New Saxon spelling

The New Saxon spelling ( Low German name: Nysassiske Skryvwyse , short: NSS ) is a spelling guideline for the entire Low German-speaking area in the Netherlands and Germany. While many other Low German writing systems are concerned with the correct representation of the local pronunciation, the NSS strives for the highest possible level of national legibility and clarity.

The advantages of this orthography include:

• Uniqueness
• National and international readability
• Equality for all dialects, whether in the Netherlands or Germany
• The freedom to use your own personal pronunciation
• Recognizable word image regardless of local dialects
• Uniform speech recognition for digital applications

The NSS can be seen as a further development of Reinhard Franz Hahn's "Algemeyne Schryvwys" (general notation), which was specially developed for the North Lower Saxony dialects of Low German. The New Saxon spelling builds on this and makes it writable for all variants of Low German . The NSS also adopts parts of other pronunciation-based spelling rules and Middle Low German spelling from the Hanseatic era .

This notation was developed by the "warkgruppe AS 2.0" (working group AS 2.0), a group of language-loving people from Veluwe and Twente in the Netherlands and from East Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany .

Target and background

The aim of the New Saxon spelling is to simplify and promote cross-border communication in the Low German language area . This is achieved by finding a middle ground and removing the spelling of the words from their local pronunciations.

Many people write their local Low German dialect according to the credo "write it as you pronounce it". This means that in the Netherlands they are written according to the Dutch and in Germany according to the standard German spelling rules. The New Saxon spelling, on the other hand, makes it possible to write in such a way that the text can be read and understood in all Low German dialects and all countries, regardless of whether they are familiar with Dutch or German spelling. This enables readers to use their own pronunciation when reading a text in the NSS.

The current Low German spelling rules usually follow either the High German or the Dutch standard spelling, with minor adjustments to the local Lower Saxon pronunciation. In addition, only a few people strictly adhere to them or even know about the existence of these spelling rules.

The Germans usually use a spelling based on Standard German, while the Dutch approach Low German with a standard Dutch spelling . This unnecessarily prevents mutual reading comprehension and thus divides the Low German-speaking area along the German-Dutch border. In addition, neither the Dutch nor the High German writing system is designed for the Low German language, which means that a large number of different spellings for a word arise. On the Dutch side, this often leads to a multitude of diacritical marks and double or even triple vowel sequences.

Due to the orientation of the NSS on the Old Saxon and Middle Low German etymology of the words, the NSS is not a purely phonemic but rather a morphophonemic spelling. The New Saxon spelling can be pronounced in any Low German dialect.

example

The following example from the Twents dialect of Low German shows the difference between the New Saxon spelling and other writing traditions, such as the Sass'schen Schriefwies (Sass, intended for northern Lower Saxony in Germany) and the Standaard Schriefwieze (intended for Twents in the Netherlands) .

Orthography systems:	Twents dialect in different spellings:	Comparison with Dutch:	Comparison with standard German:
New Saxon spelling	"Den soldåt skreev to syn moder dat hee gauw wyr te huus köm."
Standaard Schriefwieze (based on the Dutch orthography)	"'n Soldoat skreef an zien moo dat e gauw wier thoes köm."	"De soldaat schreef aan zijn moeder dat hij snel thuis zou zijn."
Sassian spelling (based on standard German orthography)	"The Suldaat schreev to sien Moder, that he gau wedder to Huus comes."		"The soldier wrote to his mother that he would be back home quickly."

The example shows:

• The Twenter Standard Schriefwieze is based on the standard Dutch spelling. This can be seen, for example, in "zien" instead of sass'sch "sien" and "oe (thoes)" for sass'sch "uu (to huus)".
• The Sassian spelling disregards the Twente dialect and "Germanizes" it by only allowing the spelling and vocabulary from the Sass. This can be seen, for example, in the use of "sch" satt "sk", "sien" satt "zien", the insertion of "to" instead of "t" and the use of the word "wedder" which is not used in Twents.
• The New Saxon spelling depicts the Twente dialect. However, due to its etymology principle , the NSS changes the typeface to a more traditional Low German by changing, for example, "moo" to "moder".

The New Saxon spelling can be adapted to the extent to which it is used. On the one hand there is the supraregional and international maximum version of the NSS, in which all dialects are spelled equally. On the other hand, there are various minimal versions in which certain written elements can be merged if the pronunciation of certain sounds (mostly vowels) are merged in a corresponding dialect.

Principles

The New Saxon spelling has three main principles:

1. Etymologically oriented writing
2. Uniform spelling
3. open and closed syllables

There are also other subsidiary principles.

• Dialectal flexibility (maximum version or local minimum version)

