East Pomeranian | |
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Ostpommersch | |
Native to | Diaspora of German expellees in the Americas |
Native speakers | Native: ≅ 300.000 |
Official status | |
Official language in | Brazil (11 municipalities) |
Recognised minority language in | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
East Pomeranian (Ostpommersch) is a East Low German dialect moribund in Europe, which used to be spoken in the region of Farther Pomerania when it was part of the German Province of Pomerania, until World War II, and today is part of Poland. Currently, the language survives mainly in Brazil, where it is spoken by descendants of Germans expelled after the war and where it was given its own script by the linguist Ismael Tressmann. It has co-official status in 11 Brazilian municipalities and has been recognized as a historical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. East Pomeranian is also spoken in central Wisconsin and parts of Iowa, in the United States.
Nowadays, spoken East Pomeranian has mostly been influenced by Portuguese language and Hunsrik, a German dialect derived from the Hunsrückisch native to Brazil. It excludes the dialect spoken in the United States, known as Wisconsin Pomeranian, which was influenced by the English language. The varieties of East Pomeranian are: Westhinterpommersch, Osthinterpommersch, Bublitzisch around Bobolice and Pommerellisch; Further the east, German dialects transitioned to Low Prussian-East Pomeranian and Vistula Delta German spoken in and around Danzig/Gdansk.[1]