Hommersch

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Hommersch is a Ripuarian dialect that is spoken in the Homburger Ländchen in the Oberbergisches Kreis. Together with the related dialects of the communities Reichshof and Waldbröl , the Holper, as well as the Rosbacher , Dattenfelder and Leuscheider dialects, Homburg has a special position in the Ripuarian language landscape. It is referred to as a so-called relic dialect area.

Like all local languages ​​in the north-western German-speaking area, Hommersch is also commonly known as Platt .

Geographical classification

Homburgish is the dialect of the former territorial area of ​​the imperial rule Homburg , which consisted of the old communities Wiehl , Drabenderhöhe , Nümbrecht and Marienberghausen . In addition, the same dialect was sometimes spoken in the neighboring areas, either for economic or religious reasons, this is the case, for example, for the Agger area around Dieringhausen to the north . Parishes were also separated by territorial boundaries. The towns of Büddelhagen , Verr , Obermiebach and Scheidt , which belong to the parish of Drabenderhöhe, were in the Duchy of Berg, but because they belonged to Drabenderhöhe, they spoke Homburgish. The same situation should also arise for the farms Ohlhagen and Freckhausen , which are already located in Reichshofer territory and belong to the parish of Marienhagen .

The language border in the north coincides with the Make-Maken-Line or Ich-Ik-Line and thus the Lower Franconian language area. Via Lobscheid it meets the Agger at Vollmerhausen and follows upstream to Ahe. There it borders on the Eckenhagener language area and, apart from minor deviations, follows the old territorial border in the east. The western border marks the Catholic parish of Much . In the south, the language border roughly follows the Waldbrölbach .

In the real sense, the Waldbröler dialect, as well as that of the parish of Holpe, also belong to Homburg. Also closely related are the dialects of the Reichhof and the former communities Dattenfeld , Rosbach and Leuscheid , which, with the exception of Reichshof and Dattenfeld, lie south of the Dorf-Dorp line, the actual demarcation line between Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian.

Relic dialect

The dialect of the Homburg region is assigned to the Ripuarian dialects and forms together with the old parishes Wiehl (also included Osberghausen, Bielstein and all places south of the Agger), Drabenderhöhe , Marienhagen and the Dieringhausen area with Vollmerhausen , Liefenroth and Lobscheid , as well as the parishes of Nümbrecht , Marienberghausen , Waldbröl and with restrictions the Holper dialect a linguistic unit.

In addition to the border areas in Belgium ( Eupen ) and the Netherlands ( Vaals , Bocholtz , Kerkrade ), the Ripuarian language area includes the Rhenish area between Aachen in the west and Reichshof in the east, Benrath in the north and Ahrweiler and the Eifel barrier in the south. As a linguistic cultural center, the metropolis of Cologne in particular has an effect on the outside world in the rural Cologne variety in the area.

The Homburg language landscape encompasses all the features of a border and transition area and, from a lingual perspective, is an old retreat area (relict area). Old phonetic phenomena and forms of speech have been preserved that have been lost in other Rhenish dialects. This primeval character of a relic landscape also occurs in some ancient customs (such as the Pentecost “trööt” or “blååsen” on self-made “Pa'ißhöe'ernern” (pentecorn horns), which are turned from peeled alder bark and held with a small branch inserted through it are expressed in folk poetry and folk medicine.

