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The dialect of the isle of Skiermûntseach
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The dialect of the isle of Skiermûntseach has preserved the distinction between masculine and feminine nouns, which was conflated in Standard Frisian into common gender. This distinction is visible in the system of attributive agreement.

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The dialect of the isle of Skiermûntseach has preserved the distinction between masculine and feminine nouns, which was conflated in Standard Frisian into common gender. This distinction is visible in the system of attributive agreement.

A minimal pair of masculine and feminine gender for strong agreement is provided below:

1
a. In meuj-en taal
a beautiful.MSC.SA language
A beautiful language
b. In meu tjark
a beautiful.FEM.SA church
A beautiful church

Furthermore, weak agreement is still contextual in this dialect, that is, there is a paradigm of at least two forms, and the choice of form depends on the gender of the following noun (unlike the system of Standard Frisian, where weak agreement is unary, in schwa).

Minimal pair masculine and feminine gender for weak agreement:

2
a. De gotte man
the big.MSC.WA man
The big man
b. De got faam
the big.FEM.WA girl
The big girl

The following summarises the system of attributive agreement in Skiermûntseagersk:

Table 1
Weak (definite) Strong (indefinite)
Masculine Gender e en
Feminine Gender - -
Neuter Gender e -
Plural e e
Substance adjectives in -en in this dialect behave like Standard Frisian in that they usually fail to receive attributive endings:

3
a. In nej-en heeuwten trep
a new.MSC.SA wooden ladder
A new wooden ladder
b. *In nej-en heeuwten-en trep
a new.MSC.SA wooden.MSC.SA ladder
A new wooden ladder

In case the past participle of a JE-verb is used as an adjective, it retains its final –d which has otherwise disappeared. Attributive agreement may be appended to it, as shown in the examples below:

4
a. In opstoped-en kniin
a stuffed.MSC.SA rabbit
A stuffed rabbit
b. De oonklaged-e man
the sued.MSC.WA man
The charged man

This process may not yield a sequence of three syllables with schwa. A sequence of three syllables in schwa is simplified by eliminating the middle schwa:

5
a. *In mitseled-en mieuwre
a brick.built.MSC.SA wall
A wall built from bricks
b. In mitseld-en mieuwre
a brick.built.MSC.SA wall
A wall built from bricks

extra
Literature

More details can be found in Fokkema (1959) and Visser (2002).

References
  • Fokkema, Douwe1959Beknopte spraakkunst van het SchiermonnikoogsLjouwertFryske Akademy
  • Visser, Willem & Dyk, Siebren2002Eilander Wezzenbúek: woordenboek van het SchiermonnikoogsFryske Akademy Ljouwert
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