Palatine German dialects

{{short description|West Franconian dialect of German}} {{Expand German|topic=cult|Pfälzische Dialekte|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox language | name = Palatine German | nativename = Pälzisch | ethnicity = Palatine | states = Palatinate; Pennsylvania Dutch Country | speakers = 400,000 | date = no date | ref = e25 | familycolor = Indo-European | fam2 = Germanic | fam3 = West Germanic | fam4 = Weser-Rhine Germanic | fam5 = West Central German | fam6 = Rhine Franconian | fam7 = Pfälzisch–Lothringisch | ancestor = Proto-Indo-European | ancestor2 = Proto-Germanic | ancestor3 = Frankish | ancestor4 = Old High Franconian | ancestor5 = Old Rhine Franconian | dia1 = Pennsylvania Dutch | script = Latin (German alphabet) | iso3 = pfl | glotto = pala1330 | glottorefname = Pfaelzisch-Lothringisch }}

'''Palatine German''' (Standard German: {{lang|de|Pfälzisch}} {{IPA|de|ˈp͡fɛlt͡sɪʃ||De-Pfälzisch.ogg}}, endonym: {{lang|pfl|Pälzisch}}) is a group of Rhine Franconian dialects spoken in the Upper Rhine Valley, roughly in the area between Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, Alzey, Worms, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Mannheim, Odenwald, Heidelberg, Speyer, Landau, Wörth am Rhein and the border to Alsace and Lorraine, in France, but also beyond.

The English term ''Palatine'' refers to the Palatinate region ({{langx|de|Pfalz}}). Almost all traditional dialects of the Palatinate belong to the Palatine dialect group, but the Palatine speech area also extends to the west and east into neighboring regions (Saarland, Kurpfalz, southern Hesse). The main dialect divisions within Palatine German are {{lang|de|Westpfälzisch}} (also called {{lang|de|Hinterpfälzisch}}) and {{lang|de|Vorderpfälzisch}} (also called {{lang|de|Ostpfälzisch}}).<ref name=Green>{{cite book |year=1990 |last=Green |first=W.A.I. |chapter=The Dialects of the Palatinate (''Das Pfälzische'') |title=The Dialects of modern German |editor-last=Russ |editor-first=Charles |pages=241–264 |location=Abingdon |publisher=Routledge}}</ref><ref name=HerrgenVorberger2019>{{cite book |year=2019 |last1=Herrgen |first1=Joachim |last2=Vorberger |first2=Lars |chapter=Rheinfränkisch |editor1=Joachim Herrgen |editor2=Jürgen Erich Schmidt |title= Sprache und Raum: Ein internationales Handbuch der Sprachvariation. Band 4: Deutsch |pages=478–515 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |doi=10.1515/9783110261295-015}} </ref>

The Pennsylvania Dutch language is descended primarily from the Palatine German that was spoken by Palatines who immigrated to North America from the 17th to the 19th centuries and maintained their native language. Danube Swabians in Croatia and Serbia also use many elements of Palatine German.

==Characteristics== [[File:Palatine Fraktur Poem.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A poem written in a literary form of Palatine, Fraktur script]] To the northwest, Palatine German is separated from Moselle Franconian by the ''das''/''dat''-isogloss (Palatine German uses ''das'' or similar forms) and the absence of Rhenish pitch accent.<ref name=Green/><ref name=HerrgenVorberger2019/> To the southeast, it borders on South Franconian, separated by the ''Appel''/''Apfel''-line (Palatine German: ''Appel''). Within the greater Rhine Franconian dialect area, the traditional defining isoglosses are the northern ''fescht''/''fest''-line that separates Palatine German (''fescht'') from the Hessian dialects (''fest''), and the southern ''Haus''/''Hus''-line that separates Palatine German (''Haus'') from Lorraine Franconian (''Hus'').<ref name=Green/>

Like other Rhine Franconian dialects, Palatine German has ''e''-apocope (i.e. loss of earlier final ''-e''), ''n''-apocope (i.e. loss of earlier final ''n'' in the suffix ''-en'') and /oː/ for earlier long ''a'', e.g. ''Strooß''/''Strooße'' 'street'/'streets' (cf. Standard German ''Straße''/''Straßen''). The major division of Palatine German into {{lang|de|Westpfälzisch}} and {{lang|de|Vorderpfälzisch}} is based on a bundle of distinguishing features, such as:<ref name=Green/><ref name=HerrgenVorberger2019/> *{{lang|de|Westpfälzisch}} lacks the suffix ''-en'' in the past participle of strong verbs (e.g. ''gebroch'' 'broken', ''geschripp'' 'written'). In {{lang|de|Vorderpfälzisch}}, the suffix is retained as ''-e'' (with apocope of ''n'', e.g. ''gebroche'', ''geschriwwe''). *Loss of medial ''g'' in {{lang|de|Westpfälzisch}} in words like ''frooe'' {{IPA|/froːə/}} (cf. Standard German ''fragen''). In {{lang|de|Vorderpfälzisch}}, it is retained as a voiced velar fricative (''frooche'' {{IPA|/froːɣə/}}). *{{lang|de|Westpfälzisch}} ''han''/''hun'' '(I) have' against {{lang|de|Vorderpfälzisch}} ''hap''/''häp''.

