Frisian language
group of Germanic languages
It has been suggested that this article be merged with West Frisian language. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2016. |
This article does not have any sources. (March 2012) |
Frisian refers to three languages that comes from Friesland, a province in the Netherlands. They are spoken in the Netherlands, in Eastern Germany, and in some areas of Jutland, Denmark. It is also spoken on the Frisian Isles (Wadden Isles) and Western German (East Frisian) Isles such as Borkum.
Frisian | |
---|---|
Frysk | |
Native to | Netherlands, Germany |
Region | Friesland, Groningen, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein |
Ethnicity | Frisians |
Native speakers | 480,000 (ca. 2001 census)[1] |
Early forms | |
Dialects | |
Latin | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Netherlands Germany |
Regulated by | NL: Fryske Akademy D: no official regulation unofficial: the Seelter Buund (for Sater Frisian), the Nordfriisk Instituut (for North Frisian) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Variously: fry – West Frisian frr – North Frisian stq – Saterland Frisian |
Glottolog | fris1239 [2] |
Linguasphere | 52-ACA |
![]() Present-day distribution of the Frisian languages in Europe:
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They are West Germanic languages related to Dutch and are also the closest living languages to English. Since they have been spoken since Roman times, English could descend from Frisian directly.
The Frisian languages are:
language | wordlist | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
English | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten |
West Frisian | ien | twa | trije | fjouwer | fiif | seis | sân | aacht | njoggen | tsien |
North Frisian | ian | tau | trii | fjauer | fiiw | sääks | sööwen | aacht | njugen | tiin |
Saterland Frisian | aan | two | trio | fjauer | fieuw | sääks | soogen | oachte | njuugen | tjoon |
- ↑ West Frisian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
North Frisian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Saterland Frisian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Frisian". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.