Frysk, Friisk, Frasch, Fräisk

Definitely considered and classified as a language is Frysk. We find it spoken by people in the Nederlandse provincies Fryslân en Groningen and the German federal states Niedersachsen und Schleswig-Holstein. The Frisians originally are a folk or ethnic group with a long, and formerly famous culture. Their language is very close to English and Danish - less to the Germanic languages in their next surroundings: Dutch viarities/Standard Dutch and Low German viarities/Standard German.

Due to the shape of the region we see on the map showing but one bigger locally coherent landmass but many islands it is no surprise that the original language has spread up into many regional varieties that have been developing differently from each other. The East Frisian language already has become extinct.


When we consider our language as a cultural value, being a basis of our personal and social identity any lost language is a loss for the whole humanity. In all of our languages is an immense reservoir of cultural wisdom. Wisdom we cannot afford to loose for the performance of our current task to create a livable environment for anyone. We should foster our traditions and languages to preserve this source.


While for getting a deeper impression of the North Frisian language one would have to visit its region in Schleswig-Holstein, and for Saterland Frisian the one in Lower Saxony, at least for the West Frisian language spoken in the Netherlands you can get an introduction right away:





And should you get attracted to this rich language, maybe you want to try some online-lessons on: http://www.edufrysk.com/.