Limburgish Language - Etymology

Etymology

The name Limburgish (and variants of it) derives only indirectly from the now Belgian town of Limbourg (Laeboer in Limburgish, IPA: /ˈlæːbuʁ/), which was the capital of the Duchy of Limburg during the Middle Ages. More directly it is derived from the more modern name of the Province of Limburg (1815-1839) in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has been split today into a Belgian Limburg and a Dutch Limburg. In the area around the old Duchy of Limburg the main language today is French, but there is also a particular Limburgish (or Limburgish like, depending on definitions) language which is sometimes referred to as "Low Dietsch".

People from Limburg usually call their language Plat, the same as Low Germans do. This plat refers simply to the fact that the language is spoken in the low plains country, as opposed to High in High German, derived from dialects spoken in the more mountainous southerly regions. The word can also be associated with platteland (Dutch: 'countryside'). The general Dutch term for the language of ordinary people in former ages was Dietsch, or Duutsch, as it still exists in the term Low Dietsch (Plattdütsch). This term is originally derived from old Germanic "thiudisch", meaning, "of the people" (this word has also been preserved in the Italian word for German, which is "Tedesco").

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