Editing Low Saxon

{{Short description|Group of Low German dialects}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Use Oxford spelling |date=March 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox language
|name=West Low German
|altname=
|states=[[Germany]], [[Netherlands]], [[Southern Denmark]]
|speakers=Native: {{sigfig|301,000|2}}
|date=2016
|ref=e25
|speakers2=L2: {{sigfig|2.200000|2}} million<ref name=e25/>
|speakers_label=Speakers
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[North Sea Germanic]]
|fam5=[[Low German]]
|map=Nedersaksiese taalgebied.png
|mapcaption=West Low German area in yellow
|iso2=nds
|iso2comment=for [[Low German]]
|lc1=nds
|ld1=(partial)
|lc2=wep
|ld2=Westphalian
|lc3=frs
|ld3=Eastern Frisian 
|lc4=gos
|ld4=Gronings 
|lc5=stl
|ld5=Stellingwerfs
|lc6=drt
|ld6=Drents 
|lc7=twd
|ld7=Twents
|lc8=act
|ld8=Achterhoeks 
|lc9=sdz
|ld9=Sallands
|lc10=vel
|ld10=Veluws
|glotto=west2357
|glottorefname=West Low German
}}

'''Low Saxon''' ({{langx|nl|Nedersaksisch}}), also known as '''West Low German''' ({{langx|de|Westniederdeutsch}}<ref>Peter Wiesinger, ''Die Einteilung der deutschen Dialekte'', in: Werner Besch, Ulrich Knoop, Wolfgang Putschke, Herbert Ernst Wiegand (eds.), ''Dialektologie. Ein Handbuch zur deutschen und allgemeinen Dialektforschung. Zweiter Halbband'' (series: ''Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft'' (HSK), 1.2), 1983, p. 828</ref>) are a group of [[Low German]] dialects spoken in parts of the [[Netherlands]], northwestern [[Germany]] and southern [[Denmark]] (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two dialect groups, the other being [[East Low German]].

==Extent==
The language area comprises the [[Northern Germany|North German]] states of [[Lower Saxony]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] (the [[Westphalia]]n part), [[Bremen]], [[Hamburg]], [[Schleswig-Holstein]] and [[Saxony-Anhalt]] (the northwestern areas around [[Magdeburg]]) as well as the northeast of the Netherlands (i.e. [[Dutch Low Saxon]], spoken in [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]], [[Drenthe]], [[Overijssel]], northern [[Gelderland]] and [[Urk]]) and the [[Schleswigsch dialect]] spoken by the [[North Schleswig Germans]] in the southernmost part of Denmark.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sanders |first1=Willy |title=Sachsensprache, Hansesprache, Plattdeutsch : sprachgeschichtliche Grundzüge des Niederdeutschen |date=1982 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |location=Göttingen |isbn=9783525012130 |language=de |trans-title=Language of the Saxons, the language of the Hanseatic League, Plattdeutsch: basics of the historical linugistics of Low German}}</ref>

In the south the [[Benrath line]] and [[Uerdingen line]] isoglosses form the border with the area, where [[West Central German]] variants of [[High German languages|High German]] are spoken.

==List of dialects==
===Germany===
*West Low German
**[[Westphalian language|Westphalian]], including the region around [[Münster]] and the [[Osnabrück]] region of Lower Saxony
**[[Eastphalian language|Eastphalian]], spoken in southeastern Lower Saxony ([[Hanover]], [[Braunschweig]], [[Göttingen]]) and in the [[Magdeburg Börde]] region
**[[Northern Low Saxon]]
***[[East Frisian Low Saxon]] in [[East Frisia]]<ref name="Noble">{{cite book |last1=Noble |first1=Cecil Arthur M. |title=Modern German dialects |date=1983 |publisher=P. Lang |location=New York |isbn=9780820400259 |pages=103–104}}</ref>
***Dithmarsisch<ref name="Noble"/>
***Schleswig[i]sch<ref name="Noble"/>
***Holsteinisch<ref name="Noble"/>
****[[Hamburgisch]]
***Nordhannoversch<ref name="Noble"/>
***Emsländisch<ref name="Noble"/>
***Oldenburgisch in the [[Oldenburg Land|Oldenburg]] region<ref name="Noble"/>

[[File:Koart Leegsaksisch.png|thumb|Low Saxon language area in the Netherlands]]

===Netherlands===
{{Main|Dutch Low Saxon}}
While [[Dutch language|Dutch]] is a [[Low Franconian languages|Low Franconian language]], the [[Dutch Low Saxon]] varieties form a [[dialect continuum]] with [[Westphalian language|Westphalian]]. They consist of:
* West Low German, divided into:<ref name="blo05" />{{rp|p=9}}
** [[Gronings dialect|Gronings]]
** [[Drèents dialects|Drents]]
** [[Stellingwarfs dialect|Stellingwerfs]]
** [[Sallaans dialect|Sallands]]
** West-Overijssels
** [[Tweants dialect|Twents]]
** [[Achterhooks|Achterhoeks]]
** [[Veluws dialect|Veluws]]
** [[Urkers dialect|Urkers]]

===Denmark===
* West Low German
** [[Northern Low Saxon]]
*** [[Schleswigsch dialect]] spoken in former [[South Jutland County]] (the northern part of the former [[Duchy of Schleswig]]) around [[Aabenraa]] (''Apenrade'')

===Poland===
* West Low German
** Westphalian
*** Koschneiderian{{snd}}extinct dialect possibly related to Westphalian, used by settlers from around Osnabrück in the [[Koschneiderei]] region ({{langx |pl |Kosznajderia }})

==Situation in the Netherlands==
A 2005 study found that there were approximately 1.8 million "daily speakers" of Low Saxon in the Netherlands. 53% spoke Low Saxon or Low Saxon and Dutch at home and 71% could speak it.<ref name="blo05" />{{page needed |date=July 2023}} According to another study the percentage of speakers among parents dropped from 34% in 1995 to 15% in 2011. The percentage of speakers among their children dropped from 8% to 2% in the same period.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://images.tresoar.nl/website/NTR12%20dialect1995-2011%20v2.pdf|title=Ontwikkelingen in het gebruik van Fries, streektalen en dialecten in de periode 1995-2011|last=Driessen|first=Geert|date=2012|website=Radboud University Nijmegen|language=nl|access-date=2017-04-29|trans-title=Development of the use of Frisian, regional languages and dialects from 1995 to 2011}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name="blo05">{{cite report |title=Taaltelling Nedersaksisch. Een enquête naar het gebruik en de beheersing van het Nedersaksisch in Nederland |trans-title=Lower Saxon Language Census. A survey of the use and proficiency of Low Saxon in the Netherlands |first=Henk |last=Bloemhoff |year=2005 |language=nl |department=Nedersaksisch Instituut |publisher=Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen |location=Groningen |url=https://www.stellingia.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Taaltelling-Nedersaksisch-1.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2024-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202143049if_/https://www.stellingia.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Taaltelling-Nedersaksisch-1.pdf |archive-date=2024-12-02 |isbn=90-6466-1324 |ol=OL31709135M |lccn=2006364430 |oclc=230137295 }}</ref>
}}

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{{Germanic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Culture of Lower Saxony]]
[[Category:Dutch dialects]]
[[Category:German dialects]]
[[Category:Low German]]