Where is low german spoken

Low German also looks and sounds very much like its sister language, Dutch. But what does this have to do with German genealogy? Well, the researcher might come across documents that have Low German features. Most commonly, it will be only names that are Low German, as most areas in Germany switched to High German for official purposes by If you see one of these surnames, you should believe that the family that carries the name is, or at least had ancestors, from northern Germany.

But, because people are now so mobile and move for various reasons, a name itself cannot tell you where a living person is from. However, the form of the name can give you a clue about the origin of an ancestor. Researchers will probably encounter Low German names when researching in northern Germany.

But will they encounter the Low German language itself? Since most officials switched to High German so early and there are not many records from before the switch that are of interest to the genealogist, the answer is probably no.

However, once in a while, a researcher will encounter a Low German document. What to do? How hard will it be to decipher and translate the document? These questions can be answered very simply. The difficulty in reading the document depends more on the handwriting than the language.

If you can read German or Dutch, you will have no trouble reading Low German. In fact, sometimes it is difficult, even impossible to tell whether a text is in Dutch or Low German.

That is because Hochdeutsch is based historically mainly on written dialects that were used in the High German dialect area, especially the East Central region where the modern German states of Saxony and Thuringia are located. This map shows the major German dialect regions in the first half of the twentieth century. The linguistic border between Low and High German is indicated by the thick red line running from west to east. The blue area north of the line is Low German.

Upper German dialects are further subdivided into three major groups, Alemannic in the west which includes Swabian and Swiss German, among other dialects , Bavarian-Austrian in the east, and East Franconian in the north.

Hatched lines indicate areas where dialects are mixed with one another. Below is a topographical map of modern Germany that clearly shows the different physical landscapes that correspond to the Low and High German dialect regions. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more.

Is Low German dialect still used in Germany? Ask Question. Asked 5 years ago. Active 2 years, 1 month ago. Viewed 3k times. Improve this question. Jan Armin Armin 1, 10 10 silver badges 21 21 bronze badges. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Takkat Takkat Thanks for illustrating map Takkat! Is it either as a formal written language in these areas?!

No it is spoken only Be warned that not every dialect indicated on the map is still actively used or even understood by the average person on the street.

In particular, the Westphalian dialects have died out during the last years in most of the orange colored regions of the map. It is not so hard to find books written in these dialects. Hence, the dialects are also used in writing. These dialects are not reflected in everyday writing Is that true though? What about SMS or messaging services? Don't people write in their dialects there, and aren't those the most representative kinds of everyday writing?

Show 4 more comments.