 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
This article covers the phonology of modern Colognian as spoken in the city of Cologne. Varieties spoken outside of Cologne are only briefly covered where appropriate. Historic precedent versions are not considered.
There are slight pronunciation variations in Colognian which can be considered regional within the city,[1] and some others seemingly more reflecting social status. The phonological impact of either is marginal.[2]
Spelling of Colognian can follow several standards. Pronunciation variations are allowed to show as variant spellings in all of them. Because the spellings of single words may differ widely between systems, listing spellings in examples of phonological nature is not helpful. Thus, only IPA transcriptions are used here in examples.
Colognian is part of the Continental West Germanic dialect continuum. It is a central Ripuarian language. Ripuarian languages are related to Moselle Franconian and Limburgish. Local languages of all three groups are usually not understood at once by Colognian speakers, but comparatively easily learned.
Other languages almost always spoken by Colognian speakers today are the Rhinelandic and Standard varieties of German. Mixed language use is common today, so that in an average speakers awareness, Colognian lexemes are contrasting the two kinds of German ones as well.
Colognian has about 60 base phonemes and some 22 double consonants and diphthongs, depending on analysis.
- ^ Die meisten Kölner sind zweisprachig (Most Colognians are bilingual) – Talk of an unidentified Interviewer with Prof. Dr. Heribert A. Hilgers, in: Universität zu Köln, Mitteilungen 1975 (Communications of the University of Cologne 1975), issue 3/4, pages 19 and 20.
- ^ In fact, when researched, it was always proven submarginal. There is little reason to believe something else to be found in remaining fields.