You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Western Frisian. (January 2025)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Western Frisian Wikipedia article at [[:fy:Frysk]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template{{Translated|fy|Frysk}} to thetalk page.
In the study of the evolution ofEnglish, West Frisian is notable as being the most closely related foreign tongue to the various dialects ofOld English spoken across theHeptarchy, these being part of theAnglo-Frisian branch of the West Germanic family.
The name "West Frisian" is used only outside the Netherlands, to distinguish this language from the closely relatedFrisian languages ofEast Frisian, includingSaterland Frisian, andNorth Frisian spoken inGermany. Within the Netherlands, however, "West Frisian" refers to theWest Frisian dialect of the Dutch language while the West Frisian language is almost always just called "Frisian" (in Dutch:Fries for the Frisian language andWestfries for the Dutch dialect). The unambiguous name used for the West Frisian language by linguists in the Netherlands isWesterlauwers Fries[ˈʋɛstərˌlʌu.ərsˈfris] (West Lauwers Frisian), theLauwers being a border river that separates the Dutch provinces of Friesland andGroningen.
In the earlyMiddle Ages, the Frisian lands stretched from the area aroundBruges, in what is nowBelgium, to the riverWeser, in northernGermany. At that time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southernNorth Sea coast. Today this region is sometimes referred to as "GreaterFrisia" orFrisia Magna, and many of the areas within it still treasure their Frisian heritage, even though in most places the Frisian language has been lost.
Old Frisian bore a striking similarity toOld English. This similarity was reinforced in the lateMiddle Ages by theIngvaeonic sound shift, which affected Frisian and English, but the otherWest Germanic varieties hardly at all. Both English and Frisian are marked by the suppression of the Germanic nasal in a word likeus (ús),soft (sêft) orgoose (goes): seeIngvaeonic nasal spirant law. Also, when followed by some vowels, the Germanick developed into ach sound. For example, the West Frisian forcheese andchurch istsiis andtsjerke, whereas inDutch they arekaas andkerk. Modern English and Frisian on the other hand have become very divergent, largely due to wholesaleOld Norse andAnglo-Norman imports into English and similarly heavy Dutch andLow German influences on Frisian.
One major difference between Old Frisian and modern Frisian is that in the Old Frisian period (c. 1150 –c. 1550)grammatical cases still occurred. Some of the texts that are preserved from this period are from the 12th or 13th, but most are from the 14th and 15th centuries. Generally, these texts are restricted to legal documents. Although the earliest definite written examples of Frisian are from approximately the 9th century, there are a fewrunic inscriptions from the region which are probably older and possibly in the Frisian language. These runic writings, however, usually do not amount to more than single- or few-word inscriptions, and cannot be said to constituteliterature as such. TheMiddle Frisian language period (c. 1550 – c. 1820) is rooted in geopolitics and the consequent fairly abrupt halt in the use of Frisian as a written language.
Until the 16th century, West Frisian was widely spoken and written, but from 1500 onwards it became an almost exclusively oral language, mainly used in rural areas. This was in part due to the occupation of its stronghold, the Dutch province ofFriesland (Fryslân), in 1498, byAlbert III, Duke of Saxony, who replaced West Frisian as the language of government with Dutch.
In this period the Frisian poetGysbert Japiks (1603–1666), a schoolteacher andcantor from the city ofBolsward (Boalsert), who largely fathered modern West Frisian literature and orthography, was an exception to the rule.
His example was not followed until the 19th century. TheBrothers Halbertsma, most notably, further incentivized Frisian written literature through their literary and poetic work. The appearance of an entire generation of Frisian authors and poets coincided with the introduction of the so-called newer breaking system, a prominent grammatical feature in almost all West Frisian dialects, with the notable exception ofSúdwesthoeksk. Therefore, the New Frisian period is considered to have begun at this time, around 1820.
