Palatine German language
Palatine German (endonym: Pälzisch; Standard German: Pfälzisch [ˈpfɛltsɪʃ]), also known as Palatinate German or Palatine Dutch,[2] is a Rhenish Franconian dialect and is spoken in the Upper Rhine Valley, roughly in the area between Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, Alzey, Worms, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Mannheim, Odenwald, Heidelberg, Speyer, Landau, Wörth am Rhein and the border to Alsace and Lorraine, in France, but also beyond.
| Palatine German | |
|---|---|
| Pälzisch | |
| Native to | Germany (Southwest Palatinate, Rheinpfalz) |
| Ethnicity | Palatine |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 400,000)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Dialects | |
| Latin (German alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pfl |
| Glottolog | pala1330 |
The Pennsylvania Dutch language, also called Pennsylvania German, is descended primarily from the Palatine German that was spoken by Palatines who emigrated to North America from the 17th to the 19th centuries and maintained their native language. Danube Swabians in Croatia and Serbia also use many elements of Palatinate German.
Pfälzisch spoken in the western Palatinate (Westpfälzisch) is normally distinguished from the Pfälzisch spoken in the eastern Palatinate (Vorderpfälzisch).
The English term Palatine refers to the Palatinate region, where the language is spoken.
Pronunciation and grammar vary from region to region and even from town to town. Palatine Germans can often tell other speakers' region of the Palatinate or even their specific village.
Samples
Here are some words in Standard German and in Pfälzisch:
| Vorderpfälzisch | Westpfälzisch | Standard German | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mais | Mais | Mäuse | mice |
| Lais | Lais | Läuse | lice |
| Grumbeea | Grumbeer | Kartoffel | potato |
| Schnook | Schdechmick | Stechmücke | mosquito |
| Bääm | Bääm | Bäume | trees |
| Bää | Bää | Beine | legs |
| Schdää | Schdää | Stein | stone |
| soi | sei | sein | his (possessive) / to be |
| unsa | unser | unsere | ours |
| net (nit) | net | nicht | not |
| dowedder/dewedda | degeche | dagegen | against |
| Fisch (Fusch) | Fisch | Fisch | fish |
| ebbes | ebbes | etwas | something |
| Ärwett | Arwett | Arbeit | work |
| Doa | Dor | Tor | gate |
| Abbel | Abbel | Apfel | apple |
| hawwe | hann | haben | have |
| Haffe | Hawwe | Kochtopf | pot (saucepan) |
This sentence is pronounced in Vorderpfälzisch:
Isch habb's'm [habb es em] schunn vazehlt, awwa 'r [er] hat ma 's [es] nit geglaabt.
In Westpfälzisch, it would be the following:
Ich hann's'm schunn verzehlt, awwer er had mer's net geglaabt.
In Standard German, the sentence would read:
Ich habe es ihm schon erzählt, aber er hat es mir nicht geglaubt.
In English, it means:
I have already told [it to] him, but he didn't believe me.
Hasche aa Hunger? (Westpfälzisch)
Haschd ach Hunga? (Vorderpfälzisch)
Hast du auch Hunger? (Standard German)
Are you hungry too? (English)
Grammar
Grammatically, all Palatine dialects do not use the genitive case, which is replaced by the dative, with or without von, and most dialects have no imperfect tense but only the perfect.
Notable speakers
- Helmut Kohl (German Chancellor 1982–1998)
References
- Palatine German at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Der Regebogen The Rainbow · Volumes 19-21. 1985. pp. 25, 26, 27.