Effects of the High German consonant shift

Like Dutch, Frisian and Low German, Plautdietsch only shows the mutation of ⟨th⟩ into ⟨d⟩.

Vowel shifts in various Germanic languages

As shown, while Dutch, English and German have experienced similar vowel shifts, Plautdietsch has only merged the old Germanic /yː/ sound with /iː/, while long /uː/ is retained in the Molotschna dialect. The Old Colony variety has fronted it to the now vacant /yː/.

Unique developments

Not only has Plautdietsch undergone vowel shift, various dialects of Plautdietsch have also had their own shifts.^[17]

German

Most Anabaptists that settled in the Vistula Delta were of Dutch or northern German origins, and were joined by refugees from different parts of Germany and Switzerland, who influenced their developing language. After almost two centuries in West Prussia, German replaced Dutch as church, school and written language and has become a source from where words are borrowed extensively, especially for religious terms. Many of these words show the effects of the High German consonant shift, even though they are otherwise adapted into Plautdietsch phonetics. Compare:

This is the case particularly on nouns made out of verbs. The verb normally shows the unshifted consonant, whereas the noun has a shifted Germanized consonant: schluten, Schluss; bräakjen, Bruch (to close, closure; to break, a break)

Dutch

The first half of the 16th century was the onset of the rule of terror by the Duke of Alba in the Spanish Low Countries during the Dutch Revolt (a.k.a. Eighty Years' War), that was centered on religious freedom for the Protestants. As a result, many Mennonites and Reformed left the country. This continued in the 17th century, when the Dutch Reformed Church became the official religion, being less than indulgent to other types of Protestantism, let alone the types perceived as radical (non-violent, no bearing of arms, no recognition of worldly authorities). In Low German area, they left their language traces in particular at the lower Vistula, around Danzig and Elbing, and up the river towards Toruń.

Old Prussian and Baltic languages

Russian or Ukrainian

Wherever Mennonites settled, they found new foods and other items with which they were not familiar with. When that happened, they took the name that local people used for those items. The following words are of Russian or Ukrainian origin:

English

As Mennonites came into contact with new technology, they often adopted and adapted the names for those technologies. For Mennonites who had settled in North America in the 1870s, all new words were borrowed from English. Even though many of those settlers left for South America only 50 years after their arrival, they kept and sometimes adapted these words into the Mennonite Low German Phonetics:

In particular, words for auto parts are taken from English: hood, fender, brakes (along with the more Low German form Brams), spark plugs (pluralized Ploggen), but also words like peanuts, belt, tax.

Spanish

Plautdietsch speakers living in Spanish-speaking countries use many Spanish words in daily speech, especially in business and communication (telephone, for instance) vocabulary. Two examples of words that are completely adapted into Mennonite Low German are Burra (Mexican Spanish burro, donkey) and Wratsch (Mexican Spanish huarache, sandal). Both have a Low German plural: Burrasch, Wratschen. The pure Low German words Äsel and Schlorr are seldom used in Mexico.^[18]

Consonants

Where symbols for consonants occur in pairs, the left represents the voiceless consonant and the right represents the voiced consonant. Observations: According to the spelling system of De Bibel these sounds are spelled as follows:

1. /ɲ/ – ⟨nj⟩ as in Kjinja ("children")
2. /ŋ/ – ⟨ng⟩ as in Hunga ("hunger")
3. /c ɟ/ – ⟨kj⟩ and ⟨gj⟩ as in Kjoakj ("church") and Brigj ("bridge")
4. /ʔ/ – no letter, but has to be used if a word that begins with a vowel or a prefix is added to a word which by itself starts with a vowel: ve'achten (to despise)
5. /f v/ – /f/ can be written as ⟨f⟩ or ⟨v⟩: Fada ("male cousin"), Voda ("father"). The only criterion is the spelling of these words in German. /v/ is spelled ⟨w⟩ as in German: Wota ("water")
6. /s z/ – at the beginning of a word and between vowels /z/ is written ⟨s⟩: sajen ("to say"), läsen ("to read"). The /s/ sound is written ⟨z⟩ at the beginning of a word (where some speakers pronounce it [ts]), ⟨ss⟩ between vowels and final after a short vowel: Zocka ("sugar"), waussen ("to grow"), Oss ("ox"). At the end of a word after a long vowel or consonant both are written ⟨s⟩, the reader has to know the word to pronounce the correct sound: Hos /hoz/ ("rabbit"), Os /os/ ("carrion").
7. /ʃ ʒ/ – ⟨sch⟩ and ⟨zh⟩ as in School ("school") and ruzhen ("rush"). ⟨sp⟩ and ⟨st⟩ represent /ʃp/ and /ʃt/ at the beginning of a word and if a prefix is attached to a word starting with ⟨sp⟩ or ⟨st⟩: spälen ("to play") bestalen ("to order").
8. /ç j/ – ⟨j⟩ as in Joa ("year"). The /ç/ sound is written ⟨ch⟩ after consonants, ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩ and ⟨äa⟩: Erfolch ("success"), Jesecht ("face"), Jewicht ("weight"), läach ("low"). After ⟨a⟩, it is written ⟨jch⟩ to differentiate it from /x/: rajcht ("right")
9. /x ɣ/ – /x/ is written ⟨ch⟩, only occurs after back vowels: Dach ("day"), Loch ("hole"). [ɣ] (an allophone of /ɡ/) is rendered ⟨g⟩ between vowels and final: froagen ("to ask"), vondoag ("today"). At the beginning of a word and before consonants, g has the [ɡ] sound.
10. /ɾ ɹ/ – ⟨r⟩ is a flap (like the Spanish r), or depending on the person, even a trill (like Spanish ⟨rr⟩), before vowels: root ("red"), groot ("big"), Liera ("teacher"); /ɹ/ pronounced as an approximant (English r) before a consonant, at the end and in the -ren endings of Old Colony speakers: kort ("short"), ar ("her"), hieren ("to hear").^{[citation needed]} The uvular German r [ʀ] is not heard in Plautdietsch.
11. /l ɫ/ – [ɫ] is an allophone of [l] that occurs after vowels in words like Baul and well.

