Bönnsch
| Bönnsch | |
|---|---|
| Region | City of Bonn and bordering areas of Rhein-Sieg district (Germany) |
|
Native speakers
|
(probably fewer than 50,000 active users; number of people with passive knowledge greater) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Bönnsch is a Ripuarian dialect of German, which is spoken in Bonn and the bordering municipalities.
Bönnsch is very similar to the more northern Kölsch of Cologne and distinct from the latter only in particular points. One can find a main difference and some other features, which however do not occur among all speakers or are being levelled more and more due to the influence of Standard German and also Kölsch itself (which is more present in culture and broadcasting).
In private life (family, friends, clubs, local pubs etc.), the dialect is still used relatively frequently in the region. However, it has almost vanished as a vernacular in public places. Almost all speakers of Bönnsch use an adapted kind of Standard German when talking to people who do not belong to their private circle of acquaintances (see Rhinelandic regiolect).
The main characteristic of Bönnsch in comparison to Kölsch is the absence of word-internal original diphthongs.
Ancient Germanic au and ai are realized [oʊ] and [eɪ] in Kölsch (similar to the vowels in English gold and take). In Bönnsch, they merge with the long vowels [oː] and [eː].
Note that these monophthongs do not occur word-finally. Thus both Bönnsch and Kölsch use zwei ("two") and Dau ("push").
In Standard German, ancient Germanic au und ai have been preserverd. However, Standard German later merged Germanic ū and ī with these diphthongs, which occurred neither in Bönnsch nor Kölsch. Therefore, some Standard German rhyming cuplets do not exist in the Ripuarian dialects. For example, standard heiß ~ weiß vs. Bönnsch heeß ~ wieß (English "hot" and "white"); standard kaufen ~ saufen vs. Bönnsch koofe ~ suffe (English "buy" and "drink").
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