Language
Frisian – west-germanic language related to English and German
Related to East-Frisian and North-Frisian in Germany
Frisian and Dutch are easy mutually understandable.
Short description of organisation represented in project
Berie foar it Frysk - Frisian Language Board
The Berie foar it Frysk, the Frisian Language Board is an advisory committee for the province of Fryslân (Friesland) which covers the Frisian-speaking area. The members of the Advisory Board originate from a variety of sectors of society including media, business, government, education and the sciences. The Advisory Board advises the Provincial Executive, organises workshops, prepares reports, and submits proposals for research to be conducted in the interests of the Frisian-speaking area.
The members of the Advisory Board and the motivation behind their membership may be found here.
The list of Advisory Board reports may also be found here.
The address of the staff office is:
Provinsjehûs,
Postbus 20120,
8900 HM Leeuwarden / Ljouwert.
The Netherlands
Territory where language is spoken
Province of Fryslân / Friesland (Netherlands).
Sociolinguistic data available for language
Out of 625,000 inhabitants of the province, 400,000 people use the Frisian language as their mother-tongue.
According to the survey among all inhabitants of 12 years and older (1994):
- 94% can understand Frisian
- 74% can speak Frisian
- 65 % can read Frisian
- 17% can write Frisian
Studies by the Fryske Akademy (Frisian Academy), ‘Taal in Fryslân’ (1984) with English summary ‘Language in Friesland’ (1988); ‘Taal yn Fryslân op ‘e nij besjoen’ (1995) with short English summary:’What is the current state of Frisian?’
Language in Friesland.
Taal yn Fryslân op 'e nij besjoen.
Publikaasjes Taal yn Fryslân.
SPSS-files of sociolinguistic surveys by the SPSS-bestannen
Study by research institute TNS NIPO (November 2004)
Euromosaïc (1996): Position of Frisian in the ranking of European RMLs: nr 15 out of 48.
Legal status of language
Frisian is the second official language of the Netherlands. Inhabitants of the province Friesland are using the language in every day life, both in formal and informal situations; the language is in oral use more intensively than in writing.
At national level, however, there is no Frisian language act to support this.
Scattered legislation on Frisian language in administration, local government, judiciary, education, media, culture (literature) does exist.
The common responsibility of the national government and regional authorities is enacted in a Covenant Frisian Language and Culture 2001-2010.
Framework Convention (ratified 2004):
Frisians are recognised the only national minority in the Netherlands.
European Charter for Minority and Regional Languages (ratified 1996):
Frisian is the only language recognised by the Dutch government for which 48 undertakings in Part III are signed (Education: 9; Judicial authorities: 6; Administrative authorities: 12; Media: 5; Cultural activities: 9; Economic and social life: 5; Transfrontier exchanges: 2).
Common challenges facing the language
- Language transmission in the family (10% decline per generation)
- Quality of Frisian language education (no strong language awareness and decline of language knowledge)
- Scaling-up and merging of entities/bodies of local and regional government, institutions for health care, welfare, education, and media ‘Forensism’ and loss of social cohesion and services (in rural areas) undermining the ‘heartland’ of the language
- Lack of ‘visibility’ of the language in the linguistic landscape
- Lack of key persons in favour of language use and rights
- The closeness of Frisian and Dutch contributes to the use of interferences and to the attitude of Frisian being a dialect of Dutch. This urges the stress on the status of Frisian as an independent language and the use of its individual characteristics