Low German
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Low German is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low"
City limit sign in Lower Saxony showing that Low German is closer to English for Altenbruch (meaning 'old bog/swamp'), an incorporated village of Cuxhaven. The name in Low German is Olenbrook.
Low German-speaking area before the expulsion of almost all Low German- and German-speakers from east of the Oder–Neisse line in 1945. Low German-speaking provinces of Germany east of the Oder, before 1945, were Pomerania with its capital Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland), where east of the Oder East Pomeranian dialects were spoken, and East Prussia with its capital Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), where Low Prussian dialects were spoken. Danzig (now
A public school in Witmarsum Colony (Paraná, Southern Brazil) teaches in the Portuguese language and in Plautdietsch.
Low German dialects around the world
Westphalian language
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Westphalian or Westfalish is one of the major dialect groups of Low German. Its most salient feature is its diphthongization. For example, speakers say iäten instead of etten or äten for "to eat".
Sign on the Wippe (punishment stone) in Soest: the text in the local Saust dialect reads: Wai sik an geld un guët vergriëpet, wäd in diën gräoten duik rinwippet ('Whoever steals money and possessions, will be tipped into this large pond').