Word classes

verb:
Part of speech with which an action (for example to play, to laugh, to throw), a state (to shine) or something occurring (to rain, to snow) is expressed
noun:
Word that denotes a specific object or person
adjective:
Part of speech that describes the nature, condition, or relationship of a person, or thing
adverb:
Word that has the function of specifying the circumstances of activities, persons, objects, events, properties and relationships, i.e. to describe them more precisely
interjection:
Word that cannot be inflected and is used syntactically unconnected as a sentence-value utterance and expresses a certain sensation, evaluation or will of the speaker
article:
Word that is regularly used in connection with a noun and characterizes it primarily with regard to its definiteness
conjunction:
Word that cannot be inflected, cannot be used to form constituents and is used to connect words or groups of words
numeral:
Part of speech describing the number or quantity (how many) or the rank of a thing
ordinal:
Numeral that indicates the place of an element in a sequence
pronoun:
Word that replaces another word (usually a noun) or a part of a sentence
preposition:
Word that cannot be inflected and requires a supplement (in a certain case)
phrase:
Formulaic, multi-word utterance
noun phrase:
Multi-word phrase that is functionally equivalent to a noun
prefix:
Part of a word at the beginning of a word that does not appear as a lexeme/word on its own, but only in combination with another morpheme that forms the root of the word
infix:
Part of a word in the middle of a word that does not appear as a lexeme/word on its own, but only in combination with another morpheme that forms the root of the word
affix:
Part of a word at the end of a word that does not appear as a lexeme/word on its own, but only in combination with another morpheme that forms the root of the word
adjective affix:
Part of a word at the end of an adjective that does not appear as a lexeme/word on its own, but only in combination with another morpheme that forms the root of the word
noun affix:
Part of a word at the end of a noun that does not appear as a lexeme/word on its own, but only in combination with another morpheme that forms the root of the word
particle:
Word that cannot be inflected, cannot be used to form constituents and influences the meaning of the referred word or phrase
stem:
Morpheme, which is used to form derived words, but does not form a separate grammatical word

Phases

active:
The word is actively and currently used in the language.
neologism:
The word is a neologism. Somebody coined it (maybe because the language lacks a specific word) and the term is not yet commonly used.
oldfashioned:
The word becomes more and more old-fashioned.
antiquated:
The word is antiquated and rarely used (or not at all anymore).
obsolete:
The thing designated by the word is obsolete. So the word is only used when talking about the past.
historic:
The thing designated by the word is entirely historic and mostly used when talking about old history.
newly coined after historic word:
The word is historic, but people apply it to new concept nowadays.
dubious:
The information about who and when the word was used by whom is dubious. Additional information is necessary.
unknown:
There is a lack of information about who and when the word was used by whom. Additional information is necessary.

Spheres

used in the family:
The word is usually used in the family.
used in childrens's language:
The word is usually used in childrens' language.
used in literature:
The word is usually used by authors in literature.
used in poetry:
The word is usually used by authors in poetry.
used in public speech:
The word is usually used in public speech (by politicians etc.).
used in official use:
The word is usually used by government in official use.
used in colloquial speech:
The word is usually used in colloquial speech.
used in slang:
The word is usually used in slang by people who do not care about the perception of their words by others.
used in elevated speech:
The word is usually used in elevated speech, when people try to distinguish themselves.

Dialect Groups

Western group:
This group of dialects is widespread in the region bordering the Dutch speaking area and forms a transition zone in which typical Low German features increasingly merge into typical Lower Franconian features.
North Low Saxon:
Northern Low Saxon is common in northern Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. Together with Mecklenburgish it forms the coastal dialect, which outside of the Low German speaking regions is often perceived as the most typical Low German.
Frisian group:
This group of dialects is characterized by a common Frisian substrate. This means that people in these regions used to speak Frisian and at some point switched to Low German as the spoken language. The dialects are therefore characterized by many peculiarities that were adopted from Frisian.
Westphalian:
Westphalian is common in Westphalia. One of the most important characteristics of these dialects is the breaking of certain vowels into diphthongs (“Biärg“ instead of “Barg“ or “Berg“).
Eastphalian:
Eastphalian is spoken in the south of Lower Saxony and in parts of Saxony-Anhalt.
Märkisch:
Märkisch was spoken in Brandenburg, but came under pressure by the influence of the High German city language of Berlin early on and has largely died out as a spoken language today. Only in the border areas to Mecklenburg and in the Prignitz region there are still groups of active speakers.
Mecklenburgish:
Mecklenburgish is spoken in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is closely related to Northern Low Saxon, but has some important features that distinguish it from Northern Low Saxon. This includes the “-en” plural (“wi maken” instead of “wi maakt”).
Pomeranian:
The Pomeranian dialects were once common in Pomerania. They are characterized by intensive contact with the Polish and Kashubian languages. After the flight and expulsion of the German population at the end of the Second World War, most of these dialects are now only used by individual people, but have died out as everyday vernacular. Only the dialect of Western Pomerania (part of Germany) and the Brazilian Pomerano still exist today and are actively spoken.
Prussian:
The Prussian dialects were once common in West Prussia and East Prussia, including the Memelland. They are characterized by intensive contact with the Polish and Baltic languages. After the flight and expulsion of the German population at the end of the Second World War, these dialects are now only used by individual people, but have become extinct as everyday vernacular. Only the Plautdietsch of the Mennonites exists as a variant of Prussian to this day and is still actively spoken.