Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
West Germanic language with strong dialectal differences: West Frisian, official language along with Dutch of the Dutch province of Frisia (approx. 300,000 speakers); East Frisian, surviving only in the Lower Saxon Saterland with about 1,000 speakers; North Frisian, with various dialects along the west coast of SchleswigHolstein, on the islands of Helgoland, Sylt, Amrum, Föhr and on the northern Halligs, altogether about 10,000 speakers. The oldest written attestations, dating from the thirteenth century (Old Frisian), show a close relationship to Old English. The vocabulary and idiomatic usage show a strong influence from the standard languages which have dominated since the end of the Middle Ages: Dutch, Low German, and, later, High German.
Nevertheless, there are still a large number of similarities with English in respect to the vowel and consonant systems and loss of inflectional endings.
References
Markey, T.L. 1981. Frisian. The Hague.
Tiersma, P.L. 1985. Frisian reference grammar. Dordrecht.
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