Do Dutch people know the German region Ostfriesland/Oostfreesland/Eastfrisia? Almost every East Frisian knows some Dutch and speaks a Variation of the German language that’s almost like Dutch.
Do Dutch people know the German region Ostfriesland/Oostfreesland/Eastfrisia? Almost every East Frisian knows some Dutch and speaks a Variation of the German language that’s almost like Dutch.
24 comments
Yes, it’s the first region I conquer in EU4 every time.
No, I did not
Yes, but don’t they speak Frisian there?
Frisian is a Germanic language, but not the same thing as Dutch.
I knew. I was on school.
yes , in fact Niedersächsisch ( Nedersaksisch) is a thing on our side of the border too.
I do, happened to identify a group of real ostfrisians at a flower/butterfly garden this weekend. It’s an uncanny hybrid of Frisian, Dutch and German, with inflections and vowel shifts that just make no sense to me.
I mean, pape-goei? The vowel shift went from -i- or -ei- to -ai- or -aai- when Dutch split off from low German (or whatever it split off from, I’m no fucking historical linguist, go get your information from reputable sources). But ostfrisian went the entire other way and did /uy/. Papegoei instead of papegaai or papageie.
Ostfriesen, dat zijn toch voor de Duitsers een beetje wat de Belgen voor ons Nederlanders zijn? Ik herinner mij vaag een mop dat de Ostfriesen kersenpitten spaarden zodat ze een Kernkraftwerk konden bouwen voor de elektriciteitsvoorziening.
Gezien West Friesland bestaat, Friesland bestaat en Oost Friesland dus ook, zou je kunnen zeggen dat Groningen eigenlijk Centraal Friesland zou moeten heten.
No, and we would like to keep it that way
I grew up *very* close to the German border in The Netherlands.
Obviously around here we know. As someone already mentioned we share an old language [Low Saxon / Nedersassich / Nedersaksisch](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Saxon).
I don’t really speak the dialect. But my dad can decently communicate in it with Germans across the border. Each speaking their little variant.
Once I drove tired in Germany, to home, and got stopped by a young cop. He switched as easily from German (which I failed miserably at, requires some practice to wake up) to Dutch and English. I never thought about speaking dialect.
When we cross the border and speak our dialect (Groningen) the local Germans can understand us.
yes! we often went shopping just over the border and my mom would often get Ostfriesen tea.
I think it’s not often paid attention to – I can’t recall any mention of East Frisia in history classes for example… which is a bit strange as Emden was an important city during the Dutch revolt.
It’s a bit the same as the north of France, which has connections to the Netherlands (Arras/Atrecht, Lille/Rijsel) and a very small part of the population that still speaks some form of Dutch. Don’t remember ever learning something about it in school.
Yes. As said it’s had a similar history to Groningen, in that it’s originally Frisian but later became a primarily Low Saxon speaking region. However the dialect there is a bit more influenced by German, and Gronings is influenced in turn by Dutch.
The names there are also a dead ringer with those in Groningen, if they’re not too Germanified.
Als je er in Duitsland eentje in het wild ontmoet groet dan met “moin”. Niet met “moinmoin”. Da’s dan teveel geouwehoer.
Yes, have you heard of groningen, there they speak a variation of the dutch language thats almost like german.
Its called nedersaksisch and is spoken in this region of the netherlands, but also in the region you specified.
What??? East Frisian is not at all a language that is almost like Dutch. East Frisian Low German (Saxon) is a Low Saxon/Low German language and not a variation of the German language.
Went on holiday there last year and could understand the local dialect perfectly because it’s exactly like Twents
Ofcourse we know the East-Netherlands. We love it almost as much as South-Netherlands.
I did not, I lived in Zeeland. All I learnt about Germany was WW1&2, Berlin wall and german language (well I was supposed to learn it, but can only read it).
No. They have made their choice. You can’t have your Mehlpütt and eat your tulband too.
I do, I once met a girl online who came from the region and talked about how she strongly identified with Frisian culture and heritage moreso than German. For example mentioning grutte Pier as a hero. I’ve always wondered how common that is in the region.
Yes. I grew up in the northern border region. Although I do not speak Low Saxion well it still feels like we Groningers have mentally more in common with East Frisia than with most other parts of the Netherlands.
Me and my parents love Ostfriesland. We live in Drenthe and used to visit it often when we still had a car.