North Frisian language

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North Frisian
Sylt: Nuurđfriisk
Föhr/Amrum:nuurdfresk
Heligoland:Noorfriisk
Wiedingharde/Halligen:nordfreesk
Mooring:nordfrasch
Karrharde:nordfräisch
Central Goesharde:noordfreesch
Bilingual signs German-Frisian, police station Husum, Germany 0892.JPG
Bilingual sign in German and North Frisian, respectively, in Husum, Germany
Native toGermany
Region North Frisia
Ethnicity North Frisians
Native speakers
(10,000 cited 1976) [1]
Latin
Official status
Official language in
Germany
  • Schleswig-Holstein
Regulated by Nordfriisk Instituut
Language codes
ISO 639-2 frr
ISO 639-3 frr
Glottolog nort2626
ELP Northern Frisian
Linguasphere 52-ACA-e (varieties:
52-ACA-eaa to -eak &
extinct -eba & -ebb)
NordfriesischeDialekte.png
North Frisian dialects
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Linguistic map of Schleswig in the mid-19th century LinguisticSituationSchleswigSlesvig.png
Linguistic map of Schleswig in the mid-19th century

North Frisian is a minority language of Germany, spoken by about 10,000 people in North Frisia. [2] The language is part of the larger group of the West Germanic Frisian languages. The language comprises 10 dialects which are themselves divided into an insular and a mainland group.

Contents

North Frisian is closely related to the Saterland Frisian language of Northwest Germany and West Frisian which is spoken in the Netherlands. All of these are also closely related to the English language forming the Anglo-Frisian group.

The phonological system of the North Frisian dialects is strongly being influenced by Standard German and is slowly adapting to that of the German language. With a number of native speakers probably even less than 10,000 and decreasing use in mainland North Frisia, the North Frisian language is endangered. It is protected as a minority language and has become an official language in the Nordfriesland district and on Heligoland island.

Classification

The closest relatives of North Frisian are the two other Frisian languages, the Saterland Frisian of north-western Lower Saxony, Germany, and the West Frisian language spoken in the northern Netherlands. Together, the three sub-groups form the group of Frisian languages.

English is also closely related to Frisian. The two languages are classified in a common Anglo-Frisian group, which is grouped among the Ingvaeonic languages, together with Low German. The related Low German has developed differently since Old Saxon times and has lost many Ingvaeonic characteristics. [3]

Dialects

Overview

The North Frisian dialects can be grouped into two main dialectal divisions: mainland and insular dialects. Altogether, both groups have 10 dialects. [4] Since the beginning of Frisian linguistic studies in the 19th century, the following ten dialects have typically been noted as distinct:

Insular North Frisian
Mainland North Frisian

The mainland and insular dialects clearly differ from each other because they were shaped by Frisian immigrants in different centuries. The islands of Sylt, Föhr and Amrum were colonised in around AD 800, and the mainland was settled by Frisians in AD 1100.

There are also various influences of neighbouring languages on the dialects. On Sylt, Föhr and Amrum and in parts of the northern mainland such as Wiedingharde, there is a strong Danish (South Jutlandic) influence, but on Heligoland and the rest of mainland North Frisia, the Low German influence is predominant. Moreover, there has historically been little exchange between the dialects and so hardly any lingua franca could develop and there was no cultural centre in North Frisia for which the dialect could have had a leading role.

Samples

The sentence displayed below in many variants reads, "'Shine, old moon, shine!', cried Häwelmann, but the moon was nowhere to be seen and the stars neither; they had all already gone to bed" (based on Theodor Storm's Der kleine Häwelmann). [5]

Insular

Söl'ring (dialect of Sylt)

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

Fering-Öömrang (dialect of Föhr and Amrum)

"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 (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

Northern Goesharde Frisian, Hoorninger Fräisch variety of Langenhorn

"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

"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 (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 (dialect of Bökingharde)

"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.

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

Another source that highlights the differences between all of the main dialects of North Frisian (even extinct ones) are translations of the Lord's Prayer.

