Frisian

Genealogical classification
Indo-European / Germanic / West Germanic / Ingwæonic (North Sea West Germanic)

Area and Varieties
It is Westerlauwer Frisian that most people mean when they say “Frisian.” Westerlauwer Frisian (Westerlauwersk Frysk, Frisian west of the Lauwer river) is used in the Netherlands’ province of Fryslân (Friesland) and in the western parts of the Netherlands’ province of Groningen (Grinslân). Outside the Netherlands, these varieties tend to be known as “West Frisian,” but in the Netherlands this name (Westfries) refers to certain, strongly Frisian-influenced Dutch dialects.
Sater Frisian (Seeltersk), spoken in the Saterland (Seelterlound) of the Cloppenburg region in Germany’s Lower Saxony, is to a fairly high degree mutually intelligible with Westerlauwer Frisian. 
North Frisian varieties are used in the region of Northern Friesland, on the west coast of Germany’s state of Schleswig-Holstein, an area that has gone back and forth between Danish and German rule. A North Frisian variety is also used farther south, just beyond the mouth of the Elbe River, on the Isle of Heligoland, which has experienced both British and German rule. Mutual intelligibility between insular and mainland varieties is poor, as is mutual intelligibility between North Frisian on the one hand and Sater Frisian and Westerlauwer Frisian on the other hand. The insular North Frisian varieties are not easily understood among themselves either, with the exception that speakers from the Isles of Amrum and Föhr understand each other’s dialects very well.
Frisian, especially Westerlauwer Frisian, survives in some emigrant communities, particularly in North America.

[Click here for a map]

History
The Frisian people lost total political independence about six to eight centuries ago. However, their surviving communities, including some that have lost the Frisian language, still fervently cling to their Frisian identity and traditions.
The original Frisian homeland is believed to have been the area between the Ijssel Sea (in today’s Netherlands) and the Weser River (in today’s Northern Germany). Frisian language and culture spread from there along the North Sea coast from what is now Northern Belgium to Denmark’s Southern Jutland. Most of this once continuous area is now no longer Frisian-speaking, Frisian having been replaced by Flemish, Zeelandic (Zeêuws), Dutch, Lowlands Saxon (Low German), German, Southern Jutish (Sønderjysk) and Danish.
Long ago, Emsland, Eastern Friesland and the northern parts of the Oldenburg district (all in today's German state of Lower Saxony) replaced Frisian with Lowlands Saxon (which is now at the late stages of being replaced by German). However, a small remnant of East Frisian survives south of Eastern Friesland in the Saterland ward of the Cloppenburg district. Now known as “Sater Frisian,” it had arrived there with Roman Catholics trying to evade the pressures of the Lutheran Reformation as it swept through Friesland. Until fairly recently, this isolated group of speakers—considered Europe’s smallest language enclave—was largely ignorant of the fact that they are descendants of Frisians and speak a Frisian dialect.
It is believed that Frisian was first introduced to the western coast and islands of Schleswig-Holstein around the year 700 C.E. and intermingled with local Germanic varieties with which it was probably still mutually intelligible at the time. The North Frisian varieties of the mainland and of the tideland islands are assumed to represent an immigration wave that followed about two or three centuries later. Like their Saterland cousins, insular North Frisians used to be quite isolated and unaware of being Frisian. They used to consider the coastal mainlanders Frisians, identifying themselves and their language varieties solely with their respective islands. 
Until about 1500, Frisian was the predominant language in most of the Frisian areas. Thereafter, Frisian came to be increasingly replaced by Lowlands Saxon and Dutch in the Netherlands, and first by Lowlands Saxon and later by German in what is now Germany. Frisian came to be overshadowed and in large part replaced by these official languages of administration, education and religion. For a long time it served as an unofficial, “common” language at best. In most areas, especially in urban areas, it lost this status as well, as more and more non-Frisians moved into the area.
In the 19th century, Frisian experienced a renaissance of sorts, inspired primarily by the writer Gysbert Japicx and by European Romanticism. This “Frisian Movement” triggered a considerable amount of Frisian literary activity, mostly in the Northern Netherlands, but also in some North Frisian communities, which were additionally inspired by a similar Lowlands Saxon movement. In the late 19th century, standard orthographies began to be developed for the Frisian varieties. The creation of standard written Westerlauwer Frisian facilitated Frisian publishing, and Westerlauwer Frisian began to reassert itself unofficially and to a limited degree as a language of local government and media. This culminated in official recognition as a “separate language” in the 20th century. Eventually, Westerlauwer Frisian came to be instated as a language option in legal proceedings and as a subject in elementary schools. Generally speaking, Germany’s Frisian varieties meanwhile continue to lose ground. Most of them may be considered endangered, some of them moribund, despite advocacy work, official minority language status and modest educational activities.