Vowels

The vowel inventory of Plautdietsch is large, with 13 simple vowels, 10 diphthongs and one triphthong.

• /y/ is rounded and is heard only in the Old Colony and Bergthal groups.
• This table gives only a very general idea of Plautdietsch vowels, as their exact phonetic realizations vary considerably from dialect to dialect, although these differences are poorly documented. For instance, in the Canadian Old Colony dialect, /ɪ, ɛ/ are strongly lowered to [ɛ, æ], /ʊ/ is mid-centralized to [ɵ̞], whereas there is hardly any difference between /a/ and /ɔ/ (there is no /ɑ/ in that variety), with both being pronounced [ɐ] or [ɑ], although they are probably still distinguished by length and F3 values. Traditionally, Plautdietsch has been said to not have phonemic vowel length.^[19]

The /u/ sound has been shifted to /y/ in the Old Colony dialect, leaving the sound only as part of the ua diphthong. However, in certain areas and age groups, there is a heavy tendency to shift /o/ sound up to [u].

Pronunciation of certain vowels and diphthongs varies from some speakers to others; the diphthong represented by ee for instances is pronounced [oi] or even [ei] by some. Likewise the long vowels represented by au and ei might have a diphthong glide into [ʊ] and [ɪ], respectively.

• English sound equivalents are approximate. Long vowels ä and o do not have a diphthong glide.

Articles

Even though Plautdietsch has three genders, in the nominative case it has only two definite articles (like Dutch and Low German); masculine and feminine articles are homophonous. However, masculine and feminine indefinite articles are still different (like German) and thus, the three genders can still be perfectly established. In the oblique case, the masculine has a special definite article, making it once more different from the feminine, which, like the neuter, does not change. In the plural number, all gender identification is lost (as in German, Dutch and Low German); all plural determiners and adjective endings are homophonous with the feminine singular.

• In colloquial speech the indefinite article is reduced practically to a "n", or "ne" if feminine. If used so, there is no case distinction. However, when used as a numeral, meaning "one", the diphthong "ee" is heavily stressed and the oblique form of the masculine gender is used. There is no indefinite plural article; een has no plural.

Some Plautdietsch writers try to use a three case system with the definite articles, without much consistency. The system looks somewhat like this, some might use the dative neuter articles, others might not:

Nouns

Mennonite Low German nouns inflect into two numbers: singular and plural, three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, but only two cases, nominative and oblique. The historical dative and accusative have merged, even though some writers try to maintain a three cases distinction, which has been lost for most speakers, perhaps centuries ago. The oblique case is distinct from the nominative only in 1) personal pronouns: ekj froag am, hee auntwuat mie (I ask him, he answers me) 2) articles and demonstrative and possessive adjectives in the singular masculine gender: de Voda halpt dän Sän (the father helps the son) (observe: nouns are not inflected themselves) and 3) proper names, i. e. traditional Mennonite names: Peeta frajcht Marie-en, Marie auntwuat Peetren (Peter asks Mary, Mary answers Peter)

Adjectives

Mennonite Low German also shows a rich inflectional system in its adjectives. Although once even richer, simplification has done its work here too, leaving Mennonite Low German with three genders: feminine, masculine and neuter, and two comparison degrees: Comparative and Superlative.

The plural of all genders is identical to the feminine singular.

Strong and weak neuter declension: after the definite article daut or the demonstratives daut and dit (neuter form of that, this) the t is dropped and a form identical to the feminine and plural is used. In other situations, as with indefinite articles, possessive adjectives or without article, the strong form is used.

The oblique is used only in the masculine singular. However, if a preposition-article compound is used with a neuter noun, then the oblique would be used. Example: em grooten Hus, but: en daut groote Hus, en een grootet Hus.

There is no predicate form for the superlative, a preposition-article compound with the oblique or weak neuter is used: aum woamsten, or: oppet woamste, or newly just the neuter form without preposition: daut woamste: Zemorjes es et woam, opp Meddach woat et woama, no Meddach es et aum woamsten/ oppet woamste/ daut woamste (in the morning it is warm, at noon it is getting warmer, after noon it is the warmest).

