Stadsfries language/Dutch

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Stadsfries Stadsfrys, Liwwarders
Pronunciation:	IPA: ˈstɑtsfris
Spoken in:	Netherlands
Total speakers:	45,000
Language family:	Indo-European  Germanic   West Germanic    Low Franconian and/or Frisian     Stadsfries
Writing system:	Latin alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	nl
ISO 639-2:	dut (B)	nld (T)
ISO 639-3:	nld
Map of the areas in which Stadsfries is spoken
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Stadsfries or Stadfries (endonym Stadsfrys, Stedsk in Frisian, Liwwarders in Leeuwardenese) is the collective name for the urban dialects spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland, Leeuwarden, Sneek, Bolsward, Franeker, Dokkum, Harlingen, Stavoren and in parts of Heerenveen. The dialects are often grouped with the Midsland, Amelands, Bildt and Kollum dialects for linguistic reasons.

Stadsfries or Stadfries (Stadsfrys in the language itself, Stedsk in Frisian, and Liwwarders in Leeuwarden) is a set of dialects spoken in certain cities in the northern Netherlands, namely Leeuwarden, Sneek, Bolsward, Franeker, Dokkum, Harlingen, Stavoren, and to some extent in Heerenveen. For linguistic purposes, the dialects of Midsland, Ameland, Het Bildt, and Kollum are also tied to Stadsfries.

The vocabulary of Stadsfries is derived primarily from Dutch. The language began in the late 15th century, when Frisia lost its political independence to the Netherlands. For many living in Frisia, learning Dutch became a necessity. The result was a mixture of Hollandic dialect vocabulary and Frisian grammar and other language principles. Important to note is that since this process began, the Frisian language itself has evolved, such that Stadsfries is further away from modern Frisian than it is from Old Frisian.

One should also pay attention to the name of the language itself, for it is not used in Frisian; instead, Stadsfries is the Dutch term for the language. Stad (German: Stadt) is a Germanic term for "city" or "town", seen in English place names such as "Hempstead". In Stadsfries, the term is Stadsfrys or Stads, or is known simply as the dialect itself, such as Liwwarders. In Frisian, the language is known as Stedsk ("city-ish"), which does not indicate the idea that Stadsfries is a form of Frisian. To indicate this difference, one can call proper Frisian Boerenfries ("farmer-Frisian").

Contents 1 Vocabulary 2 Grammar 3 Spelling 4 Speakers 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Vocabulary

As mentioned before the vocabulary is mainly Dutch though the Frisian language influence is notable. Furthermore a set of word forms are used that are clearly Frysian, not Dutch. Examples:

Stadsfries	Frisian	Dutch	English
hammer	hammer	hamer	hammer
joeke	jûkje	jeuken	itching

The language also has typical Frysian words that don't exist in that (sense) in Dutch, usually this concerns domestic words and words from the mainly Frisian language agricultural sector. Examples:

Stadsfries	Frisian	Dutch	English
mem	mem	moeder	mother
heit	heit	vader	father
jaar	jaar	uier	udder
jarre	jarre	gier	manure

Other differences between Dutch and Frisian can be traced back to the Dutch dialect of the 16e century. Example:

Stadsfries	Frisian	Dutch	English
lêge	lizze	liggen	lie down

Finally, several words have survived in the Stadsfries language due to Dutch influence that have since dissapeared from the Frysian language. Examples:

Stadsfries	Frisian	Dutch	English
kyn	bern	kind	child
farndel	fearn	een vierde (deel)	one fourth (as in division)

[edit] Grammar

Stadsfrisian phonology deviates from Dutch in the absence of the voiced sounds /v/ and /z/ at the beginning of words. Dutch words like this often have an equivalent Stadsfrisian translation that instead starts with the unvoiced sounds /f/ and /s/. The Dutch sounds sequence /sx/ does not exist in Stadsfries, but is often replaced with /sk/. Stadsfries has these properties in common with Frisian, as well as several Dutch dialects.

Noch het Hollands, noch het moderne Fries maakt onderscheid tussen mannelijke en vrouwelijke woorden; het Stadsfries doet dat ook niet. De meervoudsvorming sluit bij het Fries aan (skip-skippen), evenals bij de vorming van verkleinwoorden (popke, autootsje, rinkje), uitgezonderd in het Stavers (poppy, autootsy, rinkje, naar Hollandse principes).

De werkwoorden missen de twee Friese zwakke-werkwoordklassen, maar volgen het Fries wel in de vorming van voltooide deelwoorden: die krijgen nooit het voorvoegsel ge- (ik hew maakt; hest dou dat sien?). Het Stadsfries heeft verder de Friese persoonlijke voornaamwoorden do, jo en jimme (jij, u en jullie) behouden (do en jo verschijnen bijna overal als dou en jou); deze woorden kunnen worden gehanteerd als criterium of een Hollands-Fries mengdialect nog Stadsfries mag heten. Het West-Fries heeft deze woorden niet en wordt daarom zonder meer tot het Hollands gerekend.

[edit] Spelling

There is no standardized, officially recognized spelling for Stadsfries. The very few authors that write in it each use their own spelling conventions. The most commonly used spelling is that in the Woordenboek fan ut Liwwarders (Leeuwarden Dictionary). This spelling convention is closely related to, but more phonetic than Frisian, and does not use the letter û.

[edit] Speakers

The use of Stadsfries is declining rapidly, especially in Leeuwarden. No more than a quarter of the population (approximately 20000 people) speaks the language, although that percentage is higher in smaller towns. In the first half of the twentieth century the town of Heerenveen had a local variant of Stadsfries known as Haagjes Fries, spoken especially around Oranjewoud, near the country home of the Frisian stadhouder.

Use of most dialects (including Frisian) is declining, but because Frisian is considered prestigious and even recognized as a Dutch national language, Stadsfries has become a sociolect of the lower classes, especially in the cities. The transition from dialect to sociolect happened primarily in the 20th century. Around 1900 the Stadsfrisian dialects were still considered regional variants of Dutch and given a much higher status than Frisian. With the rise of Standard Dutch in society's upper classes, brought on particularly by education and mass media, Stadsfries stopped being considered a variant of Dutch. Since the lower classes had less exposure to Standard Dutch, they remained as some of the only speakers of Stadsfries.

[edit] See also

• Harlingers, a Stadsfries dialect.
• Snekers, a Stadsfries dialect.

[edit] External links

• http://www.lowlands-l.net/talk/nld/index.php?page=stadsfries
• http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/publicaties/taalgeschiedenis/nl/fries.htm

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