Weert dialect

Influence of Standard Dutch

Phonology

Consonants

• are bilabial, whereas are labiodental.
• is realized as a bilabial approximant in the onset and as labio-velar in the coda. In this article, both are transcribed with, following the recommendations of Carlos Gussenhoven regarding transcribing the corresponding Standard Dutch phone.
• In the syllable onset, can occur only in proper names and loanwords. In that position, their status is marginal.
• and are found only in onsets of weak syllables.
• and occur only intervocalically.
• Word-initial is restricted to loanwords.
• As in all areas with soft G, are realized as post-palatal when they are preceded or followed by a front vowel.
• is a voiced fricative trill, with the fricative component varying between uvular and post-velar. The fricative component is particularly audible in the syllable coda, where a partial devoicing to also occurs.

Vowels

• The Weert dialect features five phonetic degrees of openness among unrounded front vowels: close, close-mid, mid, open-mid and open. The long unrounded front vowels differ mostly in height, in addition to the centering glide in. Furthermore, is clearly not front phonologically as it is subject to umlauting in diminutives and in other contexts, as in other Limburgish dialects. This suggests that it is phonologically central, as in Hamont as well as the vowel transcribed with the same symbol in German. This contrast between the phonologically central and the phonologically back surfaces as a phonetic front-back distinction, as is phonetically near-front, whereas is near-back.
• The distinction between, and is a genuine distinction between close-mid, mid and open-mid vowels of the same length, roundedness and very similar backness:. It is much like the distinction found in the Kensiu language.
• is central, rather than front.
• Older speakers may have an additional vowel, giving rise to a phonemic contrast between the short closed O and the short open O . Other speakers have just three short back vowels, as in Standard Dutch. Elsewhere in the article, the difference is not transcribed and is used for both vowels.
• Some speakers are not secure in the distribution of vs. as well as vs.. In the future, this may lead to a merger of the two pairs, leaving a short vowel system that is exactly the same as in Standard Dutch.
• As in other Limburgish dialects, umlauts to and so it patterns with the phonetic mid vowels, rather than the phonetically open-mid.
• The centering diphthongs often correspond to the close-mid in the buitenijen variety: zeve, deur, door. The extensive usage of in the buitenijen variety brings it considerably closer to Standard Dutch than Stadsweerts. The Weertlands varieties spoken in Nederweert and Ospel also use in this context. The difference is systematic, though it does not occur throughout the entire vocabulary of words with those vowels. For instance, the word meaning 'residence' or 'house' varies between woeëning and wuuëning in both varieties, rather than being woning or weuning in the buitenijen variety.

Phonetic realization

• The long close-mid often feature a centering glide. Before nasals, the first two are monophthongized to and. Elsewhere in the article, their diphthongal nature is ignored.
• Among the unrounded front vowels, and are retracted like, being near-front.
• Apart from the phonetically central, the phonemic front rounded vowels are phonetically front, including the onset of :.
• Among the back vowels, and the onset of are advanced like :.
• and are less open than in other dialects, being true-mid. In other dialects, they tend to be open-mid. This raising of the historical does not result in a merger with, due to the centering glide found in the latter. Neither does merge with, for the same reason. The back is more open than and, making it similar to the corresponding cardinal vowel. The corresponding short vowels have the same quality:.
• The closing diphthongs are similar in quality to their Standard Dutch counterparts. Their ending points are more open than in Maastrichtian, in which especially and end in fully close glides and when they are combined with Accent 1, in addition to the rounded starting point of : .

Phonotactics

• occurs only in unstressed syllables.
• are phonological long monophthongs despite their obvious diphthongal nature. That is because they can occur before, unlike any of the six phonological diphthongs and. However, at least sometimes violates that rule, as it occurs in the name of the town itself and derivatives.
• are rare before.
• Among the long open vowels, and appear only before sonorants, making them checked vowels. They directly correspond to the short checked vowels combined with Accent 2 in other dialects. Thus, the phonological behavior of the long and is very different to that of, which is a free vowel like the other long vowels.
• The closing diphthongs are rare in the word-final position.

Differences in transcription

Vowel+glide sequences

Suprasegmentals

Sample

Orthographic version

Spelling