Frisian Language

Frisian Language, language of the historical Frisian people, now officially recognized in the Dutch province of Friesland, with two other varieties spoken in parts of Germany. The three main varieties are thought by many linguists to be separate languages (with their own dialects), as they are not mutually intelligible. The language of Friesland, also spoken in Westerkwartier in Groningen province, and the most widely spoken Frisian language (with around 400,000 native speakers), is Western Frisian (“Frysk” in Dutch). Northern Frisian (“Friisk” in Frisian) has many distinct dialects and is spoken on the North Frisian Islands and the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein state in Germany, by around 10,000 people. Eastern Frisian (“Seeltersk” in Frisian) has only around 2,000 speakers who reside in the Cloppenburg district of Lower Saxony, Germany. The Frisian languages, related linguistically to English, Dutch, and German, make up the Frisian group in the Western branch of the Germanic languages. Similar Frisian and English words include boi (boy), tolve (twelve), and hy (he).

Frisian was once the prominent tongue along the North Sea coast and on nearby islands, from the present Dutch-Belgian border to the modern German-Danish border. Since the 16th century Frisian has gradually been replaced by Dutch and Low German, but it was revived in the 20th century. In Friesland, Western Frisian is officially permitted to be used in courts although legal documents are in Dutch. In 1980 it was made a compulsory subject in primary schools in the province, and in 1993 the same amendment to the education act was made for its use in secondary and special schools. Since 1994, two hours a day of television programmes in Western Frisian have been aired. Northern Frisian and Eastern Frisian do not enjoy such privileges and are in a less stable condition than Western Frisian, particularly the latter. They are not officially recognized by the German government (although they are acknowledged as minority languages) and their speakers are in the minority in their respective areas. The languages are offered in some schools as an optional subject. See also Frisia; Frisian Literature.

Selected statistical data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, SIL International.