Luxembourgish | |
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Lëtzebuergesch | |
Pronunciation | [ˈlətsəbuːə̯jəʃ] ( listen) |
Native to | Luxembourg, Belgium (Arelerland, and region of Saint-Vith), France, Germany |
Region | Central Europe |
Native speakers
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c. 390,000 (2010) |
Latin (Luxembourgish alphabet) Luxembourgish Braille |
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Official status | |
Official language in
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Luxembourg |
Recognised minority
language in |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | lb |
ISO 639-2 | ltz |
ISO 639-3 |
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Glottolog | luxe1241 |
Linguasphere | 52-ACB-db |
Area where Luxembourgish (striped) and related Moselle Franconian is spoken (solid).
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Luxembourgish, Luxemburgish (/ˈlʌksəmˌbɜːrɡɪʃ/) or Letzeburgesch (/ˌlɛtsbɜːrˈɡɛʃ, -sə-/ or /ˈlɛtsˌbɜːrɡɪʃ, -sə-/) (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. Worldwide, about 390,000 people speak Luxembourgish.
While it could be considered a standardized variety (i.e., a dialect with a written form) of German, its official use in the state of Luxembourg and the existence of a separate regulatory body has removed Luxembourgish, at least in part, from the domain of the Dachsprache Standard German. Despite the lack of a sharp boundary between Luxembourgish and the neighboring German dialects, this has led several linguists (from Luxembourg as well as Germany) to regard it as a separate, yet closely related language.