Gottscheerish
Gottscheerisch (own name Göttscheabarisch , sometimes also called "Granish" in English) is a German dialect which until 1941 was the predominant language in what was then the German language island of Gottscheer in southern Lower Carniola in today's Slovenia .
Linguistic assignment
Gottscheerisch belongs to Bavarian and within it to the southern Bavarian dialects. It is closest to the Carinthian dialects . It shares numerous ancient characteristics with other German language island dialects in the eastern Alpine region, including Pladen (Sappada) and Tischelwang (Timau) in Friuli and Zarz (Sorica) in Upper Carniola (Slovenia).
Separated from Carinthian, Gottscheer has developed as an independent dialect since the Gottscheers settled in the Gottschee area around 1330 - almost 700 years if you count the history of the remainder of the group in Slovenia, with sub-landscapes separated from each other by mountain ranges several types of submunders developed.
Sociolinguistic situation today
Many Gottscheer speakers came to the USA as early as the 19th century. In 1941 most of the Gottscheers were resettled from their homeland in Lower Carniola . Only a few hundred Gottscheers stayed behind. After the Second World War, Gottscheer was banned in Yugoslavia .
Today, Gottscheer is classified by UNESCO as a "strongly threatened language". Most of the speakers live in the USA, where people of the oldest generation who spent their childhood in the Gottschee in Slovenia are still speaking. There are also speakers in Canada, Austria and Germany who, as an everyday language, usually speak English or Standard German or the local dialect of their place of residence. Even within the family, Gottscheerism is rarely used.
In Slovenia there are some families, especially in the valley Moschnitze between Pöllandl ( Kočevske Poljane ) and Tschermoschnitz ( Črmošnjice ), in which the language is partly still used. But there are probably no more children who learn it like a mother tongue. For several years, the Gottscheer Altsiedlerverein in Krapflern ( Občice , Dolenjske Toplice municipality ) offered courses in Gottscheer dialect in addition to German courses (taught by Maridi Tscherne and Ludwig Kren), but there is much greater interest in written German. From 2011 to June 2014 the association Peter Kosler from Gottschee ( Kočevje ), again with the teacher Tscherne, offered at the Yurena language school in Novo mesto , at the Gottschee adult education center, in Bistritz / Bistrica as well as at the primary schools Semitsch / Semič, Štrekljevec , Töplitz / Dolenjske Toplice and in the kindergartens Semitsch and Töplitz both German courses and courses in the Gottscheer dialect. From June 2011 to 2014, classes were held with the support of the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA). More than 180 people attended the class every week. The future of this lesson is unclear.
The conflicts between the Gottscheer Altsiedlerverein in Krapflern - member of the association of German-speaking cultural associations - on the one hand, and the Peter Kosler association in Gottschee, the Moschnitze cultural association and the museum in Nesseltal - members of the umbrella organization of Gottscheer organizations in Slovenia - on the other hand, which particularly address issues of status concern a German minority in Slovenia, turn out to be a significant obstacle in promoting German and Gottscheer lessons.
Phonology
The vowels of Gottscheer essentially show the development of Bavarian dialects. This also applies to the diphthongization of Middle High German î , û and iu [yː] as well as the stretching of the stem vowel. Some vowels are characteristic of Carinthian (cf. a, â, ea and oa ):
Short vowels
- a (from e / ä, ë and in loan words): nachtə (nights), harzə (heart), katschə (snake, <Slovenian kača )
- closed e (from e and ö ): engl (angel), endrn (change), lechr (holes)
- i (from i and ü ): khint (child), jingar (younger)
- open o (from a ): hont (hand), bossr (water)
- ö (between o and ö , from o ): khöpf (head), hole (hole)
- ü (between u and ü , from u ): hünt (dog), wünkhə (spark)
Long vowels
- â (from æ, ë, ou, öu in contracted syllables and in loan words): bâr (would), gâbm (give), pâm (tree), pâmr (trees), hâcht (hawk), sâbl (saber, <Slovenian sablja )
- closed ê (from e ): êdl (noble), hêr (army)
- î (from i and ü ): lîgn (lying), zîgl (rein)
- ô (between o and ö , from o ): khône (marriage, <mhd. kone "wife"), ôbm (above)
- open û (from â and a ): shûme (same), nûme (name)
Diphthongs
- ai (from î, iu and in contractions): baip (woman), laitə (people), gəlait (laid), gərait (spoken)
- aü (from û ): maüsch (mouse), haüsch (house)
- au (from al and ël ): builds (forest), hausch (neck)
- ea (from ê, œ and ë before r ): khlea (clover), schean (beautiful), eardə (earth)
- iə (from ie, üe and i before r ): liəp (dear), hiətə (hats), miər (me)
- oa (from ô and o before r ): proat (bread), khoarn (grain)
- oi (from ei and in contractions): schtoin (stone), proit (broad), gəshoit (said)
- uə (from â and a before l, n, r, s and dentals): juər (year), huəshə (rabbit)
- üə (from uo ): güət (good), tüən (to do)
Unstressed vowels
The most important unstressed vowel is the schwa , which is represented by ə . It corresponds to the unstressed e in standard German . For Middle High German -ære stands -ar , z. B. in guərtnar (gardener). The subjunctive ending is -öt (regional -ait ), e.g. B. shûgöt, shûgait (I said, "I would say").