A West Frisian speaker, recorded in theNetherlands
Most speakers of West Frisian live in the province ofFriesland in the north of theNetherlands. Friesland has 643,000 inhabitants (2005), of whom 94% can understand spoken West Frisian, 74% can speak West Frisian, 75% can read West Frisian, and 27% can write it.[2]
Also, many West Frisians have left their province in the last 60 years for more prosperous parts of the Netherlands. Therefore, possibly as many as 150,000 West Frisian speakers live in other Dutch provinces, particularly in the urban agglomeration in the West, and in neighbouring Groningen and newly reclaimedFlevoland.[4]
Apart from the use of West Frisian as a first language, it is also spoken as a second language by about 120,000 people in the province of Friesland.[5]
West Frisian is considered byUNESCO to be a language in danger of becomingextinct, officially listed as "vulnerable".[6]
In 1951, Frisian language activists, protesting at the exclusive use of Dutch in the courts, caused a riot inLeeuwarden.[7] The resulting inquiry led to the establishment of a committee of inquiry. This committee recommended that the Frisian language should receive legal status as a minority language.[8] Subsequently, the Use of Frisian in Legal Transactions Act of 11 May 1956 was passed, which provided for the use of Frisian in transactions with the courts.[9]
Since 1956, West Frisian has an official status along with and equal toDutch in the province ofFriesland. It is used in many domains of Frisian society, among which are education, legislation, and administration. In 2010, some sixty public transportation ticket machines in Friesland andGroningen added a West Frisian-language option.[10]
Although in the courts of law the Dutch language is still mainly used, in the province ofFriesland, Frisians have the right to give evidence in their own language. Also, they can take the oath in Frisian in courts anywhere in theNetherlands.
Primary education in Friesland was made bilingual in 1956, which means West Frisian can be used as a teaching medium. In the same year, West Frisian became an official school subject, having been introduced to primary education as an optional extra in 1937. It was not until 1980, however, that West Frisian had the status of a required subject in primary schools, and not until 1993 that it was given the same position in secondary education.
In 1997, the province of Friesland officially changed its name from the Dutch formFriesland to the West FrisianFryslân. So far 4 out of 18 municipalities (Dantumadiel,De Fryske Marren,Noardeast-Fryslân,Súdwest-Fryslân) have changed their official geographical names from Dutch to West Frisian. Some other municipalities, likeHeerenveen and the 11 towns, use two names (both Dutch and West Frisian) or only a West Frisian name.
WithinISO 639 West Frisian falls under the codesfy andfry, which were assigned to the collective Frisian languages.
Themutual intelligibility in reading between Dutch and Frisian is poor. Acloze test in 2005 revealed native Dutch speakers understood 31.9% of a West Frisian newspaper, 66.4% of anAfrikaans newspaper and 97.1% of a Dutch newspaper. However, the same test also revealed that native Dutch speakers understood 63.9% of a spoken Frisian text, 59.4% of a spoken Afrikaans text and 89.4% of a spoken Dutch text, read aloud by native speakers of the respective languages.[11]
Map of Anglo-Frisian language areas in Europe, including (in dark blue) West Frisian, (medium blue)North Frisian, and (light blue)Saterland Frisian
The saying "As milk is to cheese, are English and Fries" describes the observed similarity between Frisian and English. One rhyme that is sometimes used to demonstrate the palpable similarity between Frisian and English is "Bread, butter and green cheese is good English and good Fries", which does not sound very different from "Brea, bûter en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk".[12]
Another rhyme on this theme, "Bûter, brea en griene tsiis; wa't dat net sizze kin is gjin oprjochte Fries" (exampleⓘ; in English, "Butter, bread and green cheese, whoever can't say that is not a proper Frisian") was used, according to legend, by the 16th century Frisian rebel and piratePier Gerlofs Donia as ashibboleth that he forced his captives to repeat to distinguish Frisians fromDutch andLow Germans.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Ealle menn sindon frēo and ġelīċe on āre and ġerihtum ġeboren. Hīe sindon witt and inġehygde ġetīðod, and hīe sċulon mid brōþorlīċum ferhþe tō heora selfes dōn.
Alle minsken wurde frij en gelyk yn weardigens en rjochten berne. Hja hawwe ferstân en gewisse meikrigen en hearre har foar inoar oer yn in geast fan bruorskip te hâlden en te dragen.
Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren. Zij zijn begiftigd met verstand en geweten, en behoren zich jegens elkander in een geest van broederschap te gedragen.
