Editing Frisian languages (section)

==History==
[[Image:Brokmerbrief.jpg|thumb|[[Old Frisian]] text from 1345]]

===Old Frisian===
{{Main|Old Frisian}}
In the [[Early Middle Ages]] the Frisian lands stretched from the area around [[Bruges]], in what is now [[Belgium]], to the river [[Weser]], in northern [[Germany]]. At that time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern [[North Sea]] coast. Today this region is sometimes referred to as Great Frisia or Frisia Magna, and many of the areas within it still treasure their Frisian heritage, even though in most places the Frisian languages have been lost.

Frisian is the language most closely related to [[English language|English]] and [[Scots language|Scots]], but after at least five hundred years of being subject to the influence of [[Dutch language|Dutch]], modern Frisian in some aspects bears a greater similarity to Dutch than to English; one must also take into account the centuries-long drift of English away from Frisian. Thus the two languages have become less mutually intelligible over time, partly due to the influence which Dutch and [[Low German]] have had on Frisian, and partly due to the vast influence some languages (in particular [[Norman French]]) have had on English throughout the centuries.

[[Old Frisian]],<ref name=Bremmer />{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} however, was very similar to [[Old English language|Old English]]. Historically, both English and Frisian are marked by the loss of the Germanic nasal in words like ''us'' (''ús''; ''uns'' in German), ''soft'' (''sêft''; ''sanft'') or ''goose'' (''goes''; ''Gans''): see [[Anglo-Frisian nasal spirant law]]. Also, when followed by some vowels, the Germanic ''k'' softened to a ''ch'' sound; for example, the Frisian for ''cheese'' and ''church'' is ''tsiis'' and ''tsjerke'', whereas in [[Dutch language|Dutch]] it is ''kaas'' and ''kerk'', and in [[German language|High German]] the respective words are ''Käse'' and ''Kirche''. Contrarily, this did not happen for ''chin'' and ''choose'', which are ''kin'' and ''kieze''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Gooskens |first1=Charlotte |last2=Heeringa |first2= Wilbert |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237534065 |title=The Position of Frisian in the Germanic Language Area |date=May 2012 |journal=ResearchGate |access-date=25 August 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dicts.info/dictionary.php?k1=1&k2=178 |title=English to Frisian dictionary}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=October 2021|reason=ResearchGate not reliable}}

One rhyme demonstrates the palpable similarity between Frisian and English: "Butter, bread and green cheese is good English and good Frisian," which is pronounced more or less the same in both languages (West Frisian: "Bûter, brea en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk.")<ref>The History of English: A Linguistic Introduction. Scott Shay, Wardja Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0-615-16817-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-615-16817-3}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}}

One major difference between Old Frisian and modern Frisian is that in the Old Frisian period ({{Circa|1150|1550}}) [[Declension|grammatical cases]] still existed. Some of the texts that are preserved from this period are from the 12th or 13th, but most are from the 14th and 15th centuries. Generally, all these texts are restricted to legalistic writings. Although the earliest definite written examples of Frisian are from approximately the 9th century, there are a few examples of [[runic]] inscriptions from the region which are probably older and possibly in the Frisian language. These runic writings however usually do not amount to more than single- or few-word inscriptions, and cannot be said to constitute [[literature]] as such. The transition from the Old Frisian to the Middle Frisian period (c.1550-c.1820) in the 16th century is based on the fairly abrupt halt in the use of Frisian as a written language.

===Middle West Frisian===
{{Main|Middle Frisian}}
Up until the 15th century, Frisian was a language widely spoken and written, but from 1500 onwards it became an almost exclusively oral language, mainly used in rural areas. This was in part due to the occupation of its stronghold, the Dutch province of [[Friesland]] (Fryslân), in 1498, by [[Albert III, Duke of Saxony]], who replaced West Frisian as the language of government with Dutch.

Afterwards this practice was continued under the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] rulers of the Netherlands (the German Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] and his son, the Spanish King [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]]), and even when the Netherlands became independent, in 1585, West Frisian did not regain its former status. The reason for this was the rise of [[County of Holland|Holland]] as the dominant part of the Netherlands, and its language, Dutch, as the dominant language in judicial, administrative and religious affairs.

In this period the great Frisian poet [[Gysbert Japiks]] (1603–66), a schoolteacher and [[Cantor (Christianity)|cantor]] from the city of [[Bolsward]], who largely fathered modern West Frisian literature and orthography, was really an exception to the rule.

