Английская Википедия:Bönnsch dialect
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Hatnote Шаблон:Infobox language
Bönnsch is a Ripuarian dialect of German, which is spoken in Bonn and the bordering municipalities.
Bönnsch is very similar to the more northern Kölsch of Cologne and distinct from the latter only in particular points. One can find a main difference and some other features, which however do not occur among all speakers or are being levelled more and more due to the influence of Standard German and also Kölsch itself (which is more present in culture and broadcasting).
In private life (family, friends, clubs, local pubs etc.), the dialect is still used relatively frequently in the region. However, it has almost vanished as a vernacular in public places. Almost all speakers of Bönnsch use an adapted kind of Standard German when talking to people who do not belong to their private circle of acquaintances (see Rhinelandic regiolect).
Characteristical monophthongization
The main characteristic of Bönnsch in comparison to Kölsch is the absence of word-internal original diphthongs.
Ancient Germanic au and ai are realized Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA in Kölsch (similar to the vowels in English gold and take). In Bönnsch, they merge with the long vowels Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA.
| English | Standard German | Kölsch | Bönnsch |
|---|---|---|---|
| "to walk" | laufen Шаблон:IPA-de | laufe Шаблон:IPA-ksh | loofe Шаблон:IPA |
| "eye" | Auge Шаблон:IPA-de | Auch Шаблон:IPA-ksh | Ooch Шаблон:IPA |
| "to be called" | heißen Шаблон:IPA-de | heiße Шаблон:IPA-ksh | heeße Шаблон:IPA |
| "one" | eins Шаблон:IPA-de | ein Шаблон:IPA-ksh | een Шаблон:IPA |
Note that these monophthongs do not occur word-finally. Thus both Bönnsch and Kölsch use zwei ("two") and Dau ("push").
In Standard German, ancient Germanic au und ai have been preserverd. However, Standard German later merged Germanic ū and ī with these diphthongs, which occurred neither in Bönnsch nor Kölsch. Therefore, some Standard German rhyming couplets do not exist in the Ripuarian dialects. For example, standard heiß ~ weiß vs. Bönnsch heeß ~ wieß (English "hot" and "white"); standard kaufen ~ saufen vs. Bönnsch koofe ~ suffe (English "buy" and "drink").
Contrariwise, Kölsch often contracts the combinations ir and ur into Шаблон:IPA and Шаблон:IPA. In this case, Bönnsch preserves two diphthongs which emerged through vocalization of r. Thus one says Vierdel Шаблон:IPA instead of Kölsch Шаблон:Lang ("quarter") and hä wurd Шаблон:IPA instead of Kölsch Шаблон:Lang ("he became").
Other features
Some Bönnsch speakers do not distinguish the grammatical endings -e and -er and pronounce both of them Шаблон:IPA (as in English antenna). This peculiarity is declining in actual usage, but is still well known as a typical feature of Bönnsch.
As many Rhinelandic language varieties, when compare to Standard German, Bönnsch phonetically distinguishes much less between the phonemes Шаблон:IPAslink and Шаблон:IPAslink. Contrary to Kölsch, both appear like Шаблон:IPA in Bönnsch, at least to non-Bönnsch listeners. Whether or not there are still two different phonemes in Bönnsch, which are distinguished at least by natives, is an open question.
The auxiliary verb sinn ("to be") traditionally uses the infinitive form for the 1st person singular of the present tense, thus: ich sinn for "I am". Kölsch uses ich ben, which is closer to Standard German (bin) and therefore has become quite common in Bonn as well.
For historical reasons, the Bönnsch vocabulary has a rural imprint and has preserved some Middle High German words, which have long died out in the urban Kölsch. Moreover, the Bönnsch pronunciation is thought to be softer and its intonation is considered to be (even) more rhythmic than that of Kölsch. However, such characteristics are difficult to measure and may vary greatly among speakers.
Finally, there are different forms for individual words, e.g. Bönnsch att instead of Kölsch allt ("already"), donn instead of dunn ("to do"), ühr doot instead of ehr deit ("you [all] do"), du siss instead of do sühs ("thou seest").
Examples
In German studies, the German dialects are characterized and compared to each other by means of the so-called Wenker sentences. The first three of these forty sentences are rendered in Bönnsch as follows.
- Шаблон:Lang − In winter, the dry leaves are flying around in the air.
- Шаблон:Lang − It will soon stop snowing, then the weather is getting better again.
- Шаблон:Lang − Put (pieces of) coal in the oven so that the milk will start boiling soon.
Bibliography
External links
- Complete list of the Wenker sentences in Bönnsch
- Example of spoken Bönnsch
- Small Bönnsch-dictionary (in German language)
