Gronings dialect

The name Gronings can almost be defined geographically, as can be seen on the map below. This is especially true for the northern part of Drenthe (number 8 on that map). Drents, spoken in the north of the province of Drenthe (Noordenveld) is somewhat related with the Groninger language, but the core linguistics is Drents. For the dialects in the southeast, called Veenkoloniaals, it is a bit different on both sides of the Groningen-Drenthe border, as the dialect spoken there is much more related to Gronings. In the easternmost part of the Frisian municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân, the western dialect called Westerkwartiers is also spoken, as well as a separate Groningen dialect called Kollumerpompsters. The latter is spoken in the Frisian village of Kollumerpomp and has more West Frisian influences, while most Groningen dialects have a strong influence from the East Frisian language.

Gronings can be subdivided into eight dialects:

Subdivision of the Groningen dialects

Gronings dialects in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe

1. Kollumerpompsters
2. Westerkwartiers
3. Stadjeders
4. Hogelandsters
5. Oldambtsters
6. Westerwolds
7. Veenkoloniaals
8. Noord-Drents

There are many uncertainties about the classification and categorization of Gronings. Some linguists see it as a variety of Low German, also called Nedersaksisch in the Netherlands. These words are actually more political than linguistic, because they unite a large group of very differing varieties. Categorizing Gronings as Low German could be considered correct, but there is controversy surrounding the existence of the linguistic unity of Low German.

Others, especially German linguists, see Gronings-East Frisian as a separate group of German dialects. The East Frisian influence, the sounds ou, ai and ui and the typical accent are crucial here. Gronings-East Frisian would be categorized as Friso-Saxon dialects instead of Low German. Other linguists categorize all Gronings-East Frisian dialects as North Low German. In that case, all the other Low German varieties in the Netherlands are categorized as Westphalian.

Dutch linguists in particular classify Gronings as Dutch Low Saxon, in Germany also called Westplatt. In this case the Dutch influence is crucial, while the dialects on the other side of the national border are strongly influenced by High German languages. These influences concern especially the vocabulary, like the Dutch word "voorbeeld" (example) which is "veurbeeld" in Gronings while the East Frisian dialects use "biespööl", which is related to the High German word "beispiel". In this case there is no separation between Groningen-East Frisian (or North Low Saxon) and Westphalian, but rather a difference between Groningen and East Frisian. The national border would equal the linguistic border.

The Gronings dialects are a kind of mix between two languages: Old Frisian (East Frisian) and Middle Low German. East Frisian was spoken in the Ommelanden (surrounding lands of the city of Groningen), while the city, the surrounding rural area called Gorecht and the eastern lordship of Westerwolde were Low Saxon. When the city of Groningen developed an important position in the Ommelanden, a switch from East Frisian to Saxon occurred, although it was not a complete switch because there are many East Frisian influences in the "new" Groningen language. Many East Frisian words and grammatic features are still in use today. In less than one century, the same process also started in East Frisia, from the city of Emden, which was influenced by the Hanseatic League. This explains the strong relation between both varieties.

In the second half of the 16th century Gronings started to evolve towards Middle Dutch because of the strong influence of the new standard language. But because of the political, geographical and cultural isolation of Groningen, a strong provincialism in the first half of the 19th century caused Gronings to develop itself in a significant way. The sounds that are used today were formed in this period.

Some linguists classify Gronings to North Low Saxon, to which also East Frisian Low Saxon belongs. Both related dialects are characterized by an East Frisian influence. Hence other linguists classify Gronings-East Frisian as a separate group of Northwest Low Saxon or Friso-Saxon dialects. The most important similarities are grammar features and the vocabulary. The most important differences are the writing system and the loanwords. The East Frisian writing system is based on High German while Gronings uses many Dutch features. For example, the word for “ice skate” is in Gronings “scheuvel” and in East Frisian “Schöfel”, while the pronunciation is almost alike. Here are a few examples of words compared to West Frisian, East Frisian Low Saxon, German, Dutch and English.

