Editing Eastphalian language

{{Short description|Low German dialect}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox language
|name        = Eastphalian
|nativename  = {{lang|nds|ostfälsch Platt}}<ref>e.g.:
''Ernste Klänge in plattdeutscher Mundart (niedersächsisch-ostfälisch.) Von Th. Reiche, Herausgeber der Monatsschrift „Muddersprake“.'' Verlag von Otto Salle, Braunschweig, 1891, p. 9, 44, 45</ref>
|states      = [[Germany]]
|region      = [[Lower Saxony]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]]
|speakers    = ?
|familycolor = Indo-European
|fam2        = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3        = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4        = [[North Sea Germanic]]
|fam5        = [[Low German]]
|fam6        = [[Low Saxon|West Low German]]
|map         = NDS_dialekten.PNG
|mapcaption  = Eastphalian in yellow within the [[Low German]] language area after 1945
|iso3=none
|glotto=east2290
|glottorefname=Eastphalian
}}

'''Eastphalian''', or '''Eastfalian''' ({{langx|de|Ostfälisch}}, Eastphalian and Low Saxon: ''ostfälsch Platt''), is a [[Low German]] language spoken in southeastern parts of [[Lower Saxony]] and western parts of [[Saxony-Anhalt]] in [[Germany]].

==Geographical extent==
The language area between the [[Weser]] and [[Elbe]] rivers stretches from the [[Lüneburg Heath]] in the north to the [[Harz]] mountain range and [[Weser Uplands]] in the south. It comprises the [[Hanover Region]], [[Brunswick Land|Brunswick]] and [[Calenberg Land]] as well as the [[Magdeburg Börde]], including the cities of [[Hanover]], [[Braunschweig]], [[Hildesheim]], [[Göttingen]] and [[Magdeburg]]. It roughly corresponds with the historic region of [[Eastphalia]].

==Classification==
Eastphalian as a separate dialect was determined by 19th century [[linguistics]], tracing it back to [[Old Saxon]] variants spoken in eastern parts of the medieval [[stem duchy]] of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]]. Towards the Elbe region in the southeast, the language area is increasingly influenced by the [[High German consonant shift]].

==Features==
The most prominent characteristic in Eastphalian is the object pronouns ''mek'' and ''dek'' in contrast to ''mi'' and ''di'' in Northern Lower Saxon, respectively for High German [[wikt:ich|''mir'' and ''mich'']] resp. [[wikt:du|''dir'' and ''dich'']]), as well as ''öhne'', ''ösch''/''össek'' and ''jöck'' (Northern Low German ''em, u[n]s, jo [ju],'' High German ''ihm/ihn, uns, euch''). Although Eastphalian agrees with many Low German dialects (with exceptions, e.g., in southern Westphalian) in that the dative has coincided with the accusative in the forms mentioned, its peculiarity is shown by the fact that the accusative has prevailed over the dative in all of these forms (in Northern Low Saxon it is the other way around).  In Eastphalian, an accusative of the first person plural has been preserved with the form ''üsch'' and southern Eastphalian ''össek'' (cf. Old High German ''unsih,'' Old English ''ūsic'' [besides ''ūs''], also [[High Alemannic]] ''üs'', [[Southern Bavarian|südbairisch]] ''ins'' in Upper German).

Much like in most Dutch Low Saxon variants, the e-apocope, i.e. the omission of the ''-e'' at the end of the word, as took place in North Lower Saxon, was entirely absent in Eastphalian. Thus, the ablaut ''-e'' in words like ''Sprake'' (language, speech) and ''Wiele'' (while) remains and is not dropped. Furthermore, the ''-e'' is also preserved in nouns in the nominative case, where High German no longer has them either, such as in Harte (heart), Frue (woman), Herre (man), Bäre (bear). The same is true for many adjectives, such as dicke (fat, thick) and wisse (clear, fast; cf. German ''gewiss'') and substantivizing endings such as -unge and -nisse, as well as for the older form -ig(e) {{International Phonetic Alphabet|['ɪjə]}}/ {{International Phonetic Alphabet|['ɪç]}}, which developed from Middle Low German ''-inge''. The ''-e'' ending has also survived for nouns in the dative case. Thus, for example, ''uppen Felle'' (on the field).<ref name=":2">{{citation|author=Emil Mackel|date=1938|oclc=699880357|publisher=Lax|title=Die Mundart zwischen Hildesheimer Wald und Ith: die heimische Mundart}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