Voiced and voiceless consonants
As in Carinthian, the voiced consonant b in Middle High German (and in today's Standard German) is pronounced voiceless p at the beginning and end of the syllable , the consonants d and g at the end of the syllable as t, k . This is how tree reads as in Carinthian pâm . From Middle High German inherited k is breathed (kh) , while un breathed k occurs in loanwords , e.g. B. kaschłe (basket, <Slovenian koš ) opposite khâfm (buy). The un breathed k also stands for Middle High German gg or ck , e.g. B. Prükə (bridge), shnakə (snail).
The l is usually spoken as in written German, after a, o and ə but with the tongue bent backwards (ł) . It can be vocalized before t , in which case an a is spoken instead of o . In addition to the form bołt, there is also the form builds for “forest”. The r is not vocalized and is always a tongue tip r.
The v of Middle High German - in New High German starting with f or v - is always spoken voiced like Standard German w [v]: wrûgn (to ask), wuətər (father). In the final, however, there is voiceless f : wraitof (cemetery), wenf (five, cf. long form wenwai ). The initial f is only found in loan words - mostly of Latin origin or borrowed from written German - such as fîwər (fever), flomə (flame) or flinkh (nimble). For Middle High German w [* β] - and New High German w [v] - stands b : bûgə (scales), zboi (two), buəs (what). These changes from f / v to [v] (in this case only the voiced Middle High German pronunciation is actually preserved) and w to [b] also occur in other Bavarian language island dialects, for example in Cimbrian .
As in Carinthian, the initial n- is sometimes omitted , so with ascht (nest), essl (nettle) and et (not).
Differentiation between Middle High German s and z
In Gottscheer, the distinction between Middle High German zz and z (in the final) from Germanic * t on the one hand and s from Germanic * s on the other has been preserved. While the former is realized as a voiceless s [s], the latter stands for voiced sh [ʒ] (pronounced like Slovenian ž and French j ), before t, p and in the final part sch [ʃ] (pronounced like Slovenian š and French ch ), which in these cases coincides in pronunciation with inherited sh [ʃ]. Examples are shûgn (to say) and shbuərz (black) as well as haüsch (house) and schpakh (bacon) opposite bossər (water) and dos (das). At the beginning of a word s only occurs in loan words, e.g. B. sacrament and soldier . It is always spoken voiceless. Voiced s [z] does not occur. The z [ts] at the beginning of the word remains unchanged z , z. B. zaün (fence), also tz , z. B. khotzə (cat).
grammar
The verb conjugation largely corresponds to the other Bavarian dialects, so the forms of the 3rd person plural end in -nt . The past tense has also been lost and is replaced by the perfect tense . The prefix gə- of the past participle is usually not reduced. The subjunctive II has been preserved and has the ending -öt : nâmöt ( takme ) in the strong verbs too .
Unlike in Bavaria, no old dual forms are used in the 2nd person plural in Gottscheer . So for “you, you” does not stand for es / ös, enk , but iər, ai . Therefore, the corresponding verb forms do not contain -s : iər shûgət (you say, cf. in Bavaria: es sågts ).
