Hi Group:
I have been following the discussion of high and Low German with
interest. In particular, I was pleased to read Jürgen's thumbnail
etymological sketch of the various dialects spoken in Germany.
In the US there are strong regional differences in spoken English,
such as, for example, those that exist in the South and Southwest,
and the East Coast. Among these regions are some subtle
differences. Those I am familiar with are Chicago accents
distinguishing some long-time South Side residents from North
Shore suburban residents.
I am sure a student of these differences can differentiate between
the speech of someone from New Jersey, from Brooklyn, upstate
New York, or areas in and around Boston, etc.
I was amazed and amused to find that the Web site referred to by
John Rodenburg lists a page written in Appalachian. (Why not a
page in Back Bay Bostonian.) We learn language as children at
the knees of our parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It's not
surprising therefore that Appalachian speech peculiarites, or any
others for that matter, are preserved in the remote hollows of these
mountains or the neighborhoods of major cities.
Brush up my German? One year of college German and one
quarter of scientific German 52 years ago do not permit me to read
the submissions in German with ease. Most of the words are in my
smallish German-English Science dictionary that I must consult
frequently to get the full meaning of the German.
Gene