Not all Frisian varieties spoken in Dutch Friesland aremutually intelligible. The varieties on the islands are rather divergent, andGlottolog distinguishes four languages:[17]
TheSúdwesthoeksk ("South Western") dialect, which is spoken in an area calledde Súdwesthoeke ("the Southwest Corner"), deviates from mainstream West Frisian in that it does not adhere to the so-called newer breaking system, a prominent grammatical feature in the three other main dialects.
TheNoardhoeksk ("Northern") dialect, spoken in the north eastern corner of the province, does not differ much from Wood Frisian.
By far the two most-widely spoken West Frisian dialects are Clay Frisian (Klaaifrysk) and Wood Frisian (Wâldfrysk). Both these names are derived from the Frisian landscape. In the western and north-western parts of the province, the region where Clay Frisian is spoken, the soil is made up of thick marine clay, hence the name. While in the Clay Frisian-speaking area ditches are used to separate the pastures, in the eastern part of the province, where the soil is sandy, and water sinks away much faster, rows of trees are used to that purpose. The natural landscape in which Wâldfrysk exists mirrorsThe Weald andNorth Weald areas of south-eastern England – the Germanic wordswald andweald are cognate.
AlthoughKlaaifrysk andWâldfrysk are mutually very easily intelligible, there are, at least to native West Frisian speakers, a few very conspicuous differences. These include the pronunciation of the wordsmy ("me"),dy ("thee"),hy ("he"),sy ("she" or "they"),wy ("we") andby ("by"), and the diphthongsei andaai.[18]
Of the two,Wâldfrysk probably has more speakers, but because the western clay area was originally the more prosperous part of the mostly agricultural province,Klaaifrysk has had the larger influence on the West Frisian standardised language.
The largest difference between the Clay Frisian and Wood Frisian dialects are the wordsmy ("me"),dy ("you"),hy ("he"),sy ("she" or "they"),wy ("we"), andby ("by"), which are pronounced in the Wood Frisian asmi,di,hi,si,wi, andbi and in Clay Frisian asmij,dij,hij,sij,wij, andbij. Other differences are in the pronunciation of the diphthongsei,ai, andaai which are pronouncedij,ai, andaai in Wood Frisian, butôi,òi, andôi in Clay Frisian. Thus, in Wood Frisian, there is no difference betweenei andij, whereas in Clay Frisian, there is no difference betweenei andaai.
West Frisian uses the Latin alphabet. A, E, O and U may be accompanied bycircumflex oracute accents.
In alphabetical listings both I and Y are usually found between H and J. When two words differ only because one has I and the other one has Y (such asstikje andstykje), the word with I precedes the one with Y.
In handwriting, IJ (used for Dutch loanwords and personal names) is written as a single letter (seeIJ (digraph)), whereas in print the string IJ is used. In alphabetical listings IJ is most commonly considered to consist of the two letters I and J, although in dictionaries there is an entry IJ between X and Z telling the user to browse back to I.
^Provinsje Fryslân (2007),Fluchhifking Fryske Taal.
^Gorter, D. L.G. Jansma en G.H. Jelsma (1990),Taal yn it Grinsgebiet. Undersyk nei de taalferhâldings en de taalgrins yn it Westerkertier yn Grinslân. Sosjaal-wittenskiplike rige nummer 10. Akademy-nummer 715. Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy.
^Gorter, Durk; Riemersma, Alex; & Ytsma, Jehannes (2001). "Frisian in the Netherlands". In Extra, Guus & Gorter, Durk (eds.),The Other Languages of Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. pp. 115–135. Available via ResearchGate:[1]. The authors discuss demographic shifts, including migration of West Frisians to other Dutch provinces and the resulting distribution of Frisian speakers outside Friesland.
^Gorter, D. & R.J. Jonkman (1994),Taal yn Fryslân op 'e nij besjoen. Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy.
^Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Memory of Peoples (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO Publishing.ISBN978-92-3-104096-2.
^Geschiedenis van Friesland, 1750–1995, Johan Frieswijk, p. 327.
Hoekstra, Jarich; Tiersma, Peter Meijes (2013) [First published 1994], "16 Frisian", in van der Auwera, Johan; König, Ekkehard (eds.),The Germanic Languages, Routledge, pp. 505–531,ISBN978-0-415-05768-4