Unlike in other German dialects, many masculine nouns have the plural ending -ər or -r: pâmr (trees), schtoindr (stones). The reducing ending -lain is fully preserved, but can be shortened to -le . The use of preceding genitive forms in -sch <-s is also documented: wuətrsch haüsch (father's house) next to the Bavarian form in [dem] wuətr shain haüsch . The adverb schmoarönsch (mornings) is an abbreviation of “[de] s mornings”.
vocabulary
The vocabulary is predominantly Bavarian with typical expressions such as B. ertokh (Tuesday), pfinstokh (Thursday), pfoit (shirt) and gətunk (left). Words such as lai (merely) or various verbs in -azn such as z. B. gelmazn (scream). There are also a number of loan words from Slovene and church Latin or Italian : jöken (weeping, < sloven . Jokati ), râzle (duck, < sloven . Raca ), koasl (< sloven . Kozolec; also harpfə: harp ) , költər (quilt , colter , <Italian coltre , from there also slovenian kovter ), kölar (neck collar, <Italian collare ).
documentation
The Gottscheer is documented among other things by song collections from the 19th century. A small dictionary appeared in 1870, the first grammar by Hans Tschinkel in 1908. In Adolf Hauffen's monograph on the island of language from 1895, the language is described in one chapter. A detailed dictionary by Walter Tschinkel appeared in 1973. Maridi Tscherne, a Gottscheer in Slovenia, published a Gottscheer-Slovenian dictionary for the first time in 2010, and in 2006 a small songbook with Gottscheer songs.
Text example: The sea woman (Də mêrarin)
One of the most famous Gottscheer folk songs is the song of the "Meererin" (Də mêrarin), the content of which goes back to the Kudrun legend. In addition to an insight into the Gottscheer world of legends, reading in parallel gives an impression of the Gottscheer dialect. Breathed kh is represented here as in the original by a simple k :
| verse | Gottscheerish | Standard German |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biə wriə ischt aüf də mêrarin, dai scheanə, dai young mêrarin. |
How early is the beautiful, the young seawoman for the sea woman. |
| 2 | Shi schteanöt schmoarönsch guer wriə aüf, shi geanöt baschn dai baisə beschə. |
She gets up very early in the morning, she goes to wash the white laundry. |
| 3 | Zan proitən mêr, zan tiəfm sheabə. Shi hewət uən, shi baschət schean. |
To the broad sea, to the deep lake. It lifts, it washes nicely. |
| 4th | Am mêrə do shbimət oin schifle kloin, atinə do shizənt zbean young hearn: |
On the sea, there is a little ship floating, inside there are two young gentlemen: |
| 5 | "Güətn moarn, dü scheanai mêrarin, dü scheanai, dü youngai mêrarin!" |
"Good morning, you beautiful sea woman, you beautiful, you young sea woman!" |
| 6th | "Schean donk, schean donk, iər youngə hearn, wil guətə moargn hon ia beank!" |
"Thank you very much , you young gentlemen, I don't have many good mornings." |
| 7th | Wom nêgle ar ziəchət oin wingərle: "Nim hin dü scheanə mêrarin!" |
He pulls a ringlet from his finger: "Take it, you beautiful sea girl !" |
| 8th | "I pins et dai scheanə mêrarin, i pin jo dəi bintlbaschərin." |
"I'm not the beautiful sea girl , I'm just the diaper washer." |
| 9 | Draf shezənt shai shə afs schifle kloin ünt wuərənt ibr's proitə mêr. |
Then they put them on the little ship and sail across the wide sea. |
| 10 | "You piss loaf dai scheanə mêrarin, dai scheanə, dai youngə mêrarin!" |
"You are the beautiful sea woman, the beautiful, the young sea woman!" |
| 11 | Shi namət oin hidrle in də hont ünt wuərət ibr's proitə mêr. |
She takes a handkerchief and drives across the wide sea. |
| 12 | Ünt biə shi otr ischt kâm, dört griəsənt shai shə ünt househnt shai shə. |
And when she arrived, greet and hug her. |
| 13 | Ünt pushənt shai shə də mêrarin, dai scheanə, dai young mêrarin. |
And kiss her, the sea woman, the beautiful, the young sea woman. |
literature
- Karl Julius Schröer : Dictionary of the dialect of Gottschee. KK Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1870.