The relict landscape in the Homburg region was also created by the homogeneous denominational composition of the population with the population composition hardly changed over the centuries. There was almost no immigration, with the exception of a few Jewish resettlers who settled in the communities of Nümbrecht and Marienberghausen as early as 1741 and initially emigrated from the Wittgenstein region around Berleburg. In the surrounding area, the Lutheran denomination dominated in the Gimborn-Neustadt rulership and in the Bergische Amt Windeck (with the exception of the communities Much and Dattenfeld and Morsbach, except Holpe), while Catholicism had a formative effect in the Bergisch Amt Steinbach and in the Wildenburg rulership. In 1828 98.98% of the Reformed teaching in the Homburg region belonged to the Reformed doctrine, in 1831 this was 98.89%, in 1843 98.52%, in 1861 98.80%, in 1885 still 96.32%. It was not until the 20th century that the proportion of Protestants fell due to the industrialization of the Wiehl and Aggertal valleys at the end of the 19th century. In 1925 the percentage of Evangelicals was still 84.11%. Thus, in the 19th century in particular, there was no exchange with the neighboring regions, on the contrary, due to the economic backwardness of the Homburg region, there was a population decline. Many people from Homburg, including some from Drabenderhöher, moved to the up-and-coming denominationally like-minded Wuppertal (Barmen and Elberfeld), which was quickly referred to as Mu'erland. Initially, many tried to do seasonal work there as bricklayers and carpenters during the summer months, and a large number later settled there permanently.

However, the Homburg language can only be described as Ripuarian to a limited extent, as the voiced fricative j for written German g is missing in both the initial and internal voice. In large parts of the Oberbergisches Land as well as in the Windecker Ländchen, the old voiceless palate sound ch, which is also called ach-ch sound, has been preserved. One speaks here of "Mr chåån che'ern spaziêren" or "Chöff mr watt (in Nümbrecht" chätt ")". In the neighboring communities of Much and Ründeroth it is already called “Mr jo'en je'ern spazêêren” or “Jöff mr jätt”.

The ach-ch sound used to be widespread throughout the Cologne area, but was largely suppressed in the course of the Middle Ages by the voiced fricative j. This hard, guttural fricative stands out so strongly that those who speak other languages ​​from neighboring communities make this way of speaking ridiculous:

“Wa mr chåån, then chåån mr nåå Chummerschbaach (formerly also Chummerscht), sweet chåån mr charnett”, “Then chrawê mr met dr Chrafschöppê (grave shovel), Chostav” or “Chott chröß dich, Chostav! When datt chot cheet ”.

There is also a historical explanation for this linguistic peculiarity. The parishes of Much and Engelskirchen belonged to the Duchy of Berg until 1806, the Homburg parishes of Drabenderhöhe, Wiehl, Marienhagen, Nümbrecht and Marienberghausen as well as the later founded parish of Oberbantenberg to the imperial rule of Homburg. The Waldbröler and Holper area was also Homburgic until the Siegburg comparison in 1604. The area north of the Agger included the imperial rule Gimborn-Neustadt. The territories created their own linguistic areas and also acted as a hindrance that prevented the advance of Cologne language forms. The area north of the old border along the Agger also developed the Homburg dialect through a traffic-geographic south orientation. Here, a sound shift limit, the so-called Benrath line (maken-making line), separates the Lower Franconian dialects from the Central German dialects. This language border, which is important for the German-speaking region, runs north of the Remshagen line, follows the border of the former municipality of Ründeroth, passes north of Lobscheid and Liefenroth and meets the Agger at Vollmerhausen, and follows it up to Derschlag and Baldenberg, along the former border of the City of Bergneustadt, where it meets the Sauerland and then coincides with the eastern border of the Reichshof community. The Benrath line coincides here with the so-called Uerdinger line , the corner-I line. The Lower Franconian maken and eck were made on these linguistic lines and I moved.

The shifted Central German forms can be found in all Homburg communities. But in some examples old plosives have been preserved, as in the unshifted words "Do'erp" (village), "we'erpên" (to throw), "deep" (deep), "att batt" (it helps, benefits) , "Söken" (search), "Schottel" (bowl), "ku'ert" (short).

Confessional reasons also play a role in the formation of language areas. These usually coincide with the old parish boundaries.