The following table further demonstrates the similarities and differences between the various dialects. [6]

DialectFatherMotherSisterBrother
Söl'ring FaađerMooterSesterBröđer
Fering aatjmamsasterbruler
Öömrang bruder
Hallig Frisian baabemämsosterbröör
Halunder FoorMemSösterBruur
Wiedingharder Frisian täätemäämbroor
Karrharde Frisian mämbrauder
Bökingharde Frisian taatjemambrouder
Central Goesharde Frisian atemämbroor
Southern Goesharder Frisian fåår, fååðerbrööðer
Nordergoesharder Frisian fååjesosterbrår

Extinct dialects

The Eiderstedt Frisian on the Eiderstedt peninsula were abandoned in favour of Low German during the 17th and 18th centuries. In contrast to the northern hundreds, Eiderstedt was economically strong and wealthy and was oriented towards the southern, Low German parts of Schleswig-Holstein. Moreover, there was a strong Dutch immigration during the 16th century. [7]

A similar situation was to be found on the island of Strand, which was destroyed during the Burchardi flood. The population of the eastern, remaining part of Strand, the modern Nordstrand, did not succeed in rebuilding the dikes on their own. Therefore, many Frisian speaking people left their homeland on Strand or were otherwise not able to maintain their native language against mostly Dutch-speaking immigrants. On Pellworm, the western remainder of Strand, the repair of the dikes was quickly accomplished and so the Frisian language was still spoken in the 18th century, until it also vanished due to changes in population structure. The old Strand Frisian was presumably closest to Halligen Frisian.

Likewise close to Halligen Frisian was the Wyk Frisian that used to be spoken in Wyk auf Föhr until the town completely shifted to Low German. The Wyk dialect is thought to have developed from the dialects of immigrants from the Halligen and Strand island.

The dialect that most recently died out is Southern Goesharde Frisian which became extinct with the death of its last speaker in the early 1980s. Other mainland dialects are also facing extinction.

North of the German-Danish border North Frisian was spoken only in some marsh-farms, located directly at the border. [8]

Self-designation

Due to the large number of dialects there is no original native name for the North Frisian language as such. E.g. the Wiedingharde and Halligen Frisians call their language freesk, in the Bökingharde it is called frasch, and in the Goesharde likewise fräisch or freesch. While these names all translate to "Frisian" the native names of the insular dialects refer to the particular islands as in Fering, Öömrang, Söl'ring or Halunder. E.g. "Frisian" would mean "fresk" in the Föhr dialect.

The North Frisians eventually agreed upon the inter-dialectal name "friisk" which corresponds to the West Frisian native name "frysk". This designation is today mostly used when the North Frisian collectivity is addressed or in the names of official institutions such as Nordfriisk Instituut, Friisk Foriining or Friisk Gesäts. The northern section of the Interfrisian Council has however kept its name "Frasche Rädj" in the Mooring dialect.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Dorsal Glottal
plain pal.
Stop voiceless p t tʲ k
voiced b d dʲ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ x h
voiced v z
Nasal m n nʲ ŋ
Trill r
Approximant l lʲ j

Vowels

Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
shortlongshortlongshortlong
Close i iː yː uː
Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ
Close-mid e eː øː ə oː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː œ œː ɔ ɔː
Open aː a ɒː
Diphthongs
Front Back
Close iaua, ui
Mid øiou
ɛiœiɔi, ɔˑi
Open ai, aˑiau, ɒːi

Despite the strong differences among the North Frisian dialects, there are still some traits of phonology that are more or less common to all dialects. Among them is the lowering from [ ɪ ] to [ a ], which is mostly complete in the central dialects but is only at the stage [ ɛ ] or [ eː ] in the periphery. For example, the word "fish" translates to Mooring fasch and Fering-Öömrang fask but Söl'ring fesk (cf. Low German: Fisch/Fisk, Danish : fisk, German: Fisch, Dutch : vis).

The distribution of the lenition of the unvoiced plosives p, t and k is similar as they have become voiced plosives and partially even developed to fricatives in the central dialects. That can be demonstrated from the verb "to know": Mooring waase, Fering-Öömrang wed, Sölring weet, Halunder wet (cf. West Frisian witte, Low German weten, German wissen).

