tëscht

Luxembourgish

Alternative forms

• tëschen, tëschent
• zwëschen (dialectal); zwëschent, zwëscht (rare)

Etymology

Contracted from tëschent (like nieft from niewent). From northern Middle High German tüschen, from Proto-Germanic *twiska- with irregular -wi- → -ü- as in Dutch tussen. Also cognate with German zwischen and eventually English betwixt. The onset t- in Luxembourgish (and surrounding varieties of West Central German) is a remarkable relict form without the consonant shift. The rarer variant zwëschen shows the regular development, but is probably influenced by standard German. The languages of the Rhenish Fan include several unshifted relict forms, most importantly dat, wat, et. Compare also Ripuarian Aap (“ape”), söke (“to seek”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teʃt/, [təʃt]
• Rhymes: -əʃt

Preposition

tëscht

1. between

   D’Kanner sëtzen tëscht hirer Mamm an hirem Papp.

   The children are sitting between their mother and their father.

   D’Kanner setze sech tëscht hir Mamm an hire Papp.

   The children are taking seat between their mother and their father.

Usage notes

• The preposition takes dative when specifying current position, but accusative when specifying movement from a to b.