Typical of the Ripuarian dialects are the transformation of the tooth sounds t and d into the palate sounds g and k. The linguists call this gutturalization and stands for the nasalization of the n. Dog became "Hungd", winter "Wingter", people "Lück" or "Löckt", Schneider "Schnedger", Rhine "Rhing", from Wine “Wing”, from brown “Brung”, from Strunzen “Strungsên”. Evidence for the internal gutturalization include “angersch” for different, “bingen” for binding, “schängen” for actually disgrace (here for rant) or “unger” for under. But this language rule only partially applies to Homburg, because in Drabenderhöhe “today” does not become “hück” but “hütt” - “time” does not become “Zick”, but “Zitt” - “bride” does not become “ Bruck ”, but“ gross ”.

Examples:

  • Ruppichteroth - Mr jonn Höck flöck mot dr Bruck nåå dn Kongdern
  • Marienberghausen - Mr chåån hüt met dr Brutt nå dn Kengern
  • Much - Mr jo'en Höck mött dr Bruck nåå the Kings. Mr säjen the bro'eder, ha söhl dê jrußê Jeeßê hollen
  • Drabenderhöhe - Mr chåån hüt met dr Brutt nå dn Kingêrn. Mr saan dm Bru'er, hä sööl dê chro'eße Hippê hollen (Hippe = goat).

The gutturalization did not take place in all cases north of the Homburger Bröl. South of the Bröl one speaks of Löckt (people), Bögdel (bag), Schnedger (Schneider), Wegden (Weiden), lögden (people), Völ (birds) - north of the Homburger Bröl in Wiehl and Drabenderhöhe there are the Lower Franconian sounds Lü, Bü'el, Schni'er, Wi'en, lü'en, Vö'el. This linguistic border can be traced back to the old parish borders, on the one hand Nümbrecht and Waldbröl and on the other hand Wiehl, Drabenderhöhe, Marienberghausen and Marienhagen. In addition, there is another dialect border running in an east-west direction, where the rule is the ch-failure before t:

In Wiehl, Marienberghausen, Drabenderhöhe, as well as a few north of the Homburger Bröl ( Bierenbachtal , Oberbreidenbach , Prombach ) they say: Näät (night), bräät (brought), Knäät (servant) in the rest of Homburgischen Näächt, bräächt and Knäächt. Words with vowel abbreviation lie on this language boundary:

Mäll (flour), Bässêm (broom), Läffêl (spoon), chutt (good), Jebönn (floor), essen and Schaff (closet) in the north, and the stretched forms Me'el, Bääßem, Läfel, chot, Jebü ' en, äßên and sheep in the south. In Rose (Nümbrecht) (parish Marienberghausen) they say: "Since Rö'eser (residents of Rose) eat m'em Läffêl on cook em kettle on return m'em Bässêm", on the other hand say the Niederbreidenbacher (parish Nümbrecht): "There Breemijêr (residents of Niederbreidenbach ) ate m'em Lääfel on kååchên em Kääßel on kehrên m'em Bääßem ”.

In addition to the Lower Franconian sounding "Lü" for "people" and "Wi'en" for "pastures", the Lower Franconian term "watt" for "something" is also used in Drabenderhöhe, Marienhagen and Wiehl, which in Ripuarian Much means "jätt" and im Nümbrechts and Waldbröler room "chätt" and in the Moselle Franconian Morsbach is called "gätt". "Mr can hear aver, datt you sing uss dm Hommerschên, Si sahn lutter (always): chätt".

Further differences arise in the vowel nature. In Drabenderhöhe and Wiehl the old vowel break (diphthong) i'e has been preserved, for example in “Wi'ertschaft” (economy), “Di'er” (animal), “I'erlen” (alder). In the municipality of Nümbrecht, however, it is called “We'ertschaft”, “De'er” and “E'erlen”. Between the Homburg and Bergisches Land there is also the line between Homburg “Bro'et” (bread), “do'et” (dead) and “chro'eß” (large) and Landkölschem “Brut”, “dut”, “jruß ". In the Siegkreis there is the vowel clouding of the a to open o, so in "hånger" (behind), "åß" (is), "jêwåß" (certain), "Kongder" (children), while in Homburg "henger", " it always applies, “Kengêr”. The drop in sound at the end of a word is a general phenomenon: "Wi'es" (meadow), "Stu'ef" (room) or "Köh" (cows).

