Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
West Frisian language
open-in-new
<p>West Frisian ,[<i>needs IPA</i>] or simply Frisian (<i>Frysk</i> [frisk]; Dutch: <i>Fries</i> [fris]), is a <a href="/facts/West_Germanic_language/PbeIH9Jz">West Germanic language</a> spoken mostly in the province of <a href="/facts/Friesland/2Me46TyE">Friesland</a> (<i>Fryslân</i>) in the north of the <a href="/facts/Netherlands/y8xn5stT">Netherlands</a>, mostly by those of <a href="/facts/Frisians/2AsGhHuX">Frisian ancestry</a>. It is the most widely spoken of the <a href="/facts/Frisian_languages/vEAn7PrD">Frisian languages</a>. </p><p>In the study of the evolution of <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a>, West Frisian is notable as being the most closely related foreign tongue to the various dialects of <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a> spoken across the <a href="/facts/Heptarchy/4db4CTnT">Heptarchy</a>, these being part of the <a href="/facts/Anglo-Frisian_languages/hN398Vyo">Anglo-Frisian branch</a> of the West Germanic family. </p>