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East Pomeranian dialect

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East Pomeranian
Native toDiaspora of German expellees in the Americas; formerly Province of Pomerania
Native speakers
Native: ≅ 300.000
Official status
Official language in
Brazil (11 municipalities)
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-2nds for Low German
ISO 639-3nds for Low German
Glottologeast2293

East Pomeranian (Ostpommersch), Farther Pomeranian (Hinterpommersch) or just Pomeranian (Pomerisch) is an East Low German dialect moribund in Europe, which used to be spoken in the region of Farther Pomerania when it was part of the German Province of Pomerania, until World War II, and today is part of Poland. Currently, the language survives mainly in Brazil, where it is spoken by descendants of German immigrants of the 19th century and where it was given its own orthography by the linguist Ismael Tressmann. It has co-official status in 11 Brazilian municipalities and has been recognized as a historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo.

Nowadays, spoken East Pomeranian in Brazil has mostly been influenced by Portuguese language and Hunsrik, a German dialect derived from the Hunsrückisch native to Brazil. It excludes the dialect spoken in the United States, known as Wisconsin Pomeranian, which was influenced by the English language. East Pomeranian was also reported to have been spoken in Australia.[1]

East Pomeranian brought to the United States was spoken in central Wisconsin, Upstate New York, and parts of Iowa. The number of speakers of Wisconsin Pomeranian has decreased significantly and the dialect is moribund, now primarily spoken between Lincoln and Marathon counties in Wisconsin. It estimated that there are less than 500 speakers, who are all over the age of 60.[2]

European Pomeranian

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East Pomeranian is a Low Saxon language that originated from medieval German settlement in Pomerania. In Farther Pomerania, Low Saxon and Westphalian Germans settled along the coast while the highlands of Farther Pomerania were settled by Brandenburgians. West Frisians and Mennonites later settled in the region as well, speaking related languages.[3] After World War II, virtually all of the East Pomeranian speaking Germans were expelled from Pomerania, making it extinct in its former range.

The five dialects of East Pomeranian in Europe were:

  • Central Pomeranian, which was formerly spoken from between the Wipper and Stolpe Rivers to the eastern edge of the Northeastern dialect area. Out of the other dialects it covered the largest area with a subdialect of Central Pomeranian extending from Swinemünde to Treptow an der Rega, while another was spoken along the coast in Kolberg, Köslin, and Belgard an der Persante. Inland, the cities of Naugard, Regenwalde, Schivelbein, and Neustettin were within the Central dialect area. Brazilian Pomeranian predominantly exhibits features of Central Pomeranian.
  • Southern Pomeranian, which was formerly spoken in the former districts of Saatzig and Dramburg.
  • Southeastern Pomeranian, spoken around Bublitz and north of Neustettin.
  • Northeastern Pomeranian, spoken around Schlawe, Stolp, Rummelsburg, Bütow, Leba and Lauenburg. Wisconsin Pomeranian was close to the Northeastern dialect with influence from the Central dialect.
  • Belbucker, which consisted of dialects spoken around Belbuck Abbey, centered in the Greifenburg district. These dialects were related to the ones spoken around Dramburg.

The dialects have also been described as:

  • West Prussian ( Westpreußisch), spoken in West Prussia.
  • Eastern Further Pomeranian (Osthinterpommersch), spoken in eastern Farther Pomerania
  • Western Further Pomeranian (Westhinterpommersch), spoken in western Farther Pomerania.
  • Bublitzisch, spoken in Bublitz.
  • Pomerelian (Pommerellisch), spoken in the Pomerelia region.

Further east, there was a Low Prussian-East Pomeranian transitional dialect (Übergangsmundart zum Ostpommerschen) that was not intelligible with Pomeranian. The transition zone ended approximately at Chojnice.[4][5]

Brazilian Pomeranian

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Pomeranian language sample
Audio recording of a native Pomeranian speaker from Espírito Santo, Brazil, recorded in 1983.
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Municipalities in which the East Pomeranian dialect has co-official status in Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Whereas Pomeranian has become moribund in Europe and the United States, it is still actively spoken and taught in Brazil. The Pomeranian School Education Program (PROEPO) was set up in 2008 by Ismael Tressmann and promotes the language throughout Espírito Santo and trains teachers on Pomeranian language instruction.[6]