The East Frisian combination -oo (for example in Bloot = blood) is pronounced like -ow in the English word “now”([blowt]; Gronings: blowd). In some parts of the Rheiderland they say blyowt, which is a leftover of Frisian in this area. The East Frisian combination -aa (for example in quaad) is pronounced like –a in the British English word “water”. In Gronings this sound is written like –oa. The word water would be written like “woatah” in Gronings. The pronunciation of the word “quaad” is similar to the Gronings word “kwoad”, which means “angry”. The East Frisian combination -ee and -eei (for example in neet) are pronounced like the –y in the English word “fly” ([nyt]; Gronings: nyt)*.

After Limburgish, Gronings is the dialect with the farthest distance from Standard Dutch. Reasons for this are vocabulary and pronunciation. The Gronings vocabulary is quite different from Dutch, for example:

Gronings: Doe hest n hail ìnde luu dij scheuvellopen kinnen, pronounced: [du‿ɛst‿n̩ ɦaɪ̯l‿ɪndə ly daɪ̯‿sχøːvəloːʔm̩ kɪnː]

Dutch: Jij hebt heel veel werknemers (werklui) die kunnen schaatsen, pronounced: [jə ˈɦɛpt ˈɦeːl veːl ˈʋɛr(ə)kˌneːmərs ti ˈkʏnə(n) ˈsxaːtsə(n)]

English: You have a lot of employees who can ice skate

The pronunciation differs from the writing system. The -en ending of many words is pronounced like (ə or ən) in most varieties of Dutch. In Gronings and many other Low Saxon dialects these words are pronounced with a glottal stop, thus making the words ending in [ʔŋ], [ʔn] or [ʔm]. The Groningen people speak quite fast compared to the Dutch people, with the result that a lot of words are pronounced together as one word.

Gronings is also a dialect with many unique expressions. One third of the language consists of these expressions. In the example sentence n hail ìnde is an example of those expressions. Many of these are given in the 'Nieuwe Groninger Woordenboek' by K. ter Laan published in 1977, (1280pp).

Because of this far distance from Standard Dutch and the official status of the neighbouring West Frisian, Gronings is considered as a separate language by some of its native speakers, while linguists consider it part of Dutch Low Saxon.

The German dialects. Gronings and East Frisian considered as one dialect.

Lord’s Prayer

Os Voader in Hemel, (litt. Our Father in Heaven)

dat Joen Noam haailegd worden zel, (litt. May Thy name be hallowed)

dat Joen Keunenkriek kommen mag, (litt. May Thy kingdom come)

dat Joen wil doan wordt (litt. May Thy will be done)

op Eerd net as in hemel. (litt. On earth, like in heaven)

t Stoet doar wie verlet om hebben (litt. The bread we need so badly)

geef os dat vandoag, (litt. give it to us today)

en reken os nait tou wat wie verkeerd doun, (litt. And do not blame us for the things we do wrong)

net zo as wie vergeven elk dij os wat aandut. (litt. As we forgive those who trespass against us)

En breng os nait in verlaaiden, (litt. And lead us not into temptation)

mor wil van verlaaider ons verlözzen. (litt. But deliver us from the tempter)

Den Joe binnen t Keunenkriek, (litt. Because Thou art the kingdom)

de Kracht en de Heerlekhaid. (litt. the Power and the Glory)

Veur in aiweghaid. (litt. For eternity)

Amen

The Gronings vocabulary is strongly related to East Frisian Low Saxon, Saterfrisian and West Frisian. However, today the pure Gronings vocabulary is in decline. More and more Gronings words are being replaced by “Groningized” Dutch words. For example, the word “stevel” (boot, German “Stiefel”) is sometimes replaced by the word “leers” (Dutch “laars”). Although most people do know the pure words, they are less and less used, for example because people think others will not understand them or because they are too long and the Dutch word is much easier. An example of the latter is the word for sock, which is “Hozevörrel” in Gronings. The Dutch word “sok” is much easier, so it is more often used than hozevörrel.

Some often used Gronings words are listed below;

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