His example was not followed until the 19th century, when entire generations of West Frisian authors and poets appeared. This coincided with the introduction of the so-called newer [[Vowel breaking|breaking]] system, a prominent grammatical feature in almost all West Frisian dialects, with the notable exception of Southwest Frisian. Therefore, the Modern West Frisian period is considered to have begun at this point in time, around 1820.

=== Modern West Frisian ===
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Sjoukje speaking West Frisian.webm|thumb|A modern West Frisian speaker, recorded in the [[Netherlands]]]]
The revival of the West Frisian Language was led by the poet [[Gysbert Japiks]], who had begun to write in the language as a way to show that it was possible, and created a collective West Frisian identity and West Frisian standard of writing through his poetry.<ref name=":0"/>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} Later on, [[Johannes Hilarides]] would build off Gysbert Japiks' work by building on West Frisian orthography, particularly on its pronunciation; he also, unlike Japiks, set a standard of the West Frisian language that focused more heavily on how the common people used it as an everyday language.<ref name=":0"/>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}}

Perhaps the most important figure in the spreading of the West Frisian language was [[Justus Hiddes Halbertsma|minister Joost. H. Halbertsma]] (1789–1869), who translated many works into the West Frisian language, such as the New Testament <ref name=":0"/>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} He had however, like Hilarides, focused mostly on the vernacular of the West Frisian language, where he focused on translating texts, plays and songs for the lower and middle classes in order to teach and expand the West Frisian language.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Standardization: Studies from the Germanic languages|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FdU5AAAAQBAJ|publisher = John Benjamins Publishing|date = 2002-12-31|isbn = 9789027283672|first1 = Andrew R.|last1 = Linn|first2 = Nicola|last2 = McLelland}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} The compiled literary work of [[Brothers Halbertsma|the Halbertsma brothers]] (Joost, [[Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma|Tjalling]], and [[Eeltsje Hiddes Halbertsma|Eeltje]]), [[Rimen en Teltsjes]], is regarded as the standard Frisian literary work. This had begun the effort to continuously preserve the West Frisian language, which continues unto this day. It was however not until the first half of the 20th century that the West Frisian revival movement began to gain strength, not only through its language, but also through its culture and history, supporting singing and acting in West Frisian in order to facilitate West Frisian speaking.<ref name="Deumert"/>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} 

It was not until 1960 that Dutch began to dominate West Frisian in Friesland; with many non-Frisian immigrants into Friesland, the language gradually began to diminish, and survives now only due to the constant effort of scholars and organisations.<ref name=":0" />{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} In recent years, it has been the province of Friesland, rather than the language itself, that has become a more important part of the West Frisian identity; as such, the language has become less important for cultural preservation purposes.<ref name="Yngve">{{Cite book|title = Hard-Science Linguistics|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fe3XWwbtN7MC|publisher = A&C Black|date = 2006-11-25|isbn = 9780826492395|language = en|first1 = Victor|last1 = Yngve|first2 = Zdzislaw|last2 = Wasik}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} It is especially written West Frisian that seems to have trouble surviving, with only 30% of the West Frisian population competent in it;<ref name="Yngve"/>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}} it went out of use in the 16th century and continues to be barely taught today.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Standardization: Studies from the Germanic Languages|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mmGKmKU1mU4C|publisher = John Benjamins Publishing|date = 2002-01-01|isbn = 9027247471|language = en|first1 = Andrew Robert|last1 = Linn|first2 = Nicola|last2 = McLelland}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}}

{{multiple image
   | direction = vertical
   | width     = 250
   | header    = Frisian-language signs
   | image1    = Fries hindeloopen.JPG
   | alt1      = Bilingual signs in Friesland (Netherlands)
   | caption1  = Bilingual signs [[Hindeloopen]] in [[Friesland]] (Netherlands) with the West Frisian name above and the Dutch below
   | image2    = Niebüll.JPG
   | alt2      = Bilingual sign in North Frisia (Germany) with the German name above and the North Frisian name below
   | caption2  = Bilingual sign in [[Niebüll]] in [[North Frisia]] (Germany) with the German name above and the North Frisian name below
   | image3    = Roomelse.JPG
   | alt3      = Bilingual sign in Saterland (Germany)
   | caption3  = Bilingual sign in Ramsloh, [[Saterland]] (Germany) with the German name above and the East Frisian name below
}}