West Frisian Language Guide

Where it's spoken

The Use of Frisian Act states that the official languages in the province of Fryslân are Dutch and Frisian, and that anyone may use Frisian in dealings with administrative bodies established in the province of Fryslân. A Mercator research wiki says that Frisian is spoken in large parts of the province of Fryslân and names three main varieties within the province: Clay Frisian, Forest Frisian, and a Southwestern variety. It adds that there is mutual intelligibility between the varieties.

Sources

• Wet gebruik Friese taal, Staatsblad 2013, 382 — Artikel 2 (officiële talen); artikel 3, lid 1 (verkeer met bestuursorganen)
• Mercator Wiki on Minority Language Learning, "Frisian in the Netherlands" — Varieties of Frisian within the province; mutual intelligibility

Script & pronunciation

West Frisian is written in the Latin alphabet. The Fryske Akademy says that the rules of the official spelling of Frisian can be found in the manual Paadwizer Fryske stavering. This app's cards keep the circumflex on vowels as part of the spelling: the card for the question "Where?" notes that the circumflex on the "ê" of "Wêr" should be kept, and the card for "It skûtsje" notes that the "û" is "u" with a circumflex.

Sources

• Fryske Akademy, "Language tools" (Foarkarswurdlist and official spelling) — Official spelling of Frisian; manual Paadwizer Fryske stavering
• Unicode ISO 15924 code table, entry "Latn" — Code Latn, English Name "Latin"

Grammar essentials

Taalportaal, a reference grammar of Frisian, describes "gjin" ("no") as a negative article and says that it can be argued that it is the indefinite article that is negated. This app's card "Ik haw gjin reservearring." ("I don't have a reservation.") notes that to negate a noun you use "gjin," not "net." The same app's card "Ik begryp it net." ("I don't understand.") notes that the negation "net" comes after the object "it," and that the Dutch "niet" is not used.

In questions with the familiar "you," the verb carries the ending -sto. This app's card "Prate jo Ingelsk?" ("Do you speak English?") notes that with friends "do" is used and the verb takes -sto. Taalportaal explains that the sequences -sto and -ste consist of the verb ending -st followed by the pronoun "do" or its weak form "de."

Sources

• Taalportaal, Frisian, "Negative article" — gjin as negative article; the indefinite article is negated
• Taalportaal, Frisian, "Personal pronouns" — The sequences -sto and -ste: suffix -st followed by do or weak de

Politeness & etiquette

Taalportaal says that the second person singular is marked by a politeness distinction: the familiar form is "do" and the polite form is "jo," which has a weak form "je." It adds that the polite form requires a plural finite verb, and that some people feel less distance to the interlocutor when addressing him or her with the weak form "je" rather than the strong form "jo."

This app's cards show the pattern. The card "Prate jo Ingelsk?" ("Do you speak English?") notes that polite "jo" takes the plural verb form, as in "jo prate," "jo hawwe," and "jo binne." The card "Wêr komme jo wei?" ("Where are you from?") notes that "komme" is the plural form used with "jo." The card "Hoe giet it mei jo?" ("How are you?") is described as the polite version, and the same card notes that with a friend you would say "Hoe giet it mei dy?" The card "Wolle jo in kopke tee?" ("Would you like a cup of tea?") notes that to a close friend you would say "Wolsto in kopke tee?"

Sources

• Taalportaal, Frisian, "Personal pronouns" — Politeness distinction: do (familiar), jo (polite) with weak form je; plural finite verb