Number of Speakers
The Netherlands province of Friesland has more than 600,000 inhabitants, about 450,000 of whom are able to speak Frisian. Approximately 350,000 use it as a native language. The estimated number of Frisian speakers in the province Groningen is 3,000. A 1994 survey revealed that 94% of Friesland’s population can understand Frisian, 74% can speak it, 65% are able to read it, and 17% can write it. Westerlauwer Frisian speakers are large majorities in rural communities. They are small minorities in the cities, on the Frisian Islands and in two Lowlands-Saxon-dominated southeastern municipalities of Friesland.
Frisian consciousness revival and official status has been beneficial to Sater Frisian. The number of its speakers is small—about 2,000—but it is apparently increasing.
Of approximately 156,000 inhabitants of Northern Friesland, about 50,000 consider themselves ethnically Frisian, and of these about 8,000 are proficient in North Frisian.

Status
Friesland has been an officially (Frisian and Dutch) bilingual province for a few decades now. In 1996, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was ratified by the Netherlands, and this included Frisian. In 2001, a Covenant on Frisian Language and Culture between the Netherlands’ government and the province of Friesland was signed. This covenant is the implementation instrument of the Charter. In 1995, the right to use Frisian in the local and provincial assemblies was confirmed by statute. In 1980, Westerlauwer Frisian became a mandatory subject in Friesland’s elementary schools, and in 1993 it became mandatory in early secondary education. Already in the 1970s, Frylân’s students were able to choose Frisian as an examination subject in secondary education and in teacher training. The provincial government and the councils of several municipalities have begun to afford equal rights to Frisian and Dutch. “Fryslân” (rather than Dutch “Friesland”) is now the official name of the province, and some Frisian place names in the province have been declared the only official ones.
Germany, too, has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The federal government and the relevant state (Land) and regional governments are thus obligated to protect and help promote Frisian. However, the facts that in Germany Frisian is used in small, diverse enclaves and that there is no standard variety of North Frisian constitute serious impediments. To benefit communication and cohesion among Northern Friesland’s Frisians, some circles are advocating that Frasch, a mainland dialect of Mooring (Bökingharde), serve as the North Frisian lingua franca.

Public Services
In general, Frisian speakers can use their own language in contacts with public authorities, as the provincial or state administration and a number of other bodies have made this a matter of policy. However, official documents still tend to be issued only in Dutch and German respectively, very rarely in Frisian or bilingually. In courts of justice all parties, including defendant and witnesses, are permitted to speak Frisian. The court can appoint an interpreter should this be required. Courts of justice in Friesland accept civil actions submitted in Frisian, but this can cause problems in cases of an appeal to a higher court. Documents published in Frisian only are not legally binding so far, but it is expected that they will be legally binding as of 2002.
Public signs may be in Frisian, in Dutch/German or bilingual, depending on the choice of the municipality concerned.

Education
In Friesland, a small number of playgroups are entirely conducted in Frisian. Since 1980, Frisian has been taught in all provincial primary schools, both public and private. In about 80% of these schools, Frisian is also used to varying degrees as a teaching medium, alongside Dutch. There is no provision for primary education entirely in Frisian. However, some primary schools have been experimenting with trilingual schooling: Frisian, Dutch and English.
At the secondary level it is also possible to use Westerlauwer Frisian as a teaching medium for some subjects, but this option is utilized infrequently. There is no secondary schooling entirely in Frisian. The language is one of the six or seven exam subjects secondary school pupils can choose from.
Since 1993, Westerlauwer Frisian has been a mandatory subject in early secondary education. The two teacher training centres in Friesland must also offer Frisian, and they have made it a mandatory subject leading to elementary school teaching certification in Frisian. Secondary school teachers are trained at the part-time higher vocational education college in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden and at the University of Groningen (one year full time) after having studied the language as a main subject at the universities in Groningen or Amsterdam. In Leiden, Frisian is an elective subject. There is an extensive network of adult language courses in Frisian.
Some schools in Germany’s Frisian-speaking communities offer some schooling in the various Frisian varieties. Frisian studies in Germany are offered at the Nordfriisk Instituut (North Frisian Institute) in Bräist/Bredstedt, at the universities of Kiel and Flensburg.

Media
There are no printed newspapers totally in Frisian. Newspapers tend to carry some Frisian articles on cultural matters, and in Dutch articles Frisian speakers are usually quoted in their language. A small number of literary periodicals are published totally in Frisian.
Frisian used to be covered rarely and sparsely in the North German media. Some local newspapers and newsletters carry Frisian articles and columns. Some regular Frisian radio broadcasting was introduced recently.
Literary production in Westerlauwer Frisian is considerable, fairly meager in other Frisian language varieties. There are several Frisian museums, libraries, archives and cultural centres in both countries.
Westerlauwer Frisian radio and television is broadcast all over the Netherlands.
Friesland has one professional Frisian theatre, which enjoys much popularity. Most towns and villages in Friesland have amateur drama groups, and there is some Frisian amateur theatre activity in Germany as well.
There is some production of Westerlauwer Frisian musical compact disks and lately also of films.

Samples
click here for language samples

Authors: Reinhard F. Hahn & Mathieu van Woerkom

Further information: http://www.lowlands-l.net  (Click on “Resources” and on “Links” or “Offline Material”.)

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