Today
True Westphalian is currently only spoken by mostly elderly people. The majority of the Westphalian population speak instead a local variety of standard German with a Westphalian accent. This accent, however, does not stand out as much as for example Bavarian, due to the fact that Westphalia is closer to the Hanover region, whose speech variety is generally considered to be standard modern German.
One of the reasons for the diminishing use of Westphalian is the rigorous enforcement of German-only policies in traditionally Low German-speaking areas during the 18th century. Westphalian, and Low German in general, unlike many of the Middle German dialects, were too distant from standard German to be considered dialects and were therefore not tolerated and efforts were made to stamp it out. In an extreme case, Hanover and its hinterland were forced to adopt rather unnaturally a form of German based on the written standard.
Nevertheless, the Westphalian dialect of German includes some words that originate from the dying Westphalian language, which are otherwise unintelligible for other German speakers from outside Westphalia. Examples include Pölter, "pajamas", Plörre "dirty liquid", and Mötke "mud, dirt".
Read more about this topic: Westphalian Language
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“Even today a crude sort of persecution is all that is required to create an honorable name for any sect, no matter how indifferent in itself.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“A good book is the best of friends, the same today and for ever.”
—Martin Tupper (1810–1889)
“The most original authors of today are original not because they create something new but because they are capable of saying such things as if they had never been said before.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)