Low German language

Low German or Low Saxon (German: Plattdeutsch, or Platt) is one of the Germanic languages. It is still spoken by many people in northern Germany and the northeast part of the Netherlands. Low German is closer to the English and Dutch languages than High German (Hochdeutsch) is.

Low German
Low Saxon
Plattdütsch, Plattdüütsch, Plattdütsk, Plattdüütsk, Plattduitsk (South-Westphalian), Plattduitsch (Eastphalian), Plattdietsch (Low Prussian); Neddersassisch; Nedderdüütsch German: Plattdeutsch, Niedersächsisch, Niederdeutsch (in a stricter sense) Dutch: Nedersaksisch Danish: Plattysk, Nedertysk, Nedersaksisk, Lavtysk (rarely)
Native to	Northern and western Germany Eastern Netherlands Southern Denmark
Ethnicity	Dutch Germans Frisians; Historically Saxons (both the ethnic group and modern regional subgroup of Germans)
Native speakers	Estimated 6.7 million Up to 10 million second-language speakers (2001)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Low German
Early forms	Old Saxon Middle Low German
Dialects	West Low German East Low German
Official status
Official language in	Germany[2]  Schleswig-Holstein  Hamburg  Lower Saxony  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern[3]  Brandenburg[4][5]  Netherlands[6]
Recognised minority language in	Mexico (100,000)[7]  Bolivia (70,000)[8]  Paraguay (30,000)[9]
Language codes
ISO 639-2	nds
ISO 639-3	nds (Dutch varieties and Westphalian have separate codes)
Glottolog	lowg1239  Low German
Linguasphere	52-ACB
Approximate area in which Low German/Low Saxon dialects are spoken in Europe (after the expulsion of Germans)
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.