The predicate form is used in predicate sentences for all genders: De Maun es oolt, de Fru es oolt, daut Hus es oolt (the man is old, the woman is old, the house is old).

Numerals

Observation: the numeral eent (one) is declined like the indefinite article (masculine een [oblique eenen], feminine eene, neuter een) or a demonstrative or possessive pronoun (eena [oblique eenen], eene, eent for the respective genders); when counting, the neuter form eent is used.

The ordinal for 11th and 12th are: alfta, twalfta; from 13 to 19 use the ordinal + da: drettieenda (13th) ; from 20 to 99 use the ordinal + sta: fiew un twintichsta (25th). All ordinal numbers are declined like an adjective, the forms given here are masculine nominative.

The partitive numbers for 1/10, 1/11, 1/12 are een Tieedel, een Alftel, een Twalftel, for 13–19 add -del to the ordinal number, for 20–99 add -stel.

Pronouns

Verbs

Mennonite Low German verbs have six tenses. The present and first past tenses are inflected, while the second and third past and both future tenses are different words marked by auxiliary verbs. Verbs can have two moods: Declarative and Imperative, two voices: active and passive, and three persons:1st pers. sing., 2nd pers. sing., 3rd pers. sing., and plural.

Expressions relating to future plans

In some communities of Plautdietsch speakers, the religious prohibition of James 4:13-14^[20] is interpreted to proscribe the simple use of the first person in talking about future plans or efforts. In such communities it is considered proper to use a softening introductory phrase such as "Ekj proove," (I try, or will try, or alternately I will want to) to avoid giving offense.

Prepositions

Plautdietsch preposition inventory is rich. Some of the most common:

• aun, on, in: de Klock henjt aun de Waunt (the clock is hanging on the wall)
• äwa, over, about
• besied, beside, next to
• bie, by, at
• bowa, over
• buta, except, besides
• derch, through
• en, in
• fa, for
• hinja, behind
• hinjaraun, following something else
• jäajen, against
• mank, among
• met, with
• no, to, after
• onen, without
• opp, on
• to, to
• tweschen, between (twixt)
• unja, under
• ver, in front of
• von, of (relative to)

Syntax

Mennonite Low German shows similarity with High German in the word order. The basic word order is subject–verb–object as in English. Indirect objects precede direct objects as in English John gives Mary a present, but that is where similarities end. A dependent verb, i.e. an infinitive or past participle, comes at the end of the sentence where in English it would be placed immediately after the main verb, as shown in the following examples:

Mennonite Low German word order: Jehaun haft dän Desch jemoakt (John has the table made). English word order: John has made the table.

Mennonite Low German, like High German, has been referred to as verb-second (V2) word order. In embedded clauses, words relating to time or space can be placed at the beginning of the sentence, but then the subject has to move after the main verb to keep that verb in second position. This pattern is demonstrated here:

Mennonite Low German word order: Nu sie ekj schaftich. More Examples: Dan jeef de Kjennich seine Deena eenen Befäl. (Then the king gave his servants an order)

Also, effects tend to be placed last in the sentence. Example: En daut Kuffel wia soo väl Wota, daut et äwarand (In the cup, there was so much water, that it overflowed).

Mennonite Low German has syntactic patterns not found in High German, or at least not as often, such as the repetition of a subject, by a pronoun. Example: Mien Hoot dee haft dree Akjen. My hat it has three corners.

Questions, orders and exclamations have a verb first word order: Hast du daut oole Hus aun de fefte Gauss jeseenen? (Have you seen the old house on fifth street?). All questions are arranged like this. There is no auxiliary verb to form questions. If there is a question word, that word precedes the verb: Wua es dien Voda jebuaren (Where is your father born?). As in English, when using verbs in the imperative mood, it is not necessary to specify the person addressed, but it can be added for emphasis: Brinj (du) mie emol dän Homa (Please, (you,) bring the hammer to me). The word emol is frequently asked to soften the order as a word for please. Example of an exclamation: Es daut vondoag oba kolt! (Is it cold today!).

Dependent clauses

As in High German, in dependent clauses, the verb goes at the end:

Ekj well morjen miene Mutta besieekjen, wan ekj Tiet hab. (I want to visit my mother tomorrow if I have time). Observe the construction of: if I have time.

However, when a dependent clause has an infinitive or past participle, this rule is no longer strictly applied; there is a strong tendency to move the finite (main) verb before the infinitive or participle, the direct object (or even a long circumstantial complement):

Example: German word order requires a sentence structure like: Hee fruach mie, auf ekj miene Mutta jistren daut Jelt jejäft haud. (Translation: He asked me if I had given the money yesterday to my mother.) Even though this sounds right and perfectly understandable, most speakers would rearrange these same words as follows: Hee fruach mie, auf ekj miene Mutta jistren haud daut Jelt jejäft. Another example: Hee sajcht, daut sien Brooda jrod no de Staut jefoaren es/ Hee sajcht, daut sien Brooda jrod es no de Staut jefoaren (He says that his brother has just gone to the city). Observe: the verb precedes a prepositional phrase, but an adverb is still placed before it.