There are many languages in the world. Some of them are widespread, while others are found only in small areas. This group also includes the Frisian language. In the modern world, it is spoken in the Netherlands and in certain areas in Germany. In these territories, linguists are closely monitoring to preserve the identity of the Frisian language.
The modern territory of its distribution
The Frisian language is considered one of the closest to modern English. Most of its carriers are located in the territory of Friesland, which is a province of the Netherlands, and on the islands adjacent to it - Terschelling and Schirmonnikog.
Dialects from these areas became the basis for the literary Frisian language. It is on the literary that most of the fiction, newspapers, magazines are published, and it is also taught at schools and universities. There is a whole academy in Friesland that studies a group of Frisian languages. It is also spoken in North Friesland, Zaterland and the German island of Helgoland.
A brief excursion into history
The Frisian language originates from the Germanic tribe that appeared on the coast of the North Sea around the 4th century. BC e. Gradually, they began to live in the territory of Friesland, parts of North and South Holland, Gelderland, Utrecht and Zealand. All these tribes united and were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting. The first mention of the written language of the Frisian language, researchers found in the writings of Pliny. He was engaged in the classification of Germanic tribes.
The territory of Frisia spread from Bruges in modern Belgium to the North German lands. The tribes who moved to the territory of England from the lands of Denmark and Northern Germany spoke a similar language. Therefore, Old Frisian and Old English are very similar. The fact that in the 18th century, due to wars with other peoples, part of the Frisians immigrated to other territories, contributed to the spread and development of this language.
Features of the Old Frisian Language and Literary Monuments
Of course, the language spoken by the ancient Germanic tribes is different from the modern one. Old Frisian is similar to Old English with some phonetic properties. For example, they tend to soften back-lingual consonants when pronouncing. Also in Old Frisian there were also declensions.
The earliest written sources in which Old Frisian words are found are runic texts. These monuments date back to the 9th century, although runic letters consist of one word or several words. The first written sources of the classical Old Frisian language date back to the 9th century.
Mostly medieval manuscripts are written on it, most of which were of a legal nature. But many texts are processing other documents. Therefore, in Old Frisian there were many borrowings, and the syntax was formed largely due to the Latin language.
Features of the modern language
In the Frisian, emphasis falls on the first syllable, and this feature also extends to borrowed words. Also in the words a large number of vowels, which are a feature of the described language. The peculiarity of morphology is that the noun does not have a grammatical gender, but they are divided into two categories.
In modern Frisian language, nouns are practically not inclined in cases. And they are distinguished in the syntax with the help of prepositions, at the same time, some words are inclined according to the Old Frisian type.
Language Preservation Work
Interest in the Frisian increased in the 19th century due to the fact that people became more interested in the cultural heritage of Friesland. Therefore, organizations began to appear on the preservation and study of culture. Linguists sought to engage in the study of the Frisian language at the state level.
And in the 30s of the 20th century, the Dutch government met philologists, and its study began to have important scientific and cultural significance. In 1937, they began to teach in the native language in high school in Friesland. In 1938, the Frisian Academy was opened. This contributed to the further strengthening of the Frisian language as a state language. More and more people began to understand the importance of studying the cultural heritage of Friesland.
The area of distribution of the Frisian language is small. But the fact that philologists are engaged in its study and popularization strengthens its position in the Netherlands and in Northern Germany. Studying the cultural heritage of the people, people have the opportunity to get acquainted with history, which allows to broaden their horizons.
The formation of the Frisian language is related to how the tribes mastered new territories and interacted with other peoples. Therefore, it has similar features from the Old English. But it has its own unique features, which distinguish it from the Germanic group of languages.