Ahterhoek dialect

The Ahterhoek dialect belongs to the group of dialects of the vast Lower Saxon range , most of which is located in northwestern Germany . As part of the Lower Saxon group, there are three main dialectal branches — the Westphalian , Ostfal and North Lower Saxon branches. The Ahterhoek dialect is included in the Westphalian branch, which occupies the southwestern part of the Lower Saxon area. The dialects of the Westphalian branch form a continuum with a smooth transition from dialect to dialect throughout the territories of the East Netherlands and West Germany . In the Netherlands, Westphalian dialects, including the Achterhuk dialect , are combined territorially with the North Lower Saxon Groningen dialect into a group of Dutch Lower Saxon dialects ^{[1] [2]} .

The dialects in the range of the Achterhuk dialect on the map of Gelderland province (according to the classification of ) ^[4]

The Achterhuk dialect range is not considered as a single whole by all dialectologists. Thus, the explorer of the Dutch dialects includes dialects in the east of Ahterhuk in the southern part of the range of the , and dialects in the west of Ahterhuk in the southern part of the range of the . With such a dialectal division, the Akhterkhuk dialects form two different dialectal areas that are united only by their territorial affiliation to one region ^[4] . Another Dutch dialectologist combined Ahterhuk dialects with Twente dialects into a single Twente-Ahterhuk dialect ^[5] .

Achterhuk dialectic features had a significant impact on the formation of the , which is common among residents of the city of Zutphen . The peculiarity of this dialect lies in the fact that it is based on transitional dialects located on the border of the Achterhuk and . Like many other urban Lower Saxon dialects of the Netherlands, Zutphen is characterized by a large number of Dutch language features .

Range and abundance

The Ahterhoek dialect is distributed in the eastern part of the Netherlands east of the IJssel River on the border with Germany. The area of ​​distribution of the dialect largely coincides with the borders of the Ahterhuk region, which, according to the modern administrative-territorial division of the Netherlands, is located in the east of the province of Gelderland . The largest cities and communities within which the speakers of the Achterhuk dialect live include Berkelland , Bronkhorst , Dutinham , Montferland , Aude-IJsselstrek and Zutphen ^[6] . The range of the Achterhuk dialect from the west, north and east borders with the areas of closely related Westphalian dialects: from the west - with the area of ​​the , from the north - with the area of ​​the , from the north-east - with the area of ​​the . In the east and southeast (on the territory of Germany), the range of the Westphalian West Münsterland dialect adjoins the Ahterhoek area. In the south, the range of the Akhterkhuk dialect borders on the range of the South Gelder and other North Nizhne-Frankish dialects ^[7] .

According to the research of H. Bloomhof in 2005, out of 354 thousand inhabitants of Achterhuk, to one degree or another, 258.4 thousand people speak Achterhuk, while 210.9 thousand people use Achterhuk or Achterhuk along with standard Dutch ^{[ 8]} . According to the Ethnologue online guide for 2009, the number of speakers in the Achterhuk dialect was 211 thousand people ^[3] .

Sociolinguistic information

According to the Ethnologue website, in relation to the degree of preservation, the Achterhuk dialect is recognized as the so-called developing idiom , because in addition to oral communication, it is actively used in other areas of language use by all generations of its speakers. Many speakers of Achterhuk are bilingual - in addition to their native dialect, they also speak Dutch ^[3] .

In accordance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Achterhuk as a type of “ Lower Saxon language ” was recognized as a regional language by the Dutch government in 1996 ^{[3] [9] [10]} . As of 2018, the Lower Saxon dialects of the Netherlands have been protected under Part II of the European Charter, which is only declarative in nature, outlines general principles on the equality of languages, their inadmissibility of discrimination, the need to protect and develop them ^[11] . At present, representatives of the movement for the preservation of the local dialect in Ahterhuk together with are trying to achieve a protection level in Part III, according to which the state undertakes to take specific measures to support the use of the regional language in education, in the administration and courts, the media, etc. ^{[12] [13]}

Along with oral home communication, the scope of use of the afterhuk dialect also includes a limited edition of printed materials and functioning on Internet sites . Among other things, translations are published from Dutch to Achterhuk, as well as his own literary works written in dialect. Poetry and prose on Achterhuk is presented, for example, on the pages of the magazine , as well as on the website Vrienden van de Streektaal Lochem. One of the most popular dialect writers was , published under the pseudonym Herman van Welsen. He wrote four novels, three plays in Akhterkhuk, and also many stories (the character of one of the heroes of these stories, considered by many to be “typically Akhterkhuk”) ^[14] . Among the most famous translations into Ahterhuk from Dutch are, for example, the translation of Bible fragments published in 2002 ^[3] and the translation of tales of by a public figure from ^[ 2014 ^12] . Along with the publication of books and periodicals, in order to preserve and develop the Akhterkhuk dialect, lectures, reading and writing contests, language courses, and theater performances are given ^[15] . Also in Ahterhuk and in German West Muensterland , where residents speak mutually intelligible dialects , the so-called Dialectdag are held annually - meetings of representatives of various circles of society who are interested in maintaining and developing a regional language on both sides of the border ^[16] .

The Ahterhoek dialect is used, among other things, by performers of modern popular music , in particular, the lyrics for the Ahterhoek are written by musicians from Normaal , Boh Foi Toch , Jovink en de Voederbietels , , Old Ni-js , , Boetners and . The music of these and other groups is broadcast by regional radio stations , including and the Internet radio station Alles plat! ^[17] . Ahterhuk hosts local festivals of music festivals , one of which is called Plat Gespöld in ^[12] .

The fact that he knows the local dialect and understands the speech of the Germans from the regions of Germany neighboring the Netherlands, was said by a famous footballer and coach, a native of the city of Varseveld , Guus Hiddink ^[18] .