The North Frisian dialects differ from modern Standard German by a more diverse system of diphthongs and consonants. All of the dialects have an additional line of palatalizations, which is uncommon for a Germanic language. Until recently, an additional number of dental consonants contrasted phonemically with their alveolar counterparts in the dialect of Föhr. In general, the insular dialects feature a relatively complicated consonantal system, but the mainland dialects have more diverse vowels.

Recently, the phonological system of the North Frisian dialects has been strongly influenced by Standard German and is slowly adapting to its system. [9] [ specify ]

Current situation

Officially, the number of North Frisian speakers ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 [2] but linguists propose significantly lower numbers. In 2007, Århammar estimated a total of 5,000 speakers inside and 1,500 to 2,000 speakers outside North Frisia proper. [4] Exact surveys do not exist.

North Frisian is an endangered language, as in most places, children no longer learn it. In UNESCO's Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger , North Frisian is classified as "severely endangered". [10] Exceptions are a few villages on the islands of Föhr and Amrum and the Risum-Lindholm area. Especially in the western parts of Föhr, the language community is still relatively common. [4] The number of speakers on Föhr and Amrum alone is estimated to around 3,500. The other dialects are, in fact, seriously endangered, like Karrharde Frisian, Central Goesharde and Halligen Frisian.

The elementary and grammar school on Amrum is called Öömrang Skuul and, among other subjects, focuses on teaching the local dialect. Fering is also taught in schools on Föhr and the Risum Skole/Risem Schölj in Risum-Lindholm on the mainland is a combined Danish-North Frisian elementary school.

All speakers of North Frisian are at least bilingual (North Frisian and German). Many are trilingual (North Frisian, Standard German and Low German) and, especially along the Danish border, quadrilingualism used to be widespread (North Frisian, Standard German, Low German and South Jutlandic).

In Schleswig-Holstein, North Frisian is protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages as a minority language. On 24 December 2004 a state law became effective in Schleswig-Holstein that recognises the North Frisian language for official use in the Nordfriesland district and on Heligoland. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Frisian languages are a closely related group of West Germanic languages, spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. The Frisian languages are the closest living language group to the Anglic languages; the two groups make up the Anglo-Frisian languages group and together with the Low German dialects these form the North Sea Germanic languages. However, modern English and Frisian are not mutually intelligible, nor are Frisian languages intelligible among themselves, owing to independent linguistic innovations and foreign influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordfriesland (district)</span> District in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Frisian Islands</span>

The North Frisian Islands are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frisia</span> Cross-border cultural region in Northern Europe

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Föhr</span>

Föhr is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest North Sea island of Germany and a popular destination for tourists. A town and eleven distinct municipalities are located on the island. The climate is oceanic with moderate winters and relatively cool summers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amrum</span> German island

Amrum is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and has approximately 2,300 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Föhr North Frisian</span> North Frisian dialect of Föhr, Germany

Föhr Frisian, or Fering, is the dialect of North Frisian spoken on the island of Föhr in the German region of North Frisia. Fering refers to the Fering Frisian name of Föhr, Feer. Together with the Öömrang, Söl'ring, and Heligolandic dialects, it forms part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects and it is very similar to Öömrang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Frisian languages</span> Group of West Germanic languages

The Anglo-Frisian languages are the Anglic and Frisian varieties of the West Germanic languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Frisia</span> Place in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

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Wyk auf Föhr is the only town on Föhr, the second largest of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. Like the entire island it belongs to the district of Nordfriesland. Wyk includes the two minor town districts of Boldixum and Südstrand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heligoland Frisian</span> North Frisian language dialect of Heligoland, Germany

Heligolandic (Halunder) is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the German island of Heligoland in the North Sea. It is spoken today by some 500 of the island's 1,650 inhabitants and is also taught in schools. Heligolandic is closely related to the insular North Frisian dialects of Fering and Öömrang because medieval fishery around Heligoland attracted Frisians from Föhr and Amrum, and close contacts have been maintained ever since. In fact Fering and Öömrang are closer in linguistic aspects to the dialect of Heligoland than to that of their neighbouring island Sylt, Söl'ring. Heligolandic also contains a variety of loanwords from 19th-century Modern English due to the 83-year British control of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylt North Frisian</span> Dialect of the North Frisian language

