| Hamburg German | |
| Also Known As: | Hamburg dialect, Hamburger dialect |
| Nativename: | Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low: Hamborger Platt |
| Region: | Hamburg |
| Familycolor: | indo-european |
| Fam2: | Germanic |
| Fam3: | West Germanic |
| Fam4: | North Sea Germanic |
| Fam5: | Low German |
| Fam6: | West Low German |
| Fam7: | Northern Low Saxon |
| Script: | German alphabet |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Ietf: | nds-u-sd-dehh |
Hamburg German, also known as Hamburg dialect or Hamburger dialect (natively Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low: Hamborger Platt, de|Hamburger Platt), is a group of Northern Low Saxon varieties spoken in Hamburg, Germany. Occasionally, the term Hamburgisch is also used for Hamburg Missingsch, a variety of standard German with Low Saxon substrates. These are urban dialects that have absorbed numerous English and Dutch loanwords, for instance Törn 'trip' (< turn) and suutje 'gently' (< Dutch Dutch; Flemish: zoetjes).
Hamburg's name is pronounced in Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low pronounced as /ˈhambɔːç/ in these dialects, with a "ch" similar to that in the standard German words ich or Milch (ich-Laut). Typical of the Hamburg dialects and other Lower Elbe dialects is the pronounced as /[ɔɪ̯]/ pronunciation (and eu spelling) for the diphthong pronounced as //œɪ// (written öö, öh or ö), e.g.:
| in Hamburg | elsewhere | standard German | English translation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| keupen in Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low pronounced as /ˈkʰɔɪ̯pm̩/ | köpen in Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low pronounced as /ˈkʰœɪ̯pm̩/ | kaufen pronounced as /ˈkʰaʊ̯fn̩/ | to buy | |
| scheun in Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low pronounced as /ʃɔɪ̯n/ | schöön in Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low pronounced as /ʃœɪ̯n/ | schön pronounced as /de/ | beautiful |
However, as in most other Low Saxon dialects, the long monophthong pronounced as //øː// is pronounced pronounced as /link/ (as in French peu), for instance Kööm ~ Kœm in Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low pronounced as /kʰøːm/ 'caraway'.
The Low Saxon language in Hamburg is divided in several subdialects, namely:
The Hamborger Veermaster is a famous sea shanty sung in the regional dialect. The all-purpose greeting "moin" is universally used in Hamburg.