying ''dat'' and ''wat'' rather than ''das'' and ''was'' respectively. This dialect's realisation of the German /r/ phoneme, unlike those of most German dialects, sounds similar to the North American /r/ sound, as it is an approximant articulated with the tip of the tongue.

Position within the High German Consonant Shift

Siegerländisch has only partially undergone the

High German consonant shift In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialect continuum. The ...

. p → pf - This sound change has not occurred in Siegerländisch. See

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...

''Pferd'', ''Topf'', and ''Apfel'', which are respectively rendered in Siegerländisch as ''Päärd'', ''Döbbe'', and ''Abbel''. p → f - This sound change has at least partially occurred in most varieties of Siegerländisch. It can be seen in ''schlafen'', rendered as ''schloafe'', but in the northern Altkreis, Standard German ''auf'' is often rendered as ''op''. t → s - Not entirely complete; 'small' words like ''das'', ''was'', and ''es'' consistently retain /t/ in Siegerländisch (hence ''dat'', ''wat'', and ''et''). t → z - Siegerländisch seems to have fully adopted this sound change. In Siegen, one hears ''Zitt'' and ''zwo'' for Standard German ''Zeit'' and ''zwei''. tt → tz - Siegerländisch is partially affected by this sound change. Standard German ''Katze'' is rendered identically in Siegerländisch, but /tt/ does occasionally occur. k → ch - As in Standard German, this only occurs intervocalically and in word-final position. d → t - In Siegerländisch, the voiceless alveolar stop is generally unaspirated, so the distinction between the /t/ and /d/ phonemes is less noticeable. v/w/f → b - This sound change has occurred in a few words; for example, Standard German ''Weib'' is rendered as ''Wibsmensch''. However, most words retain

pronunciations of these consonants. For example, Standard German ''lieber'' and ''Trauben'' are called ''leewer'' and ''Wingtruweln'' in Siegerländisch, and the imperative ''Bleib noch hier!'' is rendered as ''Bliff noch hee!''

Rhotic Consonant

The Siegerländisch

rhotic consonant In phonetics, rhotic consonants, or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthography, orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek alphabet, Greek letter Rho (letter), rho (Ρ and ρ), including R, , i ...

(/r/ sound) is perhaps the most noticeable phonological feature of the dialect. It is a coronal

approximant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do prod ...

, occasionally

postalveolar Postalveolar (post-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the ''back'' of the alveolar ridge. Articulation is farther back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but n ...

but typically retroflex.

Voiceless Plosives

In contrast with most German dialects,

voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...

plosives In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...

in Siegerländisch are generally not aspirated. It is thus difficult and occasionally impossible for native speakers to distinguish them from voiced plosives when they directly precede vowels. Only /k/ occasionally retains its aspiration in word-initial position.

Lenition of /g/

The consonant /g/ is typically rendered as /x/ ⟨ch⟩ in syllable-final position. For example, Standard German ''Berg'' is rendered as ''Berch''.

Elision of /n/

The consonant /n/ is often lost in word-final position.

Examples

Pronouns

:I - ich - ech :He - er - hä :She - sie - er/dat :We - wir - mir/mer

Time

:Today - heute - ho :Tomorrow - morgen - morn :Morning - der Morgen - dr Morje

Days of the Week

: Monday - Montag - Månéch : Tuesday - Dienstag - Dersdéch : Wednesday - Mittwoch – Méddwoch/Middwuch : Thursday - Donnerstag - Donnrschdéch : Friday - Freitag - Frijdaach : Saturday - Samstag - Samsdach : Sunday - Sonntag - Sonnéch

People

: Girl - Mädchen – Mäddche : Boy - Junge – Jong : Unraised Child, Brat - ungezogenes Kind, Blag – Bloach, Boachd, Oodochd, Schinnoss (weibl.), Rotzbloach : Dad - Papa - Babbe : Mom - Mama - Mamme : Grandmother - Oma - Omma

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegerlandisch Siegen German dialects Siegerland