Concrete grapheme use

Consonants

Fricatives

grapheme	Goes back to Old Saxon	Examples:	Old Saxon	New Saxon spelling (supraregional)	SASS (DE-North Low German)	Groninger Platt (NL-North Low German)	Münsterland Platt (DE-Westphalian)	Standaard Schriefwieze (Twenter Platt, NL-Westphalian)	Dutch cognant	High German cognants
w	w + hw		hw anēr w ind w erold	w oneyr, w oneer w ind w erld, w earld	w onear W ind W orld	w anneer w ind w ereld	w än W ind W ilt	w onneer w eend w eerld	wanneer wind wereld	when wind world
wr	wr		wr āka wr īvan	wr åke wr yven	Wr aak wr ieven	vr oak vr ieven		wr oake wr ievn	wraak wrijven	revenge rub
v	f + v		f indan f ugal bio v an lio f	v inden v oagel, v uggel westföälsk ouk: v uagel boa v en ley v , lee v	f inside V agel ba v en lee f	v inden v OGEL bo v s lai f	f inside V bow BuO w en lai w	v eendn v oggel, v ogel boa v n lee f	vinden vogel boven ran	For bird up loving
s	s + hs		s and s torm wī s ian mū s fo hs	s and s torm wy s en muu s vo s	S and S torm wie s en Muu s Vo ss	z aand s shape like z en moe s vo s	S and S tuorm wi s en Muu s Fo s	z aand s toarm like z n moe s vo s	zand storm wijzen muis vos	Sand storm wise mouse fox
sk	sk		sk ip wi sk ian flē sk	sk ip wi sk en vley sk , vlee sk	Sch ipp wi sch en Flee sch	sh ip wi ss s vlee s	Sh ip wi sk en Flee sk	sh ip wi sk en vlei s	schip know vlees	Ship wipe meat
sj	(/ ʃ ~ s / in foreign words)			sj okolade duu sj (e)	Sch okolaad Duu sch	s ukkeloaden doe s	Sch okelaor	s okkelaa doe s	chocolate douche	Chocolate shower
j	j		j ukkian j ār	j öäken, j okken, j ecken j år	j öken j ohr	j euken j oar	j ocken J aor	j ökn j oar	jeuken jaar	itch year
H	H		h ebbian h ūd	h ebb h Uud h üüd	h ebben H uut	h ebben h oed, h uud	h äbben H uut	h ebn h oed	lift up huid	have skin

Vowels

Old long vowels

grapheme	Goes back to Old Saxon	Proto-Germanic	Old Saxon	New Saxon spelling (supraregional)	SASS (DE-North Low German)	Groninger Platt (NL-North Low German)	Münsterland Platt (DE-Westphalian)	Standaard Schriefwieze (Twenter Platt, NL-Westphalian)	Dutch cognant	High German cognants
å	-	ē ƀanđaz đ ē điz	ā vand d ā d	å vend d å d	A vend D aa t	oa vend d oa d	Ao md	oa vnd d oa d	avond daad	Evening deed
ey, e / ee	ē 1	sk ē rjan ~ sk ē rō l ē ʒaz	sk ā ra k ā si	sk ey re, sk e re k ey se, k e se l ey g, l ee g	Sch ee r K ee s l ee g	sch ee r, sch e re k ee s, k e ze l ee g	( Schäe r) k ai se l ai g	sch ee r k ee s l ee g	schaar kaas laag	Scissors cheese
ey, e / ee	ē 2a	s ai p (j) ōn r ai pan ~ r ai paz		s ey pe, s e pe r ey p, r ee p	S ee p R ee p	z ai p (e)	S e pe R ee p	z ee p, z e pe r ee p	zeep reep	Soap ripe
ey, e / ee, y	ē 2b	st ai naz ƀ ai nan	st ē n b ē n	st ey n, st ee n b ey n, b ee n	St ee n b ee n	st ai n b ai n	St e ne B ee n	st ee n b ee n	steen been	Stone leg
ay, ey	ē 3	l ai đjanan ʒ ai laz	l ē dian g ē l	b ay de, b ey de l ay den, l ey den g ay l, g ey l	b ei de l ei the g ei l	b aai de l aai den g aai l	b ai de l ai en g ai l	b ei de l ei dn g ei l	both suffer horny	both lead cool
ey, e / ee, y	ē 4	l eu ƀaz fl eu ganan ʒ eu tanan	l io f fl io gan g io tan	l ey v, l ee v vl ey gen, vl e gen g ey ten, g e ten	l ee f fl e gen g e th	l ai f vl ai gen g ai th	l ai w fl ai gen g ai th	l ee f vl ee gn g ee tn	ran vlie gieten	love to pour flies
y	ī	ʒl ī đanan sw ī nan	gl ī dan sw ī n	gl y den sw y n	gl ie the Sw ie n	gl ie the zw ie n	gl i den Sw ie n	gl ie dn zw ie n	glijden between	slide pig
o / oo	ō 1	f ō tz, f ō tuz xr ō panan	f ō t hr ō pan	v oo t r o pen	F oo t r o pen	v ou t r ou pen	F oo t r o pen	v oo t r oo pn	voet roepen	Foot call
ö / öö	Umlaut from ō 1	s ō kjanan f ō ljanan	s ō kian f ō lian	s ö ken v ö len	s ö ken f öh len	z ui ken, z u ken v ui len, v u len	s ö ken f ö len	z eu kn v eu ln	zoeken voelen	looking feel
ou	ō 2	ʒr au taz k au pjanan	gr ō t k ō pian	gr ou t k ou pen, k öy pen	gr oo t k o pen, k ö pen	gr oo t k o pen	gr au t k au pen	gr oo t k oo pn	groot copen	buy big
öy	Umlaut from ō 2	n au điʒaz		n öy dig l öy per	n ö dig L ö by	n eu deg	n ai dig L ai per	n eu dig l eu per	nodig loper	necessary runner
u / uu	ū	m ¾ sz sk ¾ ƀōjanan	m ū s sk ū van	m uu s sk u ven (sk u ven)	M uu s sh u ven	m oe s sch oe ven (, sch u ven)	M uu s sh u wen	m oe s sch oe vn	muis schuiven	mouse slide
ü / üü	Umlaut from ū + iu	xl ¾ đjanan	hl ū dian th iu stri	l u the d üü art	l u the d üü art	l u the d uu art	l u the d üü art	l u the d üü art	luiden duister	ring gloomy