Southeast Limburgish dialect

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{{Dutch dialects}}

Variants of Southeast Limburgish are spoken around Kerkrade, Bocholtz and Vaals in the Netherlands. Closely related Ripuarian varieties are spoken in Herzogenrath and Aachen in Germany and Raeren and Eynatten in Belgium.

{{improve|reason=Duplicates Kerkrade dialect#Phonology and Kerkrade dialect phonology, but gives a slightly different transcription (e.g. ʁ vs. ɣ)|date=September 2023}}

{{main|Kerkrade dialect phonology}}

As most other dialects of Ripuarian and Limburgish, Southeast Limburgish features a distinction between the thrusting tone ({{langx|nl|stoottoon}}, {{langx|de|Schärfung}} or {{lang|de|Stoßton}}), which has a shortening effect on the syllable (not shown in transcriptions in this article) and the slurring tone ({{langx|nl|sleeptoon}}, {{langx|de|Schleifton}}). In this article, the slurring tone is transcribed as a high tone, whereas the thrusting tone is left unmarked. This is nothing more than a convention, as the phonetics of the Southeast Limburgish pitch accent are severely under-researched. There are minimal pairs, for example {{lang|ksh|moer}} {{IPA|/ˈmuːʀ/}} 'wall' - {{lang|ksh|moer}} {{IPA|/ˈmúːʀ/}} 'carrot' in the Kerkrade dialect.{{cite web|last1=Fournier|first1=Rachel|last2=Gussenhoven|first2=Carlos|last3=Peters|first3=Jörg|last4=Swerts|first4=Marc|last5=Verhoeven|first5=Jo|title=The tones of Limburg|url=http://www.let.ru.nl/gep/jp/TonenLimburg_engels.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226145130/http://www.let.ru.nl/gep/jp/TonenLimburg%20engels.html|archive-date=26 February 2012|access-date=26 February 2012}}{{sfnp|Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer|1997|p=19}}

The sounds corresponding to Limburgish {{IPA|/x, ɣ/}} are very back after back vowels, being uvular {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|χ}}, {{IPAplink|ʁ}}]}} (as in Luxembourgish), rather than velar as in Limburgish. In fact, there is not much of a difference between {{IPA|/ʁ/}} and {{IPA|/ʀ/}} in the Kerkrade dialect.{{sfnp|Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer|1997|p=17}}{{sfnp|Gilles|Trouvain|2013|p=68}}

Most instances of historical {{IPA|/ɡ/}} ({{IPA|/ɣ/}} in Limburgish and (southern) Standard Dutch) have merged with {{IPA|/j/}}, so that the word for green in the Kerkrade dialect is {{lang|ksh|jreun}} {{IPA|/ˈjʀøːn/}} (compare Standard Dutch {{lang|nl|groen}} {{IPA|/ˈɣrun/}}).{{sfnp|Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer|1997|pp=17, 126}} The dialect of Lemiers is much more similar to the dialect of Vaals than the dialect spoken in Vijlen (called {{lang|li|Vieleter}} or {{lang|li|Vielender}}) as the former features the High German consonant shift. In Lemiers, the etymological {{IPA|/ɡ/}} ({{IPA|/ɣ/}} in Limburgish and southern Standard Dutch) has not fully shifted to {{IPA|/j/}} in consonant clusters. Thus, the word for big (Standard Dutch {{lang|nl|groot}} {{IPA|nl|ˈɣroːt|}}), varies between {{IPA|[ˈɣʁuəs]}} and {{IPA|[ˈjʁuəs]}}. A Limburgish dialectologist Will Kohnen recommends the spelling {{lang|ksh|jroeës}} to cover this variation (cf. Vieleter {{lang|li|groeët}}). In Kerkrade, the shift has been completed and so only the form {{IPA|[ˈjʀuəs]}} occurs.{{sfnp|Kohnen|2003|p=1}}{{sfnp|Bodelier|2011|p=11}}

The palatal {{IPAblink|ç}} is an allophone of {{IPA|/χ/}} after consonants, the front vowels and the close-mid central {{IPA|/ø/}}, which phonologically is a front vowel.{{sfnp|Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer|1997|p=17}} In some dialects, {{IPAblink|ç}} is fronted, which may result in a merger with {{IPAblink|ʃ}}. That is the case in the dialect of Vaals, in which the first person singular pronoun is {{lang|ksh|iesj}} {{IPA|[iʃ]}}, rather than {{lang|li|ich}} {{IPA|[ɪç]}} or {{lang|li|iech}} {{IPA|[iç]}} found in other dialects of Limburgish. In Aachen, {{IPAblink|ç}} is also fronted but without a merger with {{IPAblink|ʃ}}, with the resulting sound being {{IPAblink|ɕ}}, as it used to be the case in Luxembourgish (which is rapidly transitioning towards a full merger). The two sounds are not distinguished in Rheinische Dokumenta.