Espírito Santo

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Minas Gerais

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Santa Catarina

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Rio Grande do Sul

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Rondônia

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Grammar

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Verbs

Conjugation patterns of Brazilian Pomeranian[23]

verbs breeka, to break" häwa, "to have" wila, "to want/ to become" måka, "to make" bruuka, "to need" raupa, "to call/ to shout" srijga "to scream"
Infinitive breeka häwa wila måka bruuka raupa srijga
Participle Past brooka hat wud måkt bruukt roopa sreega
Indicative Present Singular 1st person breek häw wil måk bruuk raup srijg
2nd person breekst häst wist mökst bruukst raupst srigst
3rd person breekt hät wil mök bruukt raupt srijgt
Plural breeka häwa wila måka bruuka raupa srijga
Past Singular 1st person braik haar wu maik brüükt raip sreig
2nd person braikst haast wust maikst brüükst raipst sreigst
3rd Person braik haar wu maik brüükt raip sreigt
Plural braika haara wula maika brüüka raipa sreiga

Phonology

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Source:[23]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Unrounded Rounded
short long short long short long short long
Close ɪ iˑ ʏ yˑ ʊ uˑ
Mid ə
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɛˑ œ (ɐ) ɔ ɔˑ
Open aː ɑ

Diphthongs

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Ending point
Front Back
Near-close ui̯
Mid ei̯ oi̯ ø:i̯ ou̯
Open ɑi̯ ɑu̯

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar/
Uvular		 Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive Fortis p t k (ʔ)
Lenis b d ɡ
Affricate Fortis (ts) (tʃ)
Lenis (dʒ)
Fricative Fortis f s ʃ (ç) (ʝ) (x) (ɣ) h (ɦ)
Lenis v z (ʒ)
Approximant (β) l (ʎ) j (w)
Rhotic r

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "A Pátria renascida" [The Homeland Reborn]. GloboRural (in Portuguese). March 1, 2009. Archived from the original on 2015-11-21.
  2. ↑ Dux, Ryan (2025). "Wisconsin Pomeranian Low German". YGAS (6): 5–36. doi:10.17161/ygas.vi.24237.
  3. ↑ Rudolf Benl: Die deutsche Besiedlung Pommerns. In: Werner Buchholz (Hrsg.): Pommern. Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas. Berlin 1999, S. 48–75
  4. ↑ "German Language Reclassification | Free Media Productions - Editorials". www.freemediaproductions.info. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  5. ↑ Peter Wiesinger : The classification of German dialects. In: Dialectology. A handbook on German and general dialect research. Edited by Werner Besch, Ulrich Knoop, Wolfgang Putschke and Herbert Ernst Wiegand. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1983, p. 887 
  6. ↑ Euclydes, Cristiana (September 3, 2014). "Espírito Santo investe na preservação da língua pomerana" [Espírito Santo invests in the preservation of the Pomeranian language]. dw.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  7. ↑ Lei 2.069 de 2013, Câmara Municipal de Afonso Cláudio
  8. ↑ A escolarização entre descendentes pomeranos em Domingos Martins Archived December 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 O povo pomerano no ES Archived December 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  10. 1 2 "A co-oficialização da língua pomerana" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-21. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  11. ↑ Município de Itarana participa de ações do Inventário da Língua Pomerana, Prefeitura Municipal de Itarana
  12. ↑ «Lei Municipal nº 1.195/2016 de Itarana/ES». itarana.es.gov.br
  13. ↑ Pomerano!?, acessado em August 21, de 2011
  14. ↑ No Brasil, pomeranos buscam uma cultura que se perde Archived March 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, acessado em August 21, de 2011
  15. ↑ Lei dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua pomerana no município de Santa maria de Jetibá, Estado do Espírito Santo Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ Vila Pavão, Uma Pomerânia no norte do Espirito Santo, acessado em August 21, de 2011
  17. ↑ Lei Municipal Nº 387, de 19 de Maio de 2022, Dispõe sobre a cooficialização da Língua Pomerana, à Língua Portuguesa, no Município de Itueta - MG
  18. ↑ Lei Nº 2.907, de 23 de maio de 2017 - Dispõe sobre a co-oficialização da língua pomerana à língua portuguesa no município de Pomerode.
  19. ↑ Pomerode institui língua alemã como co-oficial no Município. Archived May 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ "Bancada PP comenta cooficialização pomerana em Canguçu". OLXTOTO. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  21. ↑ Quadro do processo de cooficialização de línguas por municípios, IPOL
  22. ↑ LEI Nº 2.644, DE 11 DE ABRIL 2023, dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua pomerana no âmbito do município de Espigão do Oeste - Roraima
  23. 1 2 Postma, Gertjan (2018). Contrastive Grammar of Brazilian Pomeranian. Amsterdam: Meertens Institute. ISBN 9789027201454.
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