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Low German

Low German
Low Saxon
Low German: Plattdüütsch, German: Niederdeutsch
Native to Germany, Denmark, Netherlands
Ethnicity Saxons
Native speakers
Unknown number of native speakers; up to 10 million second-language speakers (1996)
Early forms
Dialects
Official status
Official language in

 Germany

 Schleswig-Holstein
 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Recognised minority
language in
Mexico (100,000)

Bolivia (70,000)

Paraguay (30,000)
Language codes
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3 (Dutch varieties and Westphalian have separate codes)
Glottolog lowg1239  (Low German)
Linguasphere 52-ACB
Low Saxon Dialects.svg
Approximate area in which Low German/Low Saxon dialects are spoken in Europe.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

 Germany

Bolivia (70,000)

Low German or Low Saxon (Low German: Plattdüütsch, Nedderdüütsch, Platduuts, Nedderduuts; German: Plattdeutsch, Niederdeutsche Dialekte; Dutch: Nedersaksisch, or Nederduits in the wider sense) is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is descended from Old Saxon in its earliest form.

As an Ingvaeonic language, Low German is quite distinct from the Irminonic (High German) languages like Standard German. It is closely related to Dutch, Frisian, and English. This difference resulted from the High German consonant shift, with the Uerdingen and Benrath lines being two notable linguistic borders.

Dialects of Low German are widely spoken in the northeastern area of the Netherlands (Dutch Low Saxon) and are written there with an orthography based on Standard Dutch orthography.


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