Tweants dialect

Twents
Native to	Netherlands
Region	Northeast, Overijssels province.
Native speakers	unknown
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Low Franconian Low Saxon Twents
Official status
Official language in	Netherlands (as part of Low Saxon)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	gem [Germanic, other]
ISO 639-3	twd

Twents (or Tweants; sometimes known as Twentsch) is a West Dutch Low Saxon dialect spoken in Twente, a Dutch region near the German border, although it is also spoken in the nearby German border regions. Its speakers also refer to Tweants as Plat. A widespread misconception is the assumption that it is a variety of Dutch. It is, however, a variety of Dutch Low Saxon, which has officially been recognised as a regional language by the Dutch government, and is granted a minimal fee for maintenance and spreading.

Pronunciation and Characteristics

Twents does not have a standardised pronunciation or spelling; all Twents towns and villages have their own local variety, which, although they are mutually intelligible and similar, makes it hard to be tagged as being one dialect. Therefore many speakers of Twents mostly do not refer to their language as "Twents" of "Dutch Low Saxon", but rather to the location their variety is from (eg. a person from Almelo would say he speaks "Almeloos" rather than "Twents"). Another possibility is that speakers combine these 2 possibilities: a speaker from Rijssen could say he speaks "Riesns Tweants". There are, however, a number of characteristics that are equal in all varieties.

Twents, like upper class British English, has a linking -r, or intrusive -r.
Another distinct feature of Twents is the "swallowing" of final -en syllables (especially in infinite verb forms), which can also be referred to as syllabic -n. This can be compared to British RP pronunciation of mutton, which is pronounced somewhat like mut-n.

Native speakers have a distinct accent when speaking Dutch, and are hence easily recognised. Particularly the distinct pronunciation of the 'O' and 'E' is renowned, and is somewhat similar to the Hiberno-English pronunciation of the 'O' and the 'A'. The language is also known for its wealth in proverbs:

• Loat mear kuuln, t löp wal lös – Never mind, it will sort itself out.
• As de tied koomp, koomp de ploag – When the time comes, the trouble comes. Don't worry before the trouble starts.
• Iej könt nich bloazn en t mel in n moond hoaldn – Literally, you cannot blow and keep the flour in your mouth. 'Bloazn' also means 'to brag', so its real meaning is the same as "put your money where your mouth is"
• Hengeler weend – Wind from Hengelo, a haughty attitude.

Tweants then and now

As long as up to approximately the 1980's, Twents was banned from schools, because linguists then believed it was a boorish, unintelligent way of speaking, which would affect the language learning capabilities of children, who were supposed to learn proper Dutch. Parents acquiesced and tried to teach their children to speak Dutch. Those parents, however, were used to speaking Twents, which influenced their pronunciation of Dutch. Therefore, speakers from Twente are easily recognised by their distinct pronunciation of Dutch.

Dutch is still the prevailing and most prestigious language. That is why a majority of parents up till recently neglected to teach their children about their heritage, although their is a resurgence lately.

Because Twente is an attractive place for investment, many companies settle in Twente and attract people from abroad who do not speak Twents. This aggravates the decline of the Twents language. In the country, however, many people are still able to speak, or at least understand Plat, as it is also called. Recently, Twents has enjoyed a resurgence, because linguists discovered that children who are brought up bilingually (In this case Twents and Dutch) are more receptive to other languages. This, and an increase of interest in the language, started by writers and musicians approximately around the 1970's, has inspired people to start speaking and teaching Twents again. This renewed interest in dialects is referred to as the Dialect Renaissance. An important factor that stimulates this trend was a soap in Tweants: "Van Jonge Leu en Oale Groond" ("About young people and old soil").

Twents writers

There are a fair number of authors writing in Twents.

• Johanna van Buren (poet)
• Theo Vossebeld (poet)
• Willem Wilmink (poet, songwriter)
• Herman Finkers (comedian)

Also the Bible has been translated into Tweants.

The Van Deinse Instituut in Enschede is an organisation that maps, monitors, promotes and develops teaching material for Twents, Twents identity and the Culture of Twente.