According to a survey conducted in the Lower Saxon provinces of the Netherlands, which was published in 2005, 28.4% of the respondents named Ahterhuk as the home language in the Ahterhuk region, 36.8% in the Netherlands, and 31.2% in both. According to the degree of proficiency in acherkhuk, respondents were divided into five categories as follows: very good at 42.1%, good at 15.8%, satisfactory at 15.1%, poor at 7.4%, and not at all at 19.6%. In terms of the frequency of reading in dialect, the survey gave the following results: they read every week - 24.9%, once every two weeks - 6.0%, once a month - 14.4%, once every six months - 21.8%, once every year - 10.9%, never - 8.4%. 27.0% of respondents can write in Akhterkhuk, while only 4.3% write weekly or at least once a month. In general, 73.0% of respondents called themselves able to speak Achterhuk relatively well, 59.6% stated that they constantly use Achterhuk in oral communication, 45.3% reported that they read relatively regularly at Achterhuk (weekly or monthly ) In terms of the total number of residents of Ahterhuk, out of 354 thousand people living in the region, 210.9 thousand speak Achterhuk at home or can use Achterhuk along with standard Dutch; Altogether 258.4 thousand people speak Akhterkhuk, can read 310.5 thousand people in a dialect, and 160.4 thousand people read relatively regularly ^[19] .

Studies of speakers of Lower Saxon dialects, including those of Ahterhuk, have shown that the percentage of speakers of the local dialect, including the percentage of those who speak it quite fluently, decreases from the older generation to the younger. For example, among residents of the Ahterhuk region aged 61 and older, 39.8% prefer to speak the dialect, 30.4% from 40 to 60 years old and 17.3% from 18 to 39 years old. However, in the Lower Saxon provinces, the number of bilingual residents is growing from older to younger generation. The percentage of speakers of a dialect decreases not only depending on age, but also depending on the increase in educational level. Also slightly lower is the number of residents who speak Akhterkhuk in cities (59% of the number of respondents in the cities of Zutphen and Dutinhem) compared with residents of rural areas (77% of the number of respondents) ^[20] .

The Ahterhuk dialect is assigned the international three-letter act code according to the ISO 639-3 standards ^{[3] [21]} .

Like other regional languages ​​of the Netherlands, Achterhuk uses script based on the Latin alphabet . There is no officially accepted alphabet in Ahterhuk, but in general, spelling in dialect adheres to the same graphics ^[3] . A number of afterhuk websites and organizations use the spelling of the Lower Saxon Regional Language Society (SONT), which has been developed for all the Lower Saxon dialects of the Netherlands and is used, in particular, in the publications of De Moespot ^[15] . A special type of spelling is used to create the , the so-called ^[22] .

The vocabulary of the Achterhuk dialect is compiled in the , which is published by in Dutinham . In 2010, the 9th volume of the dictionary was published ^[23] .

Prayer " Our Father " in Winterswijk dialect:

Unzen Vader in de hemeln,

laot dienen name eheiligd worden;

laot dien könninkriek kommen;

laot dienen wille gebeuren

op de earde zo as in den hemel.

Gaef uns no uns dageliks brood

en vergaef uns unze scholden

zo as ok wi-j vergaevet

wel bi-j uns in de schold staot;

en breng uns neet in verzeuking,

maor maak uns vri-j van 't kwaod.

Want van Di-j is' t könninkriek

en de krach en de gloarie

no en alle dage.

Amen.

Comments

Sources

• , Schaars A. , Sodmann T. Dialekt à la carte. Dialektatlas Westmünsterland - Achterhoek - Liemers - Niederrhein (Rheinische Mundarten). - Doetinchem / Köln / Vreden: / Rheinland-Verlag / Landeskundliches Institut Westmünsterland, 1993. - 125 p. - ISBN 978-37-927-1395-2 .

• Achterhoeks : [ arch. 05/01/2019 ]: [ eng. ] // MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships. (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
• OLAC resources in and about the Achterhoeks language : [ arch. 05/01/2019 ]: [ eng. ] // Language-archives.org. (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
• Achterhoeks (act) : [ arch. 05/04/2019 ]: [ eng. ] / Scannell K. // An Crúbadán - Corpus Building for Minority Languages. - St. Louis: Saint Louis University . (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
• Records of “The Parables of the Prodigal Son ” in the afterkhuk dialects of settlements:
  • - De nieuwe Winkler. Dinxperlo : [ arch. 01/12/2013 ]: [ nid. ] // . - Middelburg. (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
  • Varsseveld - De nieuwe Winkler. Varsseveld : [ arch. 01/12/2013 ]: [ nid. ] // . - Middelburg. (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
  • Winterswijk - De nieuwe Winkler. Winterswijk : [ arch. 01/12/2013 ]: [ nid. ] // . - Middelburg. (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
• Vrienden van de Streektaal Lochem : [ arch. 05/05/2019 ]: [ nid. ] . - Lochem. (A site publishing news related to the Akhterkhuk dialect, as well as publishing poetry and prose in the Akhterkhuk language.) (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
• Alles Plat! : [ arch. 07/03/2013 ]: [ nid. ] . (A website broadcasting music in the Lower Saxon dialects of Gelderland, Overijssel, Groningen and Drenthe.) (Retrieved May 5, 2019)
• Articles in the Netherlands Lower Saxon Wikipedia on the afterchuk dialect.
• Dialectkring Achterhook en Liemers : [ arch. 05/05/2019 ]: [ nid. ] . (A site dedicated to the study, preservation, and development of the Akhterkhuk and Limer dialects.) (Retrieved May 5, 2019)