Aldfrysk
Old Frisian
Indo-European · historical / hidden variety
Old Frisian was the West Germanic language of the Frisians from c. 1100 to c. 1500, the historical ancestor of modern West Frisian (fy), Saterland Frisian (stq), and North Frisian (frr). It is sister to Old English (ang) within the Anglo-Frisian subgroup, and the Frisian-English bond is one of the closest within Germanic — Old Frisian and Old English share the second Anglo-Frisian Brightening (front umlaut), the loss of the West Germanic nasal before fricatives, and many vocabulary items. Reconstructed primarily from the Skeltana-Riucht law code and other medieval manuscripts. After the late 15th century, Old Frisian gradually evolved into Middle Frisian and then modern Frisian varieties.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Old Frisian
Water
wetir
/wetir/
Fire
fiur
/fjuːɾ/
Sun
sunne
/sunːe/
Moon
mōna
/moːnɑ/
Star
stera
/ˈstɛra/
Mother
moder
/moːdeɾ/
Father
feder
/fædeɾ/
I
ik
/ik/
You
thū
/θuː/
Name
nama
/ˈnama/
Eye
āge
/aːɣe/
Hand
hond
/hond/
Heart
herte
/heɾte/
Love
minne
/minːe/
Tree
bām
/baːm/
House
hūs
/huːs/
Dog
hund
/hund/
Cat
katte
/katːe/
Eat
eta
/etɑ/
Drink
drinka
/dɾinkɑ/
One
ān
/aːn/
Two
twā
/twaː/
Hello
heil
/heil/
Thank you
thank
/θank/
Good
gōd
/ɡoːd/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European languages
| Meaning | Old Frisian | Old English | Old Saxon | Middle English | Old Norse | Low German | Middle High German |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | wetir /wetir/ | wæter /wæter/ | watar /ˈwatar/ | water /watər/ | vatn /vɑtn/ | Water /vɑːtɐ/ | wazzer /ˈwatser/ |
| Fire | fiur /fjuːɾ/ | fȳr /fyːr/ | fiur /fiur/ | fyr /fyːr/ | eldr /eldr/ | Füer /fyːɐ/ | viur /viur/ |
| Sun | sunne /sunːe/ | sunne /sunːe/ | sunna /ˈsunːa/ | sonne /sɔnːə/ | sól /soːl/ | Sünn /zʏn/ | sunne /ˈzunːə/ |
| Moon | mōna /moːnɑ/ | mōna /moːnɑ/ | māno /ˈmaːno/ | mone /moːnə/ | máni /mɑːni/ | Maan /maːn/ | mâne /ˈmaːnə/ |
| Star | stera /ˈstɛra/ | steorra /ˈstæɔrːɑ/ | sterro /ˈsterro/ | sterre /ˈstɛrːə/ | stjarna /ˈstjarna/ | Steern /steːrn/ | sterne /ˈstɛrnə/ |
| Mother | moder /moːdeɾ/ | mōdor /moːdor/ | modar /ˈmoːdar/ | moder /moːdər/ | móðir /moːðir/ | Moder /moːdɐ/ | muoter /ˈmuoːtər/ |
| Father | feder /fædeɾ/ | fæder /fæder/ | fader /ˈfadər/ | fader /faːdər/ | faðir /fɑðir/ | Vader /fɑːdɐ/ | vater /ˈfatər/ |
| I | ik /ik/ | ic /itʃ/ | ik /ik/ | I /iː/ | ek /ek/ | ik /ɪk/ | ich /ix/ |
| You | thū /θuː/ | þū /θuː/ | thu /θuː/ | thou /θuː/ | þú /θuː/ | du /duː/ | dû /duː/ |
| Name | nama /ˈnama/ | nama /ˈnɑma/ | namo /ˈnamo/ | name /ˈnaːmə/ | nafn /nafn/ | Naam /naːm/ | name /ˈnamə/ |
| Eye | āge /aːɣe/ | ēage /æːɑɣe/ | ōga /ˈoːɡa/ | eye /iːə/ | auga /ɑuɣɑ/ | Oog /oːx/ | ouge /ˈouɡə/ |
| Hand | hond /hond/ | hand /hɑnd/ | hand /hand/ | hand /hand/ | hǫnd /hɔnd/ | Hand /hant/ | hant /hant/ |
| Heart | herte /heɾte/ | heorte /ˈheorte/ | herta /ˈherta/ | herte /hɛrtə/ | hjarta /hjɑrtɑ/ | Hart /haɐt/ | herze /ˈhertsə/ |
| Love | minne /minːe/ | lufu /luvu/ | minnea /ˈminːea/ | love /lʊvə/ | ást /ɑːst/ | Leev /leːf/ | minne /ˈminːə/ |
| Tree | bām /baːm/ | trēow /treːow/ | bōm /boːm/ | tre /treː/ | tré /treː/ | Boom /boːm/ | boum /boum/ |
| House | hūs /huːs/ | hūs /huːs/ | hūs /huːs/ | hous /huːs/ | hús /huːs/ | Huus /huːs/ | hûs /huːs/ |
| Dog | hund /hund/ | hund /hund/ | hund /hund/ | hound /huːnd/ | hundr /hundr/ | Hund /hʊnt/ | hunt /hunt/ |
| Cat | katte /katːe/ | catt /kɑtt/ | katta /ˈkatːa/ | catte /katːə/ | kǫttr /kɔtːr/ | Katt /kat/ | katze /ˈkatsə/ |
| Eat | eta /etɑ/ | etan /etɑn/ | etan /ˈetan/ | eten /eːtən/ | eta /etɑ/ | eten /eːtn̩/ | ezzen /ˈetsən/ |
| Drink | drinka /dɾinkɑ/ | drincan /drinkɑn/ | drinkan /ˈdrinkan/ | drinken /drɪŋkən/ | drekka /drekːɑ/ | drinken /drɪŋkn̩/ | trinken /ˈtrinkən/ |
| One | ān /aːn/ | ān /aːn/ | ēn /eːn/ | oon /oːn/ | einn /ɛinː/ | een /eːn/ | ein /ein/ |
| Two | twā /twaː/ | twā /twɑː/ | twēne /ˈtweːne/ | two /twɔː/ | tveir /tveir/ | twee /tveː/ | zwei /tsweɪ/ |
| Hello | heil /heil/ | wes hāl /wes haːl/ | heil /heil/ | hail /hɛːl/ | heill /hɛilː/ | Moin /mɔɪn/ | gegrüezet /ɡəˈɡryːətsət/ |
| Thank you | thank /θank/ | þanc /θɑnk/ | thank /θaŋk/ | thank /θank/ | þǫkk /θɔkː/ | Dankschöön /daŋkʃøːn/ | danc /daŋk/ |
| Good | gōd /ɡoːd/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | good /ɡoːd/ | góðr /ɡoːðr/ | good /ɡoːt/ | guot /ɡuoːt/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.