Re: Diglossia (was Re: Nur-ellen in the world of Brithenig)

> From: John Cowan
>
> Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
>
> > In fact, the Standard German spoken in Northern Germany is actually
> > quite Standard, because the local dialects are a different language.
> > The problem is Bavarians, Austrians and that lot, who think their
> > regional variants of High German are intelligible to people who have
> > learnt Standard German as a second language.
>
> In short, Standard German is essentially southern grammar and lexis
> with northern phonology.  (Added.)

"Essentially" may be too strong a term, at least as far as my Northern
German wife is concerned.  One of our friends is from the south and I have
noted quite a few lexical differences in her speech as well as phonological
ones.

My wife's family are all from Niedersachsen and they speak the same language
that I learned in university here in the States.  Quite Standard indeed.

David

David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
    dbell@graywizard.net
    www.graywizard.net

"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates