Tweants dialect

As a dialect of Low Saxon, Tweants is an Indo-European language, belonging to the West-Germanic group of Germanic languages. It is a direct descendant from Old Saxon, and as such, it is closely related to English and Frisian. Old Saxon gradually developed into Middle Low Saxon throughout the Middle Ages, and rose to prominence as an international language of trade. Due to close trading ties with the adjacent Münsterland during those days, Tweants adopted many Westphalian traits. When the Tweante region became a fixed part of the Netherlands, and the economic fulcrum of the country shifted towards the western provinces, Standard Dutch gained influence over the language within the Dutch borders, and as a result Middle Low Saxon grew more and more apart into the various modern Low Saxon dialects.

Tweants does not have a standardised pronunciation, but all varieties shared a number of characteristics.

In general, all varieties of Tweants follow a Subject-Verb-Object word order in main clauses, and Subject-Object-Verb in subordinate clauses. For instance, in the two following sentences:

• |S- Jan | V- skrivt | O- een book.| (John writes a book.)
• || Main Clause: |S-Hee | V-sea || Sub Clause: dat | S- Jan | O- een book | V- skrivt || (He said that John writes a book.)

Tweants has long been looked down upon, and is generally considered a low-prestige language, often equalled with farm-specific jargon. Speakers report the language to "immediately bring about a more inclusive and informal atmosphere".

Speakers may switch to (their attempt at) Standard Dutch when circumstances indicate a more "socially upward circle". Depending on the perceived distinction those circumstances, speakers may opt to include regionalisms in their Dutch, whether that implies an accent, morphology, underlying grammatical structures or idioms.

Though Tweants is considered a language without class distinctions, speakers tend to look for older words and phrases in language preservation gatherings. Knowledge of the aforementioned farm-specific jargon is often considered a sign (and a test) of proficiency.

Native speakers have a distinct accent when speaking Dutch. While the accent is a result of Low Saxon phonetic properties and can vary per person or social circumstance, particularly the distinct pronunciation of the 'O' and 'E' is renowned. It is similar to the Hiberno-English or Scots pronunciation of the 'O' and the 'A'. Another striking feature of Tweants Dutch (and therefore a sign of L1-interference) is the use of a syllabic consonant, which in popular Dutch language is often referred to as "swallowing final -en".

On an idiomatic level, people from Twente may sometimes translate phrases literally into Dutch, thus forming Twentisms. Due to the fact that Tweants and Standard Dutch are varieties of the West Germanic languages, they have many similarities, which may lead speakers of Tweants to believe that a "Dutchified" pronunciation of a Tweants expression is correct and valid:

In English: I have a flat tyre

In Tweants: Ik hebbe den band lek

In Tweants-influenced Dutch (Twentism): *Ik heb de band lek (lit. I have the tyre flat)

In correct Standard Dutch: Ik heb een lekke band (lit. I have a leak tyre)

On an idiomatic level, Tweants is known for its wealth of proverbs, of which the following are only a fraction:

• Låt mär külen, et löpt wal lös – Literally: Let it roll/fall, it will walk free – Never mind, it will sort itself out.
• As de tyd kumt, kumt de plåg – When the time comes, the trouble comes. Don't worry before the trouble starts.
• Y köänet nich blåsen en den meal in den mund holden – Literally, you cannot blow and keep the flour in your mouth at the same time. 'Blåsen' also means 'to brag', so its real meaning is the same as "put your money where your mouth is"
• Hengeler weend – Wind from Hengelo, a haughty attitude.

Speakers of Tweants generally tend to be a little more indirect than speakers of Dutch. For instance, when speakers of Tweants say: "t Is hier redelik doo" (It's reasonably thaw in here), they usually mean that they find the temperature unpleasantly high in the room.

Generally speaking, the use of Tweants is strictly reserved to informal situations. It is widespread in family life, as well as in local sports associations and cultural or leisurely activities. In many traditional professions such as construction, road engineering, agriculture, and transport is still a wide-spread mode of communication.

Tweants is neither used structurally nor taught mandatorily in schools. This may be ascribed to the traditional belief that Tweants is supposedly an improper speech variety, the use of which bespeaks little intelligence or sophistication. However, as the status of Tweants is gradually improving, school boards may now opt for a lesson series Tweants Kwarteerken (loosely translated as 15 minutes of Tweants) designed for implication in nursery and primary schools. The fairly recently instated Twente Hoes is working on further teaching materials, which school boards may adopt free of charge.

Up until recently, Tweants was, and still is, also believed to impede proper acquisition of Standard Dutch, which dominates all parts of Dutch public life. Parents generally acquiesce in this attitude and tried to teach their children to speak Dutch. Those parents, however, were used to speaking Tweants, which influenced especially their pronunciation of Dutch, and to a lesser extent their syntax and choice of vocabulary.

Dutch is still the prevailing and most prestigious language in Twente. This is why a majority of parents up until recently neglected to teach their children about their heritage, although there has lately been a resurgence of interest in the local language.

Because Twente is an attractive place for investment, many companies establish themselves in Twente and attract people from other parts of the country who do not speak Tweants. This aggravates the decline of the Tweants language. In the countryside, however, many people still speak it or at least understand it.

