24.02.

2017 Hunsriklanguage,alphabetandpronunciation

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Hunsrik
Hunsrik is a West Germanic language spoken by about 3 million people in southern Brazil, especially in
small villages in the western part of the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paran. The
language is thought to have developed from the Moselle Franconian dialect group of High German,
particularly the Hunsrckisch dialect, which is spoken in the Hunsrck region in western Germany. It was
brought to Brazil from 1824 by German migrants.

Hunsrik has been greatly inuenced by other German dialects, such as Pommersch-Platt and Plautdietsch,
and also by Portuguese, and to a lesser extent by Kaingang, Guarani, Italian and Spanish. As a result it is
substantially different from the Hunsrckisch dialect. It is used mainly in informal situations and in daily
communication, with small regional variations.

Hunsrik is also known as Hunsriker or Rio Grande Hunsriker. In German it is known as Riograndenser
Hunsrckisch German, and in Portuguese as hunsriqueano riograndense.

The Hunsrik alphabet presented below was developed by Adriano Steer for his Gramtica do
Hunsriqueano and Dicionrio do Hunsriqueano (both unpublished yet) to precisely represent the great
vowel and consonant inventory of the language. The idea was to take the spelling of Hunsrik away from
the Portuguese and German model, since both can represent only about half of its phonemes and
sometimes even misrepresent the Hunsrik phonemes, leading to understanding and spelling problems.

Hunsrik alphabet and pronunciation

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Sample texts in Hunsrik

Ti kanz mn sn fraaj n dselvi in eericeed n ret gpoo. Ti hn fatand n gtagn sol een
mym anr myn kajst fn priidliceet um-keen.

A recording of this text

0:00 / 0:10

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Hunsrik version of Aesops fable The Two Frogs

Ti Tswj Fro
Inn ri hajz sm vn tii sump aws-gtrugnt, ni fro vu pis tan inm trn gvoont ghat
har, must fan an voon-plats hin-ma. Tswj fn tn sn ivi yyr lraaj nn tii prun hin-
cm, vu nx vaz trn-v. Oo! Kuk mo tt!, hotti een gruuf. Favas solma vajd-keen? Vmma hiirn-
hups! Vt mo!, hotti an ganot. Rn-cm is vrkli ntli lajt, ava vnd prun x aws-trugnt,
vi vilstn nmo raws-cm? Vasta hajt helft, canda moj d-tuun, todvee tk trivanoo, epst
vas mist.

0:00 / 0:35

Source: http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/aesop-fabeln-1928/14

Standard German version

Zwei Frsche
In einem auerordentlich heien Sommer war ein tiefer Sumpf ausgetrocknet und die Frsche, die
bisherigen Bewohner desselben, muten sich nach einem andern Wohnort umsehen. Zwei derselben
kamen auf ihrer Wanderschaft zu einem tiefen Brunnen, worin es noch Wasser gab. Ei! Sieh da! rief der
eine. Warum wollen wir weitergehen? La uns hier hinunterhpfen! Halt! antwortete der andere, das
Hinunterkommen ist zwar ganz leicht, aber wenn auch der Brunnen eintrocknet, wie willst du dann wieder

herauskommen? Was dir heute nutzt, das kann dir morgen schaden, darum denke nach, bevor du
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24.02.2017 Hunsriklanguage,alphabetandpronunciation
herauskommen? Was dir heute nutzt, das kann dir morgen schaden, darum denke nach, bevor du
handelst.

A recording of this text

Translation
The Two Frogs
Two frogs dwelt in the same pool. When the pool dried up under the summers heat, they left it and set
out together for another home. As they went along they chanced to pass a deep well, amply supplied with
water, and when they saw it, one of the Frogs said to the other, Let us descend and make our abode in
this well: it will furnish us with shelter and food. The other replied with greater caution, But suppose the
water should fail us. How can we get out again from so great a depth? Do nothing without a regard to the
consequences.

Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/les/21/21-h/21-h.htm#link2H_4_0140

Information provided by Adriano Steer

Links
Information about Hunsrik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riograndenser_Hunsr%C3%BCckisch_German
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/hrx

Germanic languages
Afrikaans, Alsatian, Bavarian, Cimbrian, Danish, Dutch, Elfdalian, English, Faroese, Flemish, German,
Gothic, Hunsrik, Icelandic, Limburgish, Low German / Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Mcheno, Norn, North
Frisian, Norwegian, Old English, Old Norse, Pennsylvania German, Ripuarian, Saterland Frisian, Scots,
Shetland(ic), Stellingwarfs, Swedish, Swiss German, West Frisian, Yiddish

Other languages written with the Latin alphabet

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