==Samples== {{Multiple issues|section=yes| {{original research|section|date=April 2019}} }} Here are some words in Palatine German with their Standard German equivalents:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! {{lang|de|italic=no|Vorderpfälzisch}} ! {{lang|de|italic=no|Westpfälzisch}} ! Standard German ! English equivalent |- | {{lang|pfl|Mais}} | {{lang|pfl|Mais}} | {{lang|de|Mäuse}} | mice |- | {{lang|pfl|Lais}} | {{lang|pfl|Lais}} | {{lang|de|Läuse}} | lice |- | {{lang|pfl|Grumbeea}} | {{lang|pfl|Grumbeer}} | {{lang|de|Kartoffel}} | potato |- | {{lang|pfl|Schnook}} | {{lang|pfl|Schdechmick}} | {{lang|de|Stechmücke}} | mosquito |- | {{lang|pfl|Bääm}} | {{lang|pfl|Bääm}} | {{lang|de|Bäume}} | trees |- | {{lang|pfl|Bää}} | {{lang|pfl|Bää}} | {{lang|de|Beine}} | legs |- | {{lang|pfl|Schdää}} | {{lang|pfl|Schdää}} | {{lang|de|Stein}} | stone |- | {{lang|pfl|soi}} | {{lang|pfl|sei}} | {{lang|de|sein}} | his (possessive) / to be |- | {{lang|pfl|unsa}} | {{lang|pfl|unser}} | {{lang|de|unsere}} | ours |- | {{lang|pfl|net (nit)}} | {{lang|pfl|net}} | {{lang|de|nicht}} | not |- | {{lang|pfl|dowedder/dewedda}} | {{lang|pfl|degeche}} | {{lang|de|dagegen}} | against |- | {{lang|pfl|Fisch (Fusch)}} | {{lang|pfl|Fisch}} | {{lang|de|Fisch}} | fish |- | {{lang|pfl|ebbes}} | {{lang|pfl|ebbes}} | {{lang|de|etwas}} | something |- | {{lang|pfl|Ärwett}} | {{lang|pfl|Arwett}} | {{lang|de|Arbeit}} | work |- | {{lang|pfl|Doa}} | {{lang|pfl|Dor}} | {{lang|de|Tor}} | gate |- | {{lang|pfl|Abbel}} | {{lang|pfl|Abbel}} | {{lang|de|Apfel}} | apple |- | {{lang|pfl|hawwe}} | {{lang|pfl|hann}} | {{lang|de|haben}} | have |- | {{lang|pfl|Haffe}} | {{lang|pfl|Hawwe}} | {{lang|de|Kochtopf}} | pot (saucepan) |}

This sentence is pronounced in {{lang|de|Vorderpfälzisch}}:

{{lang|pfl|Isch habb's'm [habb es em] schunn vazehlt, awwa 'r [er] hat ma 's [es] nit geglaabt.}}

In {{lang|de|Westpfälzisch}}, it would be the following:

{{lang|pfl|Ich hann's'm schunn verzehlt, awwer er had mer's net geglaabt.}}

In Standard German, the sentence would read:

{{lang|de|Ich habe es ihm schon erzählt, aber er hat es mir nicht geglaubt.}}

In English, it means:

''I have already told [it to] him, but he didn't believe me.''

{{lang|pfl|Hasche aa Hunger?}} ({{lang|de|italic=no|Westpfälzisch}})

{{lang|pfl|Haschd ach Hunga?}} ({{lang|de|italic=no|Vorderpfälzisch}})

{{lang|de|Hast du auch Hunger?}} (Standard German)

''Are you hungry too?'' (English)

==Grammar== {{Unreferenced|section|date=August 2021}} Grammatically, all Palatine dialects do not use the genitive case, which is replaced by the dative, with or without {{lang|pfl|von}}, and most dialects have no imperfect tense but only the perfect.

== Notable speakers== * Helmut Kohl (German Chancellor 1982–1998)

==References== {{InterWiki|code=pfl}} {{Commons category|Palatine German language}} {{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}} Category:Palatinate (region) Category:Central German languages Category:German-language dialects Category:Culture of the Palatinate (region)