Luxembourgish language

The Luxembourgian (in Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch; in German: Luxemburgisch; in French: luxembourgeois) is a West German language spoken in Luxembourg. It was adopted as an official language by that State in 1984, and is spoken by 66% of the population (52% native and 14% learned it as a second language). It is also spoken in small areas of Belgium, France, and Germany, as well as by a few descendants of Luxembourg immigrants, especially from the United States and Transylvania (Romania). There are about 300,000 Luxembourgish speakers around the world.

Historical, social and cultural aspects

Legal status

According to the law approved on February 24, 1984, the official national language in Luxembourg is Luxembourgish, although legal texts are written in French and the administrative language can be chosen between Luxembourgish, French and German. It is not considered an official language of the EU (European Union).

In Belgium it is recognized as a regional language in Wallonia.

Written Luxembourgish

Luxembourgish uses the Latin alphabet with twenty-six letters plus é, ä, ë. For some loanwords from German and French, letters from these languages are used, such as: î (boîte), ê (enquête) and û (piqûre); ö (blöd), ü (Büro).

Standardization

Proposals to standardize the spelling of Luxembourgish can be documented from the late XIX century, although the adoption of &# 34;OLO" (Ofizjel Letzebuurjer Ortografi) was produced on June 5, 1946. This spelling, while unofficial, provided a system for speakers of all varieties of Luxembourgish to transcribe words according to their pronunciation, rejecting certain uses of German orthography, such as the use of "ä" and "ö", as well as the French spelling.

fiireje, rééjelen, shwèzt, veinejer (in German) vorigen, Regeln, schwätzt, weniger)

bültê, ♪, Shaarel, ssistém (in French) bulletin, emprunt, Charles, système)

In 2019, a new spelling reform of Luxembourgish was introduced.

Influences

Written Luxembourgish frequently shows a clear High German influence in syntax and idioms. Luxembourgish is still highly dependent on the German grammatical rule. Some words differ from standard German, but have equivalents in some German dialects. An example would be the word potato, which in Luxembourgish is Gromper, but which in French is pomme de terre and in German, Kartoffel .

Other words are unique to Luxembourgish, for example the word "fósforo", or "matchstick", which is Fixfeier. Today's German is called "Däitsch" or "Preisësch" (Prussian). Its most common use is in the press and at school.

Linguistic description

Language family

Luxembourgish belongs to the group of High Germanic languages, like Standard German, that is, they are closely related but historically different languages. Luxembourgish borrows many words from French, for example, bus driver is chauffeur de bus in French and Buschauffeur in Luxembourgish, while in German it is Busfahrer. It is relatively easy for a German to understand a Luxembourgish speaker, but much more difficult to try to speak it because of its French influence.

Some phrases

• Jo. Yeah. (Ja in German and Dutch)
• Nee. No. (Nein in German, Nee in Dutch)
• Villäicht. Maybe. (Vielleicht in German)
• Moien. Hi. (Moin in North German, Hallo in Dutch)
• Äddi. Bye. (Adieu in French)
• Merci. Thank you. (Merci in French)
• Watgelift?Excuse me? (Entschuldigung in German)
• Schwätzt dier Spuenesch/Franséisch/Englesch/Däitsch? Do you speak Spanish/French/English/German? (Sprechen Sie Spanisch/Französisch/Englisch/Deutsch? in German)

Spanish-Luxembourgish translations

• The Charter of Columbus (Dem Kolumbus säi Bréif). Translator Raoul van Gertz, philologist and translator of the European Parliament.
• The Bible RV1960 (D'Bibel RV1960). Translator S.Palmer based on technological translation tools.[2]