Friso-Saxon (, ) is a group of

West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

dialects found around the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

coast of

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, in an area historically known as

Frisia Frisia () is a Cross-border region, cross-border Cultural area, cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" ...

.cf. Hoppenbrouwers, Cornelis Antonius Johannes / Hoppenbrouwers, Geer A. J. (2001): ''De indeling van de Nederlandse streektalen: Dialecten van 156 steden en dorpen geklasseerd volgens de FFM.'' Assen, S. 50ff. They are dialects of Low German/Low Saxon that have experienced strong influence from a Frisian language. The term was established by the Dutch researcher Johan Winkler in his work about Dutch, Low German and Frisian dialects in the region. ote: It only attests the usage of the term; not the introduction of it by J. Winker.br/> Winkler, Johan (1874): ''Algemeen Nederduitsch en Friesch Dialecticon.'' Two volumes. Martinus Nĳhoff, 's Gravenhage (cp
dbnl.org
; e.g. in vol. 1 on p. 5 as adjective: "de zoogenoemde friso-saksische tongvallen" In the following decades the term was adopted by some of Winkler's successors. The Friso-Saxon dialects are spoken in areas which were historically Frisian-speaking, until Frisian was gradually replaced with Low Saxon beginning in the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. However, Frisian has remained as a

substratum Substrata, plural of substratum, may refer to: *Earth's substrata, the geologic layering of the Earth *''Hypokeimenon'', sometimes translated as ''substratum'', a concept in metaphysics *Substrata (album), a 1997 ambient music album by Biosphere * ...

since then in the regions concerned. The only exception to this rule is

Stellingwarfs Stellingwarfs () is a Westphalian and Friso-Saxon dialect spoken in Ooststellingwerf and Weststellingwerf in the Dutch province of Friesland, and also in Steenwijkerland and Westerveld in the Dutch province of Overijssel and Drenthe. Like ...

, a Low Saxon dialect which has undergone influence especially from West Frisian. Most of the other Friso-Saxon dialects underwent most influence from East Frisian, for example

East Frisian Low Saxon East Frisian Low Saxon, East Frisian Low German or simply called East Frisian is a Northern Low Saxon dialect spoken in the East Frisian peninsula of northwestern Lower Saxony. East Frisian Low Saxon remains in everyday use among segments of t ...

and

Gronings Gronings (; or Grönnegs), is a collective name for some Low Saxon dialects spoken in the province of Groningen and around the Groningen border in Drenthe and Friesland. Gronings and the strongly related varieties in East Frisia have a stro ...

. The, by philological history, not philological categorization ''Friso-Saxon'', Dithmarschen dialect underwent most influence from North Frisian.

References

{{reflist Low German Frisian languages Languages of the Netherlands

See also

References