East Brabantian is one of the main divisions of the Brabantian dialect groups which the Woordenboek van de Brabantse Dialecten recognizes. East Brabantian dialects are mainly spoken in the eastern part of the province of North Brabant. In the classifications of Brabantian is recognized it as a separate dialect group. Sometimes it is called Meierijs, after the Bailiwick of Den Bosch. East Brabant dialects are further subdivided into the Kempenlands, North Meierijs, Peellands, Geldrops and Heeze-and-Leendes. The last two are small local dialects that are found as separate groups in few other classifications. Not to East Brabantian belong Maaslands, the Land-van-Cuijks, Kleverlands and Budels. s and Heeze-and-Leendes in the middle, Kempenlands on the left-bottom, North Meierijs on the top and Peellands at the right.
Characteristics
East Brabantian dialects differ on some points distinctively of the more western variants: Central Brabantian and West Brabantian and also from the southern dialects like Southern Brabantian, Kempens and Getelands. Some peculiarities are typical eastern and shared with the Limburgish dialects, others only occur locally. East Brabantian dialects have been somewhat influenced by the Cologne language expansion of thus have a few characteristics that typically east of nature and which the western variants do not have. Such differences include umlauts in diminutives, and the conjugation of Germanic strong verbs. Typical East Brabantian words are therefore geleuven vs Dutch geloven, bruur vs Dutch broer and zuke vs Dutch zoeken. Also diminutives as menneke vs Dutch mannetje and jeske vs Dutch jasje and conjugations as velt vs Dutch valt are typical East Brabantian.
East Brabantian dialects know an umlaut in diminutive formation and some words which ends on -i in their previous West Germanic form, e.g.: kees, which original form was Kâsi.
The variants wè and dè are used in East Brabantian for what and that.
East Brabantian exhibit a more eastern tinged vocabulary.
As in most other Brabantian dialects an umlaut occurs in words with originally a long ô.
Typical of the Meierij is the preservation of the sk where standard Dutch has shifted to the sch and the shortening of many original long vowels.
The diphthongs and are here often monophthonged into and .
Unlike in the West Brabantian dialects the h has been preserved in East Brabantian, the most common departing greet being houdoe .
