Low Saxon

For other uses, see Low Saxon (disambiguation).

Low Saxon (Dutch: Nedersaksisch), also known as West Low German (German: Westniederdeutsch^[2]) 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.

West Low German
Native to	Germany, Netherlands, Southern Denmark
Speakers	Native: 300,000 (2016)[1] L2: 2.2 million[1]
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Low German West Low German
Language codes
ISO 639-2	nds for Low German
ISO 639-3	Variously: nds – (partial) wep – Westphalian frs – Eastern Frisian gos – Gronings stl – Stellingwerfs drt – Drents twd – Twents act – Achterhoeks sdz – Sallands vel – Veluws
Glottolog	west2357
West Low German area in yellow

Extent

The language area comprises the North German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia (the Westphalian 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, Drenthe, Overijssel, northern Gelderland and Urk) and the Schleswigsch dialect spoken by the North Schleswig Germans in the southernmost part of Denmark.^[3]

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

List of dialects

Germany

• West Low German
  • Westphalian, including the region around Münster and the Osnabrück region of Lower Saxony
  • 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^[4]
    • Dithmarsisch^[4]
    • Schleswig[i]sch^[4]
    • Holsteinisch^[4]
      • Hamburgisch
    • Nordhannoversch^[4]
    • Emsländisch^[4]
    • Oldenburgisch in the Oldenburg region^[4]

Low Saxon language area in the Netherlands

Netherlands

Main article: Dutch Low Saxon

While Dutch is a Low Franconian language, the Dutch Low Saxon varieties form a dialect continuum with Westphalian. They consist of:

• West Low German, divided into:^[5]: 9
  • Gronings
  • Drents
  • Stellingwerfs
  • Sallands
  • West-Overijssels
  • Twents
  • Achterhoeks
  • Veluws
  • 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
    • Koschneiderisch – extinct dialect possibly related to Westphalian, used by settlers from around Osnabrück in the Koschneiderei region (Polish: 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.^{[5][page needed]} 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.^[6]