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Based on that definition Dutch also wouldn’t be a different language but a dialect within High German called Franconian. Now try telling Dutch people that the
by ffgjgf1 3y ago
Based on that definition Dutch also wouldn’t be a different language but a dialect within High German called Franconian.
Now try telling Dutch people that they don’t actually have their own language and are all speaking Low Country German and see what happens…
Most distinctions between dialects and languages are socio-political and not linguistic.
There is a similar continuum between North/Low German and Frisian. Yet you cross a border and just like Dutch/Franconian it’s no longer a dialect but a different language.
- BSDobelix 3y agoLet's see what happens if you tell them that we all talk Indo-European ;) Except Hungary, Finnland and Estland
- acjohnson55 3y agoAccording to Wikipedia, Franconian is split between Low Franconian dialects, including Dutch, and the others, which underwent the same consonant shift as the High German languages. But I agree that the boundaries of languages are not purely linguistic.