- Adolf Hauffen : Gottschee, the German language island. History and dialect, living conditions, customs and traditions, legends, fairy tales and songs (= sources and research on the history, literature and language of Austria and its crown lands. Vol. 3, ZDB -ID 515294-x ). KK Universitäts-Buchdruckerei und Verlags-Buchhandlung Styria, Graz 1895, pp. 19–33: Die Gottscheer Mundart (reprint. Olms, Hildesheim [etc.] 1979, ISBN 3-487-06711-0 ).
- Hans Tschinkel: Grammar of the Gottscheer dialect. Niemeyer, Halle a. P. 1908.
- Walter Tschinkel: Dictionary of the Gottscheer dialect (= studies on Austrian-Bavarian dialectology. Vol. 7). With illustrations by Anni Tschinkel. 2 volumes (Vol. 1: A - K. Vol. 2: L - Z. ). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1973–1976, ISBN 3-7001-0089-2 .
- Maridi Tscherne (Ed.): Dü hoscht lai oin Hoimöt. Gottscheer dialect song book. Slovensko kočevarsko društvo Peter Kosler, Ljubljana 2006.
- Maridi Tscherne: Bearterpiechla-göttscheabarisch kroinarisch. = Kočevarsko-slovenski slovarček [Gottscheer-Slovenian dictionary]. Zavod za ohranitev kulturne dediščine Nesseltal Koprivnik = facility for the preservation of the cultural heritage Nesseltal, Koprivnik / Nesseltal 2010, ISBN 978-961-92496-4-2 .
- Maridi Tscherne (Ed.) Children's book: Skrivnostni varuh gozda = Dər gəhoime Bautbuchchtar = The mysterious guardian of the forest, illustrated by Irena Kapš; Institution for the Preservation of the Moschnitze cultural heritage - Zavod za ohranitev kulturne dediščine Mošnice Moschnitze, Altsag / Stare Žage 2014, ISBN 978-961-93639-0-4
- Ludwig Kren (Ed.): Gottschee 1339- 1941 A reminder Klagenfurt 2013 (self-published)
- GL Klagenfurt Dar schpuətə Herbischt , Klagenfurt 1972
Remarks
- ↑ a b Maridi Tscherne: Bearterpiechla-göttscheabarisch kroinarisch. Koprivnik / Nesseltal 2010.
- ↑ a b Christopher Moseley (Ed.): Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . 3rd edition UNESCO Publishing, Paris 2010. Gottscheerish .
- ↑ Granish - a Minority Language Spoken in Slovenia ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Anja Moric: Usoda Kočevskih Nemcev. Ohranjanje identified Kočevskih Nemcev. Diplomsko delo. (PDF; 571 kB) Univerza v Ljubljani, 2007.
- ↑ Pokrajinski muzej Kočevje: Vsi niso odšli / Not everyone left ( memento of the original from April 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Irena Novak: Zaklad, ki ga ne more nič nadomestiti. [A treasure that nothing can replace.] Dolenjski list No. 9, February 1, 2012 (copy on Lokalno.si )
- ^ Društvo Peter Kosler, Kočevje
- ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: PRESS RELEASE ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE GOTTSCHEER ORGANIZATIONS AGENCY )
- ^ Adolf Hauffen: The German language island Gottschee. Graz 1895.
- ↑ Marko Snoj: Slovenski etimološki slovar. 2., pregledana in dopolnjena izdaja. Modrijan, Ljubljana 2003, ISBN 961-6465-37-6 . The German word saber and its equivalents in the Romance languages are borrowed from Slavic and not the other way around.
- ^ From Adolf Hauffen: The German language island Gottschee. Graz 1895. P. 245. According to Karl Bartsch , Karl Julius Schröer: The continued life of the Kudrun legend. In: Germania. Vol. 14, ZDB -ID 216751-7 , pp. 323-336, here p. 333.
- ↑ Karl Bartsch, Karl Julius Schröer: The continued life of the Kudrun legend. In: Germania. Vol. 14, pp. 323–336, Də mêrarin: pp. 333 ff.
Web links
- Songs in the Gottscheer dialect on gottschee.de