- Pomeranian (German dialect group)
Pomeranian ( _de. Pommersch) is a group of
East Low German dialect s named afterPomerania ("Pommern"). It is also known as pommersch Platt, or "PomeranianLow German ". It should not be confused with the West SlavicPomeranian language (known as "Pomoranisch" in German).History
By the early Middle Ages, Pomerania was largely populated by West Slavic
Pomeranians who spoke thePomeranian language . During theMiddle Ages , German colonists from western parts of theHoly Roman Empire began settling in Pomerania as part of the medievalOstsiedlung . Most native Pomeranians gradually became Germanized. TheLow German language of theHanseatic League was used throughout the territories surrounding theBaltic Sea . TheEast Low German language of the colonists were influenced by the local Pomeranian andPolabian language s, creating the Pomeranian dialects.Beginning in 1945, Germans east of the
Oder-Neisse line were expelled to western Germany afterWorld War II . Most of the Pomeranian dialects have largely died out in the following decades as the expellees were assimilated into their new homes, although Pomeranian dialects are still spoken inHither Pomerania , part of the German state ofMecklenburg-Western Pomerania .As a result of German immigration to
Brazil , there are still some communities speaking Pomeranian inRio Grande do Sul , Santa Catarina andEspírito Santo . [cite web
title=180 anos de Imigração Alemã
url=http://www.alfredosimon.com.br/~alemao/destaque.php?des=3
author=Renata Pinz Dietrich
language=Portuguese
accessdate=2007-08-12]Dialects
Pomeranian dialects formerly or currently spoken in Pomerania include:
* Westpommersch orMecklenburgisch-Pommersch , a dialect ofMecklenburg-Western Pomerania
*Westmittelpommersch andOstmittelpommersch , dialects of Mark-Brandenburgisch
*East Pomeranian ("Ostpommersch", now extinct)
**Westpreußisch (inWest Prussia )
**Westhinterpommersch (in westernFurther Pomerania )
**Osthinterpommersch (in eastern Further Pomerania)
**Bublitzisch (in Bublitz, nowBobolice ,Poland )
**Pommerellisch (inPomerelia )The German dialects of Pomerania are compiled in the "Pommersche Wörterbuch" ("Pomeranian Dictionary"), a
dictionary of the German dialects spoken within theProvince of Pomerania 's borders in 1936.Pomeranian dialects of East Low German are also spoken in
Brazil (seePomerode , Santa Catarina, and Santa Maria de Jetibá,Espírito Santo ).References
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