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North Frisian language
 
 
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North Frisian is a minority language
Minority language

A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. Such people are termed linguistic minorities. With a total number of 193 sovereign states recognized internationally and an estimated number of roughly 5,000 to 7,000 List of languages by name spoken worldwide, it follows that the vast majority of la...
 of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia
North Frisia

North Frisia or Northern Friesland is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located primarily in Germany between the rivers Eider River and Vid?....
. There are two main dialectal divisions: those of the mainland and the insular dialects. There is no standard variety, although some have suggested the mainland Mooring
Mooring (North Frisian dialect)

Mooring or B?kingharde Frisian is a dialect of the North Frisian language spoken in Nieb?ll and the Amt of B?kingharde in the Germany region of North Frisia....
 dialect. The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic
West Germanic languages

The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic languages family of languages and include languages such as English language, Dutch language and Afrikaans, German language, the Frisian languages, as well as Yiddish language....
 Frisian languages.

North Frisian is an endangered language, as in most places children no longer learn it.






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North Frisian is a minority language
Minority language

A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. Such people are termed linguistic minorities. With a total number of 193 sovereign states recognized internationally and an estimated number of roughly 5,000 to 7,000 List of languages by name spoken worldwide, it follows that the vast majority of la...
 of Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia
North Frisia

North Frisia or Northern Friesland is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located primarily in Germany between the rivers Eider River and Vid?....
. There are two main dialectal divisions: those of the mainland and the insular dialects. There is no standard variety, although some have suggested the mainland Mooring
Mooring (North Frisian dialect)

Mooring or B?kingharde Frisian is a dialect of the North Frisian language spoken in Nieb?ll and the Amt of B?kingharde in the Germany region of North Frisia....
 dialect. The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic
West Germanic languages

The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic languages family of languages and include languages such as English language, Dutch language and Afrikaans, German language, the Frisian languages, as well as Yiddish language....
 Frisian languages.

North Frisian is an endangered language, as in most places children no longer learn it. Exceptions are a few villages on the islands of Föhr
Föhr

F?hr is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the States of Germany of Schleswig-Holstein....
 and Amrum
Amrum

Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of F?hr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein....
 and the Risum-Lindholm
Risum-Lindholm

Risum-Lindholm is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany....
 area. All speakers of North Frisian are at least bilingual (North Frisian and Standard German
Standard German

Standard German is the standard language of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas....
). Many are trilingual (North Frisian, Standard German and Low German
Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is any of the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands....
) and, especially along the Danish border, quadrilingualism used to be widespread (North Frisian, Standard German, Low German and South Jutlandic).

On 24 December 2004 a state law became effective in Schleswig-Holstein that recognises the North Frisian language for official use in the Nordfriesland
Nordfriesland

Nordfriesland, English "Northern Friesland" or "North Frisia", is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It includes almost all of traditional North Frisia along with adjacent areas to the east and south and is bounded by the districts of Schleswig-Flensburg and Dithmarschen, the North Sea and the Denmark county of South Jutland....
 district and on Heligoland
Heligoland

Heligoland is a small Germany archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Denmark and British Empire possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the southeastern corner of the North Sea....
.

Samples


The sentence displayed below in many variants reads, "'Shine, old moon, shine!', cried Häwelmann, but neither the moon nor the stars were anywhere to be seen; they had all already gone to bed." (From: Theodor Storm
Theodor Storm

Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm studied and practiced law in Schleswig-Holstein and - emigrated under Danish rule - to Thuringia. He also wrote a number of stories, poems and novellas....
: Der kleine Häwelmann.)

Insular


Söl'ring
Söl'ring

S?l'ring is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Sylt in the Germany region of North Frisia. S?l'ring refers to the S?l'ring Frisian word for Sylt, S?l....
 (dialect of Sylt
Sylt

Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein and well known for the distinct shape of its shoreline....
)

„Ljucht, ual Muun, ljucht!” skriilt Häwelmann, man di Muun wiar narigen tö sen en uk di Stiaren ek; ja wiar al altermaal tö Ber gingen.


Fering
Fering

Fering is the dialect of North Frisian spoken on the island of F?hr in the Germany region of North Frisia. Fering refers to the Fering Frisian name of F?hr, Feer....
-Öömrang
Öömrang

??mrang is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Amrum in the Germany region of North Frisia. ??mrang refers to the ??mrang Frisian name of Amrum, Oomram....
 (dialect of Föhr
Föhr

F?hr is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the States of Germany of Schleswig-Holstein....
 and Amrum
Amrum

Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of F?hr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein....
)

„Locht, ual muun, locht!” rep Heewelmaan, man a muun wiar nochhuaren tu sen an a stäären uk ei; jo wiar al altermaal tu baad gingen.


Heligolandic
Heligolandic

Heligolandic is the dialect of the North Frisian language....
 (dialect of Helgoland)

„Lochte, ool Muun, lochte!” rüp Heäwelman, oawers de Muun wear naarni tu sin’n en uk de Steern ni; dja wear al allemoal tu Baad gingen.


Mainland


Hoorning (dialect of Goesharde)

„Jocht, uule moune, jocht!” biilked Hääwelmoon, ors e moune waas närngs to schüns än da steere ok ai; ja weern al aal to beede gingen.


Wiedingharde Frisian
Wiedingharde Frisian

Wiedingharde Frisian is a dialect of the North Frisian language spoken in the German Amt of Wiedingharde south of the border to Denmark in North Frisia ....


„Ljocht, uuile moone, ljocht!” biilked Hääwelmuon, män e moone was näärgen to schüns än uk e steere ai; jä würn al altomoale to beerd gingen.


Halligen Frisian
Halligen Frisian

Halligen Frisian is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the Halligen islands, primarily Langene? and Hooge , in the Germany region of North Frisia....
 (although it is spoken on the Halligen islands, it is linguistically grouped with the mainland dialects)

„Jaacht, uale mööne, jaacht!” bölked Hääwelmoon, man de mööne woas näärngs to siinen än de steere uk ee; jä weern al altomaole to beed giangen.


Mooring
Mooring (North Frisian dialect)

Mooring or B?kingharde Frisian is a dialect of the North Frisian language spoken in Nieb?ll and the Amt of B?kingharde in the Germany region of North Frisia....
 (dialect of Bökingharde
Bökingharde

B?kingharde was an Amt in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It was situated on the North Sea coast, approx....
)

„Jucht, üülje moune, jucht!” biiljked Hääwelmoon, ouers e moune wus nargne tu schüns än e stääre uk ai; ja wjarn ål åltumååle tu beed lim.


Note that, despite the differences between the dialects, the Fering and Öömrang are highly similar; in this example nearly identical.

See also

  • Frisian languages
  • North Frisia
    North Frisia

    North Frisia or Northern Friesland is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located primarily in Germany between the rivers Eider River and Vid?....
  • Frisians
    Frisians

    The Frisians are an ethnic group of Germanic people living in coastal parts of The Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia....
  • Frisian Islands
    Frisian Islands

    ||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}The Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands or Wadden Sea Islands, form an archipelago at the eastern edge of the North Sea in northwestern Europe, stretching from the north-west of the Netherlands through Germany to the west of Denmark....


External links

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