Sylt Frisian, or Söl'ring, is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Sylt in the German region of North Frisia. Söl'ring refers to the Söl'ring Frisian word for Sylt, Söl'. Together with the Fering, Öömrang, and Heligolandic dialects, it forms part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects. It differs from the mainland dialects because of its relatively strong Danish influence. Due to mass tourism on Sylt, the dialect has been largely displaced by forms of German and Söl'ring is spoken only by a few hundred people, many of whom no longer reside on Sylt. Although it is taught in several primary schools, its prospects for survival are unfavorable compared with other insular dialects. An online dictionary is available for looking up German to Söl'ring translations and vice versa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amrum North Frisian</span> North Frisian dialect of Amrum, Germany

Amrum Frisian, also known as Öömrang, is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Amrum in the North Frisia region of Germany. Öömrang refers to the Öömrang Frisian name of Amrum, which is Oomram. Alongside the Fering, Söl'ring, and Heligolandic dialects, it is part of the insular group of North Frisian dialects, and it bares a close resemblance to Fering. Öömrang is spoken by approximately one-third of Amrum's 2,300 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiedingharde Frisian</span> Dialect of the North Frisian language

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. The dialect forms part of the mainland group of North Frisian dialects. Although it is spoken adjacent to Mooring-speaking Bökingharde, it has more in common with Goesharde Frisian. Like the insular Söl'ring dialect, Wiedingharde Frisian shows influence from Danish and South Jutlandic.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Frisians</span>

North Frisians are the inhabitants of the district of Nordfriesland in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Used in a narrower sense, the term also refers to an ethnic sub-group of the Frisians from the region of North Frisia, which lies primarily on the German North Sea coast, and on the island of Heligoland.

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Strand Frisian was a dialect of the North Frisian language which was originally spoken on Strand island, Duchy of Schleswig. Strand was destroyed in the Burchardi flood of 1634 with its remnants forming the islands Pellworm and Nordstrand which are now part of Germany. Strand Frisian is counted among the mainland group of North Frisian dialects.

Georg Quedens is a German photographer and non-fiction writer as well as a local and natural historian.

References

General references
Citations
  1. ↑ North Frisian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 "Minderheiten in Schleswig-Holstein – Friesen" (in German). Government of Schleswig-Holstein. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Nielsen, Hans Frede (2001). "Frisian and the Grouping of the Older Germanic Languages". In Horst H. Munske (ed.). Handbuch des Friesischen – Handbook of Frisian Studies (in German and English). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN   3-484-73048-X.
  4. 1 2 3 Århammar, Nils (2007). Munske, Horst H. (ed.). "Das Nordfriesische, eine bedrohte Minderheitensprache in zehn Dialekten: eine Bestandsaufnahme" (PDF). Sterben die Dialekte aus? Vorträge am Interdisziplinären Zentrum für Dialektforschung an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (in German). University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
  5. ↑ "Die Nordfriesen und ihre Sprache" (in German). Nordfriisk Instituut. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2011. Click on the map to access the regional dialects.
  6. ↑ After Walker and Wilts, p. 286
  7. ↑ Steensen, Thomas (2010). "Holländer". Geschichte in Schleswig-Holstein (in German). Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Knottnerus, Otto S. (2008). "De vergeten Friezen - Mislukt pamflet van Benny Siewertsen over een boeiend thema". De Vrije Fries (in Dutch). Leeuwarden: Fryske Akademy. ISBN   978-90-6171-0165. in reply to the pamphlet Siewertsen, Benny (2004). Friserne – vore glemte forfædre (in Danish). Lyngby: Slot Forlag. ISBN   978-87-90476-08-3.
  9. 1 2 Walker and Wilts
  10. ↑ Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). "North Frisian". Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO Publishing.
  11. ↑ "Gesetz zur Förderung des Friesischen im öffentlichen Raum". Wikisource (in German).
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