Before consonants and pauses, {{IPA|/ʀ/}} may be vocalized to {{IPAblink|ɐ}}, especially in Germany. Thus, the name of the Aachen dialect in the dialect itself is {{lang|ksh|Öcher Platt}} {{IPA|[ˈœɕɐ ˈplɑt]}}. In the Netherlands, the consonantal pronunciation is more likely to occur.

• The short close-mid vowels {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/ø/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} in {{lang|ksh|visje}} {{IPA|/ˈveʃə/}}, {{lang|ksh|sjuts}} {{IPA|/ˈʃøts/}} and {{lang|ksh|hóste}} {{IPA|/ˈɦostə/}} are the same as Limburgish {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ʏ/}} and {{IPA|/ʊ/}}. The difference lies in transcription, not in realization. The latter transcription is rooted in Standard Dutch spelling, in which the tense {{IPA|/i/}} (spelled {{angbr|ie}}) and {{IPA|/y/}} (spelled {{angbr|u(u)}}) contrast with their lax counterparts {{IPA|/ɪ/}} (spelled {{angbr|i}}) and {{IPA|/ʏ/}} (spelled {{angbr|u}}) purely by quality. In Standard German, the tense {{IPA|/iː, yː, uː/}} (spelled {{angbr|i(e), ü(h), u(h)}}) contrast with the lax {{IPA|/ɪ, ʏ, ʊ/}} (spelled {{angbr|i, ü, u}}) mainly by length, with the quality difference being secondary. In Western Germany (where Ripuarian in spoken), they are often close {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|i}}, {{IPAplink|y}}, {{IPAplink|u}}]}}, mapping onto Ripuarian {{IPA|/i, y, u/}}, whereas the vowels in {{lang|ksh|visje}}, {{lang|ksh|sjuts}} and {{lang|ksh|hóste}} are perceived as in-between the local realizations of Standard German {{IPA|/ɪ, ʏ, ʊ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛ, œ, ɔ/}}, which is why they are spelled {{angbr|e, ö, o}} ({{lang|ksh|vesche}}, {{lang|ksh|schötz}}, {{lang|ksh|hoste}})
• {{IPA|/ə/}} occurs only in unstressed syllables.
• {{IPA|/aː/}} is a phonological back vowel like {{IPA|/ɑ/}}, and the two function as a long–short pair. The former is phonetically central {{IPAblink|äː}}, whereas the latter is a genuine back vowel {{IPAblink|ɑ}}.{{sfnp|Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer|1997|pp=15, 18}} In other Ripuarian varieties, the latter may also be central {{IPAblink|ä}}, and for this reason it may be transcribed with {{angbr IPA|a}}.

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite thesis

|last=Bodelier

|first=Jorina

|year=2011

|title=Tone and intonation in the Lemiers dialect of Ripuarian

|type=MA General Linguistics Thesis

|place=Amsterdam

|publisher=University of Amsterdam

}}

• {{Citation

|last1=Gilles

|first1=Peter

|last2=Trouvain

|first2=Jürgen

|year=2013

|title=Luxembourgish

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=43

|issue=1

|pages=67–74

|doi=10.1017/S0025100312000278

|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3C9FB295A261FD6F28D694252B06B4A3/S0025100312000278a.pdf/luxembourgish.pdf

|doi-access=free

}}

• {{Cite web

|last=Kohnen

|first=Will

|year=2003

|title=Sjpelling 2003 van 't Vieleter, Völser en Lemieësjer in 't kót

|url=http://www.limburgsedialecten.nl/download/vieleter1notedop.pdf

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501170338/http://www.limburgsedialecten.nl/download/vieleter1notedop.pdf

|archive-date=1 May 2019

|access-date=13 August 2022

}}

• {{Cite book

|author=Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer

|year=1997

|orig-year=1987

|title=Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer

|language=nl

|edition=2nd

|place=Kerkrade

|publisher=Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer

|isbn=90-70246-34-1

}}

{{refend}}

Category:West Germanic languages

Category:Limburgish language

Category:Low Franconian languages

Category:Ripuarian language