The Homburg language area is therefore not a dialect unit, but has different sound forms and a different vocabulary in the north and south. In Drabenderhöhe and Wiehl there are therefore still a number of Lower Franconian words that are unknown in the southern Homburg region. Here one speaks of a relict area with remaining dialect words:

  • Böörich = naughty boys, belongs to the word Borch (male pig)
  • Luustern = ears
  • luttbor = loud-noticeable, to become known
  • peel = throw
  • fonnêsen = secretly take with you, steal
  • weestern = restlessly moving back and forth, waving around
  • flaming = chasing away
  • Schnor = mother-in-law
  • Däll = ground floor kitchen hall
  • klö'ewern = split up, pick apart
  • Lonten = rags, rags or contemptuous: garments
  • Schnöckelcher = swaying, swaying stories
  • Mu'er = female rabbit, belonging to the word mother
  • Wi'el = vortex
  • Schnürschê = mother-in-law (to cord)
  • Wahnzö'er, Wampês = spiritual, disturbed person
  • matten = nag
  • Klötsch = cow dung
  • Dreckklötsch = lump of earth

These and other words also occur in the Lower Franconian language area north of the Agger.

In Homburg, especially the word “beat up, beat up” has developed its own form: “Hä kriet sê jeklästerbellt”. Homburgian synonyms for it are also: Hä kriet se jêdräschên, jekêmasöölt, jêschwat, jêwammêst, jêtrocken, jêschlufft, jêflämmt, jêdrut, jêprinzt, jêwalkt, jêbät, jêschwongen, jêbängelt, jêträ, jêtêtêtêt, jêptä, jêpluteltert, jêträt, jêpräuteltert, jêtromm, jêpräzöngt, jêträt, jêträzöngt, jêträ, jêptä, jêplêt , dn Hüppes jêhauen, dn Dresser jêzerrt, dn Hengêr o'ewen polished, watt öm dn Ballich, Knöppelszoppê, Draschake, Aska met Schohnäl, with dm Stick öm de Reppen, hä kriet Schrüppe, dn Hengerschtên bêsehn and you too, Drabenderhöhe ê couple öm dê Luustern, masch ê couple öm de Lonten “.

The joy of "teasing and chreezên" (teasing and mocking) is also part of the cultural heritage. The inhabitants of individual villages and communities are cheerfully teased and gossiped in numerous mocking verses. In most cases, however, this is not meant seriously, sometimes it is also crude rhymes.

"Opp dr Höhe (Drabenderhöhe), do hann sê dn Aasch full of fleas", "Em Wi'el (Wiehl), då sing dr Checken vi'el, em Nümmert (Nümbrecht), do sing sê drömmert". The Eckenhagener claim of the Wiehlers "Homburjer Knudeln met then scheven Schnuten, met then spetzen Kennen, dr Düövel (devil) stecht dådrennen".

The Dahler and Immer are mocking the verse "Em Daal eat sê de Ärpel met dr Schaal, em Ümmen can se chutt klömmen" ". The homeburger's preference for “Rievkoochen on Pöffert” caught the eye of the neighbors and earned the nickname “Pöffertsfräßer”. Pöffert is a cake made from grated potatoes and baked in a pan, loaf pan or saucepan. The Mucher used to call them “Hommersche Pöffertsfräßer”, in return the Muchers were often referred to as “Möcher Heufräßer” by the Homburgers.

