Today
True Westphalian is currently only spoken by mostly elderly people. The majority of the Westphalian population speak instead a local variety of standard German with a Westphalian accent. This accent, however, does not stand out as much as for example Bavarian, due to the fact that Westphalia is closer to the Hanover region, whose speech variety is generally considered to be standard modern German.
One of the reasons for the diminishing use of Westphalian is the rigorous enforcement of German-only policies in traditionally Low German-speaking areas during the 18th century. Westphalian, and Low German in general, unlike many of the Middle German dialects, were too distant from standard German to be considered dialects and were therefore not tolerated and efforts were made to stamp it out. In an extreme case, Hanover and its hinterland were forced to adopt rather unnaturally a form of German based on the written standard.
Nevertheless, the Westphalian dialect of German includes some words that originate from the dying Westphalian language, which are otherwise unintelligible for other German speakers from outside Westphalia. Examples include Pölter, "pajamas", Plörre "dirty liquid", and Mötke "mud, dirt".
Read more about this topic: Westphalian Language
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered, that much was accomplished, and much was begun in us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)