Originally Posted by
PA5COR
Wouldbe nice to meet up with you and Pillar.
Friesland, one of th 12 provinces has its own language which is also the official 2nd language here in the Netherlands, an old language Frisian is a member of the Germanic family of languages, and is the closest living language related to English.
There are two major reasons why the history of the Frisian language should be of interest to people who study languages and language change. The first is that the nature of the relationship between Frisian and English will make the history of the language of particular interest to English speakers. The second and more important reason is that the history of Frisian provides an excellent case study in the chances of survival for a minority language.
Archeological evidence of the existence of the Frisians dates as far back as 200 B.C. The first written record of the Frisians was made by the Roman historian Pliny in 12 A.D. (Mahmood 17). He locates them near the mouth of the Rhine. Although the exact extent of their territory is uncertain, we do know that Frisian was spoken along the North Sea coast between what is now Ijsselmeer in the Netherlands and the Weser river in Germany. At the peak of their power, the Frisians dominated the entire North sea shore, as evidenced by its former name the Mare Frisicum
Having invaded England in 449 AD, the English language certainly is influenced by the Frisian language.
The Frisians were a powerful and independent people. They were unique in Europe in that they did not adopt the feudal system. The Frisians have many legends associated with them, and they gained a reputation for stubborn resistance to authority. The Frisians are mentioned in the seventh century Old English poem Widsith and in the epic Beowulf (Mahmood 17).
The Romans under Augustus managed to defeat the Belgae and the Batavians (the ancestors of the Dutch). The Frisians originally formed a treaty with the Romans at the River Rhine in 28 AD. But 16 years later when taxes became repressive, they hung the taxman and defeated the Romans under Tiberius at the famous Battle of Baduhennawood. The Frisii were known and respected by the Romans and written about by several sources
The Frisians were early empire-builders among the scattered tribes of the Dark Ages and by the sixth century were the most coherent and prosperous tribe among the Germanic people, controlling an area stretching from northern Jutland in Denmark to Flanders in Belgium. Most of inland Europe was in those days impassable due to poor roads and lawlessness, and the Frisians dominated sea-going trade, ranging as far a field as the Baltics, Russia, Scandinavia, and England. Indeed, the North Sea was then known as Mare Frisicum.
Frisians were particularly renowned animal breeders, and they developed the famous Frisian dairy cattle as well as the Frisian horse, favoured of medieval knights heading into battle. The free Frisian cities of Stavoren, Bolsward, Leeuwarden and Dokkum grew rich through their membership in the burgeoning Hanseatic League, Europe's first free trade organisation, formed in the 1200s.
The Frisians were largely self-governing in the Medieval Age. They had no king, nor lords, and the people practised democracy. There are 12th century law books with laws prefaced by "The people want"” which is unheard of in most of the rest of Europe until the French Revolution 700 years later. Neighbouring nations, labouring under the bondage of feudalism, looked upon these self-sufficient and free born people in amazement and exclaimed "Every Frisian is born a nobleman."
Friesland today
However, the Frisian people kept their stubborn love of individuality and freedom and have preserved a recognizably independent culture. .
Driving from my hometown Sneek is just an hour and 15 minute drive.
Mandatory English at schools here, and a second language too, but then you can chose your 2nd foreign language German French Spanish etc.
Frisians living here already control Dutch and Frisian, most are then fluent in 4 languages including their own.
iN THE 1960'S we had a lot of Italian, Spanish and Portugese influx of people that wanted to work here, most did stay around and became Dutch but stil can use their original language.
SO, let us know when you pop over to Amsterdam, and we will be happy to pop over for getting to see eachother in real, looking forwaard to that ;)
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