Locally limited and as a linguistic feature, the rasping pronunciation of the "r" is noticeable in some localities. The Wiehler mocked their neighbors with "Dä hätt uß dm Biermijêr (Rommelsdöêrpêr) Schnorrbörnchen jêdronkên" and "Dat seng dê Bierêmijer Schnorrkatzen, die schnorren schlemm hengên êm neck." (He drank from the Bierenbacher / Rommelsdorfer Schnorrbrunnen. They are the Bierenbacher Schnorrkatzen, the purring badly in the back of their throats.) It is said of the Niederbreidenbachers: "Meng Vatter scrounge, a lot of moths scrounge, uus Loecks scrounge, just really nice. Ech sahn frre'i erruß: Drre'iondrrenahm Drropên Riesbrre'i, Petterr, schnorr mrr net drrbie. " (My father purrs and my mother purrs, and our people purr, except me. I say bluntly: 33 drops of congee, Peter doesn't purr me.) You can recognize the Nümbrecht by their peculiar tone of voice. The pitch of the tone changes throughout the movement.

The differences to the Waldbröler dialect lie in a different vowelism and partly different vocabulary and coincide with the old parish boundaries between Nümbrecht and Waldbröl. As in the Nümbrecht dialect, the words do not show any ch-shrinkage before the t, as in Näächt and bräächt. However, the long vowels o are broken into ua or üa or e in ia, i.e. diphthonged. Examples are bread (Bruat), dead (duat), uncle (Uam), straw (Strüa), bird (Vüal), evil (büas), clover (Klia), learned (jalart), first (iashtan). The form "here" is diphthongized as he'i:

  • Waldbröl - Dr Uam het he'i Bruat an Strüa jaliant
  • Nümbrecht - Dr Öam het hie Broat an Ströa jaleant (The uncle borrowed bread and straw here)

Words with an old i turned into forms with rounding, i.e. with an open o, such as winter (wongter), children (konger), behind (honger). This turbid area is now only limited to a southern area around Bladersbach and Geilenkausen . In the 19th century this was also used in the Nümbrecht school districts of Harscheid and Berkenroth . As a rare relic word in Bladersbach and Geilenkausen there is still the unshifted form of haben (motten).

The Protestant parish of Holpe, already on Morsbacher municipal area, is already south of the Dorp-Dorf-Linie, which is considered to be the borderline to the Moselle-Franconian dialect, but the Holper dialect belongs to the Homburg dialects. Northern vowel lengths are separated from southern diphthongs: drü - dröu (dry), Schür- Schöuêr (barn), Für - Föüêr (fire), rief - re'if (ripe), Bur - Bonêr (farmer), Bruêr - Broudêr ( Brother), Mus - Mous (mouse), uus - ous (from). Only the Moselle Franconian form Löu for people has penetrated the Holper room. The old a-ch sound for g in Holpe was also retained: chot (good), chätt (something), chåån (to go). The dialectal differences in the Holpe area to the rest of the municipality of Morsbach are due to denominational reasons. While Holpe converted to the Lutheran faith during the Reformation, Morsbach stayed with Catholicism.

Spread of the dialect

It can be seen that the dialect is spoken less and less and that it cannot refer to cultural backgrounds - as is the case with Carnival in Cologne. Before the Second World War, the Homburg plateau was used as a colloquial language in almost all social classes. With the influx of refugees from the former German eastern regions, the population jumped by more than a third. From the sixties the growth increased even further by Transylvanian Saxons in Drabenderhöhe and in the nineties by many Russian Germans in Nümbrecht. The German standard language was and is of course used as the contact language, which in some cases also meant the withdrawal of the dialect into a domestic and peasant language. The Platt finds its best place in rural families. Another reason for the extinction is probably due to the prestige of the dialect, which was considered to be rural and gross. There are fewer and fewer farms. At school, too, Platt was not exactly considered a high-level language. From the sixties and later it could happen that teachers advised the parents of their pupils not to speak dialect with them anymore, so that "mixed languages" and mistakes could be avoided.

Young people hardly speak any Homburg dialect any more, some still understand it. So there are mostly people over 50 who can still talk on Hommersch. But the trend is rapidly decreasing. One can roughly estimate that in the communities Wiehl and Nümbrecht there are still around 10 to 20% dialect speakers today.