Another feature of Eastphalian is the residual preservation of the prefix ''ge-'' as ''e-'' in the participle II (past participle) of verbs; since this prefix has also been lost in the very Northern regions of Eastphalia, e.&nbsp;g., for example, in Celle its ''wään'' ("been") is opposed to southern ''ewää(se)n'' {{IPA|mis|əˈvɛː(z)n̩|}}, or ''ewest'' {{IPA|mis|əˈvɛst|}}. However, this prefix is dropped if the previous word already ends in a schwa like ''-e'' or ''-er''.<ref name=":3">{{citation|author=Klaus Freise|date=2010|edition=2., erw. Aufl|isbn=978-3-86955-472-3|location=Göttingen|title=Hildesheimer Platt Wörterbuch, Aussprache, Grammatik und plattdeutsche Geschichten}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> Again, this is very similar to most Dutch Low Saxon varieties classified as Westfalian.

Another striking difference between Eastphalian and all other Low German dialects is the absence (or undoing) of sound expansion in open syllable before ''-el, -en, -er'' in the following syllable, e.&nbsp;g. Eastphalian ''Löppel'' {{IPA|mis|ˈlœpl̩|}}, ''betten'' {{IPA|mis|ˈbɛtn̩|}}, ''Pepper'' {{IPA|mis|ˈpɛpɐ|}} ("spoon, bit, pepper") versus Northern Low Saxon ''Läpel'' {{IPA|nds|ˈlɛːpl̩|}}, ''bäten'' {{IPA|nds|ˈbɛːtn̩|}}, ''Päper'' {{IPA|nds|ˈpɛːpɐ|}}.<ref name=":4">{{citation|author=Thomas, Ulfikowski|date=1991|location=Göttingen|publisher=Universität Göttingen, Magisterarbeit|title=Zur Mundart von Borsum, Landkreis Hildesheim: eine phonologisch-morphologische Untersuchung}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> 

Eastphalian also takes its own position in equalizing Old Saxon phonetic positions, especially in reducing vowels distinguished in open syllables, by simplifying more than Westphalian (which has no reduction in its southern dialects), but not going as far as the core area of Northern Lower Saxon (where only three of the original eight vowel phonemes remain). Despite the diversity of the sounds in detail, most of the Eastphalian dialects thus have a common sound system. (In this case, besides the Heide-Eastphalian the Göttingisch-Grubenhagen-Eastphalian - which in this case is in the same position as the East-Westphalian - is left out).

Another thing to mention is that prepositions in most of Eastphalian do not contain an umlaut. These include ''for'' {{IPA|mis|ˈfɔr|}}, ''unner'' {{IPA|mis|ˈʊnər|}} and ''over'' {{IPA|mis|ˈɛo̯vər|label=(Hildesheim)|}}, as opposed to Northern Lower Saxon ''för'', ''ünner'' and ''över''.

==Subdivisions==
* Elbe Eastphalian (around [[Oschersleben]] and [[Haldensleben]] in the Magdeburg Börde between [[Helmstedt]] and Magdeburg)
* Göttingisch-Grubenhagensch (around Göttingen, [[Northeim]] and [[Osterode am Harz]]
* Heide Eastphalian (around [[Celle]], with Northern Low Saxon elements)
* Central Eastphalian is the Eastphalian subdialect spoken in a large area surrounding Braunschweig and Hanover.
** Hildesheimsch (from around [[Hildesheim]] and [[Peine]] up to [[Braunschweig]])
** Hannoversch (in the city of [[Hannover]])
** Calenbergsch (west of [[Hannover]])
** Einbecksch (around [[Einbeck]])
** Bronswieksch (in the city of [[Braunschweig]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ostfälisch|Eastphalian dialect}}

{{Germanic languages}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastphalian Language}}
[[Category:Low German]]
[[Category:German dialects]]
[[Category:Languages of Germany]]
[[Category:Saxony-Anhalt]]
[[Category:Culture of Lower Saxony]]
[[Category:Culture in Braunschweig]]