Postby Priscian » 2006-05-02, 12:43
Can anyone check to see if this is correct. Yes, I realize it is only synoptic treatment of a complecated topic, but is an attempt to give an outline of Low Saxon.
Synopsis of Low Saxon Grammar
Low Saxon (Low German) is a Germanic language spoken primarily in northern Germany, eastern Netherlands, and by a large Diaspora (cf. Mennonites) in such places as Belize, Denmark, Mexico, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. There is no ‘standard’ for Low German, but it shows regional variation in regards to phonology and morphology. The orthography varies considerably, but generally the norm has been to approximate German spelling conventions.
Article: In Low Saxon there are two articles, definite and indefinite. The definite article shows gender, case, and number. i.e. masculine (de), feminine (de), or neuter (dat); the plural article (de) is identical for all genders and cases. The cases of the article are: nominative, possessive, and oblique. The indefinite article has the same basic form in for all genders and cases (n).
Noun: A noun identifies a person (Rudolf), thing (Book), place (Eerd), and concept (Glieknis). Nouns can show gender, masculine (de Mann), feminine (de Döör), and neuter (dat Huus). Plural in Low Saxon is formed by diverse ways, e.g. endings, vowels change, or no change at all (as a result the plural along with the grammatical gender needs to be memorized). Nouns, as in German, are capitalized, e.g. dat Riek, de Welt, dat Solt, etc.
Adjective: The adjectives give information about a noun, e.g. "Dat Huus is lüüt(et)." The adjectives agree with nouns in gender, number, and case, but frequently it is invariable. The adjective can also show degree of comparison (positive) stark, (comparative) starker and (superlative) starkest. The numerals are adjectives, een, twee, dree, veer, etc. (cardinals); erste. tweede. törde, veerde, fiefde, etc. (ordinals).
Adverb: The adverbs give information about a verb or an adjective, e.g. “Ik harr mien Vadder güstern seen.” “Dat Land is nicht groot.”Adverbs derived from adjectives use the base form (i.e. no inflectional endings).
Pronoun: The pronouns often take the place of a noun, e.g. ”Se list n’ englische Book.” instead of ”Anna list n’ englische Book.” The pronouns are declined into cases (nominative, possessive, and oblique) The pronouns in Low Saxon are: ik, mien, mi, (1st person. singular); wi us, us, (1st person plural); du, dien, di, (2nd person singular); ji, jun, ju, (2nd person plural); hi / se, sien / ehr, em / ehr, (3rd person singular, masculine and feminine); se, jemehr, jem, (3rd person plural). The reflexive pronoun for 3rd is sick (singular and plural).
Verb: The action word of the sentence is the verb, e.g. "He sä dat wi schülen dat Book lesen." Low Saxon verbs are either strong (irregular) or weak (regular). The verb can show mood (indicative, imperative, and infinitive), voice (active and passive), tense (time), person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd). The principal parts of a Low Saxon weak verb are infinitive(hüüren), present (hüür + endings), and past participle (hüürt); strong verbs have vowel change in the stem, e.g., dregen (infinitive); drigg + ending (present); droog (preterite); and dragen (past participle). The participle has root + t in regular verbs and a vowel change in stem of irregular verbs. Verbs can either be transitive, which take an object ("De Vadder snackt mit den Mann.") or intransitive, which do not take a direct object ("He schlöpt freutlich.").
Preposition: The prepositions show information about time, place, and directions, e.g. (time) um veer Uhr; (place) op n Barg; (direction) to den Schooster.
Conjunction: A conjunction joins together sentences or part of a sentence, e.g. “Peter un Hans hebben den Pizza eten, as Jim hett dat Water drunken.”
Interjection: An emotional outcry, e.g. “Oh ja, use Katt is ool!”
Arma virumque cano
Vergilius