Abstract
In the late 1930s and 1940s, locally born children of immigrant coal miners in
Tuinwijk, a neighbourhood in the village of Eisden in Belgian Limburg, developed
a way of speaking among themselves which they later labelled Cité Duits. Having
become coal miners themselves, they continued to use Cité Duits as an in-group language throughout their lives when working underground as well as in their private
lives. We will show that Cité Duits is a hybrid variety resulting from combining elements
of German, Belgian Dutch and the Maasland dialect spoken in Belgian Limburg
through focusing and sedimentation. We argue that Cité Duits developed and
continues to be employed as a symbolic language for expressing group identity
Tuinwijk, a neighbourhood in the village of Eisden in Belgian Limburg, developed
a way of speaking among themselves which they later labelled Cité Duits. Having
become coal miners themselves, they continued to use Cité Duits as an in-group language throughout their lives when working underground as well as in their private
lives. We will show that Cité Duits is a hybrid variety resulting from combining elements
of German, Belgian Dutch and the Maasland dialect spoken in Belgian Limburg
through focusing and sedimentation. We argue that Cité Duits developed and
continues to be employed as a symbolic language for expressing group identity
| Original language | Dutch |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 136 |
| Number of pages | 165 |
| Journal | Studies over de Sociaal-Economische Geschiedenis van Limburg |
| Volume | 2017 |
| Issue number | LXII |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Dec 2017 |