Recently, Tweants has enjoyed a resurgence because of an increasing tolerance for and pride in local culture, including local language. The resurgence is backed by the opinion of linguists, who believe that children who are brought up bilingually are more receptive to other languages. The increasing interest in Tweants is expressed by writers, musicians and local media, and people have been inspired to start speaking and teaching Tweants again. This renewed interest, mirrored by other local languages in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, is referred to as the dialect renaissance. An important stimulant for trend was the start of the 2000s soap in Tweants, "Van Jonge Leu en Oale Groond" ("Of young people and old land"). The soap, focussing on a rural part of Twente, combined local traditions and culture with the life and aspirations of young people, emphasising how people can live modern lives while cherishing and being rooted in local traditions. Originally broadcast by local television, it was later broadcast on national television with subtitles.

From the 2000s onwards, Tweants is increasingly being employed in advertising. More and more companies choose for a Tweants slogan, and some choose for a more personal advertising approach, by translating their adverts into several dialects. Examples of such companies are Regiobank and Moneybird. Furthermore, the municipality of Rijssen-Holten employs a number of civil servants, who are allowed to wed couples in Tweants. Additionally, the municipality hall's personnel is officially bilingual, being able to help citizens in either Dutch, Tweants or Sallaands.

In 2012, a radio presenter for national broadcasting station 3FM, Michiel Veenstra from Almelo, promised to present in Twents for an hour if a Twents song received more than €10,000 in the annual fundraising campaign Het Glazen Huis (The Glass House). As the song received more than €17,000, Veenstra kept his promise.[3]

In 2014, a Facebook page called "Tukkers be like" gained more than 18,000 followers within a week. The page uses Twents cultural concepts, and expressions in the Twents language. The idea of the page was based on the US Internet meme "Bitches be like", which gained enormous popularity in 2013, and inspired many to create their own versions. The meme presents an image of a certain situation, to which a certain group would respond in a typical way.

Other current youth culture initiatives incorporate the language in their media outings, such as the Facebook page Tweants dialect, the online magazine Wearldsproake, and a string of other entertainment outlets.

As Tweants isn't taught in schools, it is mostly written by individual language enthusiasts firmly rooted in Standard Dutch writing conventions. As such, there are two more or less accepted spellings: the Kreenk vuur de Twentse Sproake (KTS)-spelling, and the Standaard Schriefwieze (SS). The former seeks to adhere to Standard Dutch as much as possible, while the latter is aimed at displaying local pronunciation based on Dutch orthography. Few writers strictly follow these spelling rules, or are even aware of them. Most adhere to the rule of "write it as you say it," which in reality means they write it somewhat like Dutch.

There is no generally accepted Tweants spelling, although discussions about it are held on a regular basis. The (more educated) debate always evolves around two points of view, best reflected in the aforementioned KTS and SS spellings.

• The spelling should be easily accessible and recognisable for speakers of other varieties of Low Saxon as well as speakers of Dutch. This results in a spelling based on writing traditions from Dutch and different speech varieties. As a pro, this does provide an accessible layout. At the same time, it sounds odd or unnatural when pronounced literally, and therefore might work distractingly.
• The spelling should be close to the pronunciation of the people using it. This means a spelling that is not easily accessible, if not confusing to speakers and readers of other varieties. It results in many written consonant clusters.

The earliest form of written Tweants is a poem dating from the eighteenth century, although it is a rare example. Tweants, like the other Dutch Low Saxon dialects, has had a literary tradition since the nineteenth century when Romanticism sparked an interest in regional culture. Some of the better-known authors include:

• Johanna van Buren (poet, wrote in a Sallaans-Tweants border dialect)
• Theo Vossebeld (poet)
• G.B. Vloedbeld (writer)
• Johan Gigengack (writer)
• Willem Wilmink (poet, songwriter)
• Herman Finkers (comedian)
• Anne van der Meijden (minister)

Since the start of the dialect renaissance, Tweants has increasingly been used as a written language. This is, however, almost entirely reserved to the province of literature. Works have been translated into Tweants to stress that Tweants is as sophisticated and expressive as any other language, and to put its own aesthetic properties to use. It is, however, strikingly absent in public institutions.

Tweants is often seen as an easy vehicle for carrying jokes, and there are relatively many local revues who use Tweants for comic effect, effectively enhancing the idea that it isn't a serious language.

A renowned Dutch comedian, Herman Finkers, translated his last shows into Tweants, using the motto "accentless at last", to indicate that he can finally sound natural by using his mother tongue, without someone mocking him about it. A number of comic books and a children's television programme have been translated into Tweants to critical success. He wrote the scenario for the movie The Marriage Escape, which was the first movie ever to be predominantly spoken in Tweants and became the third best visited film in the Netherlands in 2020.[4]

Reverend Anne van der Meijden, a long-standing promoter of the use of Tweants, has translated the Bible into Tweants on the basis of the original languages. He also preaches sermons in Tweants.

The Twente Hoes (Twente House) in Hengelo is an organisation that maps, monitors, promotes and develops teaching material for Tweants, Tweants identity and the culture of Twente.

• Fonetiek van Tweants