Luxembourgish in Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a small but extremely wealthy part of Europe, and although French is the main language for legal and administrative purposes, German is commonly spoken too, whilst the traditional language of Luxembourgish has clear Germanic roots. Thousands of people descend on the city every day to work from the surrounding countries (Germany, France and The Netherlands), which contributes to the diverse linguistic culture of the city.

Luxembourgish includes words and phrases from both French and German; however, it is a Germanic language which can be traced back to the Indo-European family tree.

Examples of Luxembourgish

Luxembourgish	English	Explanation
Jo	Yes	This is very similar to ja in German
Merci	Thank you	Identical to French
Ech	I	Very similar to ich in German

 

A classic example of Luxembourgish can be found inscribed on one of the old buildings by the popular fish market. It says: ‘Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn’, which translated as ‘We want to remain what we are’. This is a well-known phrase in Luxembourg as it symbolises the independence of the country (1815), before which it had been a pawn in hundreds of years’ worth of wars, dynasties and invasions.

English	We want to remain what we are
Luxembourgish	Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn
German	Wir wollen bleiben, was wir sind

Grammar and Syntax

In its grammar and syntax there are many more similarities between Luxembourgish and German than French and German, for example the use of capital letters at the beginning of nouns and the placement of adjectives before the noun that they are describing. The use of umlauts is also common in Luxembourgish as in German; however, é can also be found in the language, which is found in Romance Languages, such as French.

As it is such a small country it is inevitable that Luxembourg has been heavily influenced by its neighbours; however, it is clear that Luxembourgish plays a large role in the country’s national identity and as a means of showing their independence as a stable and successful country.

 

By Hannah Ward-Glenton

References

Luxembourgish (2014), BBC Languages http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/luxembourgish.shtml Overview of the Luxembourgish Language (n.d), Transparent Languages http://www.transparent.com/learn-luxembourgish/overview.html