Linguistic humor, Low German
Source: The Ethnologue page
for Germany (accessed 21 Sep 99, emphasis in boldface added), via Martha
McGinnis and Hotze Rullmann.
GERMAN, LOW (PLATTDEUTSCH) [GEP] Northern Germany. Indo-European, Germanic,
West, Continental, Low. Dialects: EAST LOW GERMAN (ALTMARK, BRANDENBURG,
MECKLENBURG, POMERANIA, PRIEGNITZ, UKERMARK), LOW FRANCONIAN (BERGISH,
GELDERSCH, LIMBURGISCH). 20 to 30 inherently unintelligible
varieties spoken in Germany alone. Low German refers to varieties in the
lower Rhine region, below a line from Aachen to Wittenberg, which did not
experience the second consonantal shift of the 8th and 9th centuries
(J. Thiessen, U. of Winnipeg 1976). Most speakers in Germany are bilingual
in Standard German. Bible 1478–1534. NT 1984. Bible portions
1475–1926.