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Definition of Low German

1. Noun. A German dialect spoken in northern Germany.

Definition of Low German

1. Proper noun. A specific language, spoken in Northern Germany and the Netherlands and formerly widely spoken in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Kaliningrad, Russia. Ancestors are Middle Low German and Old Saxon. ¹

2. Proper noun. (linguistics) Any of a number of West Germanic languages, primarily spoken in northern Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, that did not undergo the High German consonant shift; the group thereof. ¹

3. Proper noun. (nonstandard) Any German dialect that is not the official standard, although they are usually only referred to as "Platt". ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Low German

Literary usage of Low German

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"From the beginning, two main groups may be distinguished: High German and Low German, the former spoken in the hilly and mountainous midland ..."

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"From Saxon the later Low German dialects (Niederdeutsche Mundarten) have sprung. The members of the third group (generally designated as ..."

3. A Grammar of the German Language: Designed for a Thoro and Practical Study by George Oliver Curme (1922)
"The confusion was increased by the fact that the people of North Germany spoke a form of Low German, a quite different language indeed. ..."

4. Macmillan's Magazine by David Masson, George Grove, John Morley, Mowbray Morris (1864)
"The Germans of Schleswig-Holstein are Saxons, and all true Saxons speak Low German,- and Low German is more different from High German than English is from ..."

5. On Early English Pronunciation: With Special Reference to Shakespeare and by Alexander John Ellis, William Salesbury, Johann Andreas Schmeller, Francis James Child, Alexander Barclay, Johan Winkler (1874)
"English is a Low German language, much altered in its present condition, ... On the flat lands in the Netherlands and North Germany the Low German language ..."

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