Frisian languages

Spoken in

Indo-European

• Germanic West Germanic North Seeger Manic

No ISO code: frr, frs, fy / fry or generally in accordance

The Frisian languages ​​, generally only Frisian ( West Frisian Frisian, North Frisian eg fresk or frasch than dialect cross compromise also Friisk, Sater Frisian Fräisk ) called, are a group of three languages. They belong to the North Sea Germanic branch of the West Germanic languages. Frisian was originally distributed on the North Sea coast between the Rhine and the Elbe estuary and later north of the Eider estuary up to the Wiedau ( see map). Today, it is spoken by about 400,000 people, mainly in the Netherlands.

History

Only some Frisian runic inscriptions and individual words within Latin texts are known from the years from about 500 to about 1200. Full texts have survived only since the 13th century. The language level of this time to the 16th century is referred to as Old Frisian and is timed approximately classified in the same era as Middle Dutch, Middle and partly Frühneuhochdeutsch and the early Middle Low German.

Already for the Old Frisian period are significant differences between the West Frisian and Frisian dialects determine. Old Frisian texts from North Friesland, however, are not preserved. Today's North Frisia was settled in two waves around the year 700 and 1100, the North Frisian dialects split off at this time of the language of the East and West Frisians.

The modern Frisian originates from the 16th century and is divided into three main groups. It is controversial in linguistics, whether the three main groups Frisian "only" dialects of a language formed. Today, however, the three remaining followers are not mutually more comprehensible and are considered different languages.

Individual languages ​​of the Frisian language branch

North Frisian

North Frisian is still spoken in parts of the district of North Friesland and on Helgoland Schleswig -Holstein. On the islands and the mainland, there are still nine different North Frisian dialects that are mutually sometimes difficult to understand. Of about 164,000 inhabitants of the district of North Friesland still speak about 10,000 Frisian. The Friesian is in Endangered Languages ​​in Europe Report as seriously endangered (seriously endangered) rated because there are only a few places, especially in the north and in the center of the island Amrum and west of the island of Foehr, within the family to the younger generation is passed.

Ostfriesisch

In the former East Frisian language area between the Lauwers and Weser (especially East Friesland, the province of Groningen and the northern Oldenburg) has died out almost entirely the Frisian language. Since about 1400, the East Frisian was gradually settled by various German dialects - replaced - and more recently by the High German. Last died in the 1950s from the Wangerooger Frisian.

The last remnant of the East Frisian language, Sater Frisian is spoken in the municipality in the district of Cloppenburg Saterland from about 1,000 to 2,500 people. When the East Frisian language should be distinguished clearly from the East Frisian Platt, is also the terminus of Frisian osterlauwerssches used in accordance with the designation for the West Frisian Frisian westerlauwerssches.

West Frisian

The West Frisian, Frisian is also westerlauwerssches, in the Dutch province of Friesland ( Fryslân ) of about 440,000 people spoke, of which there are about 350,000 speak as their mother tongue. It consists of four main dialects and four other small dialects. Alone of the three branches of the Frisian language, West Frisian has developed a standard variety.

Nichtfriesische varieties called " Frisian "

There are several linguistic varieties that have been adopted by Beading or former residents of Frisian populated areas instead of Frisian, but not linguistically among the Frisian languages. Nevertheless, many of vernacular varieties perform in any form the name " Frisian " as self or foreign designation.

Today, the East Frisian Platt is called " Ostfriesisch " generally, which has replaced in East Friesland, the Frisian language as a vernacular. This was favored by the fact that the long Sater Frisians no longer counted themselves among the Frisians and their own language not call it a friesian, but as saterländisch ( ' seeltersk '). Basically similar to what happens with the Low German in North Frisia. Since there the Frisian language but is still alive, the name North Frisian exclusively for the Frisian dialects is used. The North Frisian Platt also differs not so much from the rest of Schleswig Platt as the East Frisian Low German from its neighboring dialects.

The often referred to as Stadtfriesisch dialects of the cities in the province of Fryslân also do not belong to Frisian. They were taken over in the 15th century by Frisian merchants of the province of Holland. Through strong influence of the Frisian grammar and syntax, the classification is obtained as a dialect of Dutch, however, difficult also. Therefore, they are usually treated as a special group within the Dutch language, but sometimes even referred to as a special language.

Not to be confused with the West Frisian language is also the Dutch dialect of West Friesland region in the Dutch province of North Holland. This is also referred to as West Frisian. The risk of confusion with the dialect of the West Frisian language is not in the Netherlands. There Westfriesland is clearly the Noord-Holland region. The province of Friesland, which is usually referred to in Germany as West Friesland, in the Netherlands called Friesland or Fryslân easy.