Kneppelfreed - What was the Frisian Civil Rights Movement? (1951) 

Frisian being thought of as "bad Dutch" reminds me of the time when Scots was thought of as just "bad English". This is a fascinating and quite moving story. I hope the Frisian people can regain their language and a pride in it. Thank you for sharing their story.

Since you mentioned Northern Ireland at 14:56 this Frisian struggle for their language reminds me of the similar demands for the Irish language act in Northenr Ireland, with the act only getting passed recently I had no idea that Frisians had their own culture and language, the Netherlands is more diverse than I thought

We need a Frisian iceberg video

First of all, I just want to say what a massive fanboy I am. Your stuff is so thoughtful, informative, and charming. And such a cool part of history and pop culture your interested in, crazily up my wheelhouse. I’m still listening to Baldrs Draumar thanks to you! I’m an Afrikaner who lived in Groningen for some time. We obviously have our own, often very turbulent (but not entirely hopeless, I would argue) group-identity dynamics playing out down in South Africa. From that perspective, it’s been fascinating for me to see how this works in the context of a European nation state where the population is assumed to be homogeneous. That assumption of homogeneity causes such cultural self-esteem issues for speakers of minority languages. Specifically, in my very humble observation, indigenous minority languages. A native Romanian or Spanish speaker who grew in the Netherlands, for instance, would have ties to another place where that culture is dominant and accepted to be dominant. Their language would be another language. They would be multilingual. A speaker of Gronings (more so than Frysk, the Frisians have a stronger sense of language pride in this regard) would not consider themselves multilingual as easily. Rather, they would reluctantly admit to speaking a “dialect”. Even though Gronings is a proper ancient language in its own right with a distinct grammar and vocabulary. Same story with Limburgs. I guess my observation is just how much language loss (“teloorgang” is the fantastic Dutch word I learnt) is self-inflicted in the end due to some perception of uncivilisedness. You have the strong tendency nowadays in the face of globalisation that Dutch people compaining of how they can’t be helped in most bars in Amsterdam in Dutch anymore. Not just conservative old farts, either: young people, also educated, hipsterish young people that fancy themselves cosmopolitan: I like asking those people whether they would learn Gronings if they had to move to Groningen. Then suddenly they don’t feel so strongly about about respecting local culture. But, like I said, it’s largely self-inflicted: how many Groningers would feel at liberty to create pressure pro their language? Like the Frysken in Ljouwert once die (although I wonder if Kneppfreed would happen again today). Anyway, I like the way you talk about this. I think as important as preserving species and ecosystems, we should give a fighting chance to languages and cultural systems to adapt to modernity instead of simply bring replaced. All languages are knowledge systems and bearers of significant cultural memory that deserve some love. My own people have a very nasty recent history of suppressing the creole elements of our language of Khoisan and Asian origin in favour of more Germanic constructions in Afrikaans. In the process, a more representative, living artefact of our very creolised origin story has been robbed of many of its non-European elements. It’s a real shame. Hopefully something that can be with time. Keep up the good work, Hilbert!

Fascinating! When I was in the Dutch army in the 1990s, officers had to be able to speak one if four 'foreign' languages, English, French, German, or Vries(Frysse).

I think I have to note, since i very clearly noticed at the text at 6:18, your Dutch is INCREDDIBLY clear for German speakers. I have no advanced knowledge of Dutch, yet I was able to understand basic sentence structure in that text while you read it. It is quite interesting to see how close and almost mutually understandable these languages can be sometimes.

Meanwhile, the Dutch government actively undermines other minority languages such as Low Saxon in the East, Limburgish in the South, and English and Papiamentu on the BES-islands too by cutting funding, ignoring EU law on minority languages, and keeping minority speakers stigmatized through the education system. We are still on a pre-1951 level, and the government is trying to bring Fryslân there too by cutting funding and stimulating migration from Holland to Fryslân.

The video introduction around 0:30 broke my brain a little bit, as someone who grew up in Fryslân. For those unfamiliar: the view as seen in the video is mirrored. Normally a shot taken from in front of the court with the (Achmea) office tower in the background would show the court on the other side than in the video. This already started a bit earlier when I thought the buildings looked wrong to be in the background with the court visible on the left of the screen.

Goede video, man. Ik kom niet uit Friesland maar ik heb genoten van deze video. Ik wist niet precies hoe en wanneer officieel Fries als 2e taal werd ingevoerd dus dit geschiedenislesje was wel leuk om te kijken. Ik vind de interessante video's over Friese geschiedenis leuk om te kijken, ga zo door, petje af

Can you please cover the other marginalised regional languages? (Limburgish, low saxon) Their use was discouraged by schools until quite recently.

I didn't realize Frisian sounds so much like Anglo Saxon when you read out a longer passage. Usually the Frisian in your videos is much shorter and I can't tell whether it's Frisian or Dutch by listening.

Little translation error: The lady of the FNP does not ask "Who will continue to ensure that the Frisian language survives?" but instead says "We will make sure that the Frisian language survives." I notice you pronounce the Frisian "wy" like the Dutch "wij." Many Frisians do, but many others, like the lady of the FNP, speak a different dialect of Frisian and pronounce "wy" as "wie", which in Dutch means "who." That's probably where the confusion comes from Great video otherwise. A part of my history I didn't even know about!

Mooi stukje Fries/Nederlandse geschiedenis dat velen waarschijnlijk niet bekend zal zijn. Dank hiervoor Hilbert.

I started a company in Drachten recently, I noticed how many people speak Dutch in Drachten.(most understand it though) but can't speak it. So I made my receipts/invoices and business in Frisian and I hope it helps, even if it's a little bit. No other company that will write Rust frij stiel, Read koper or strûpt koper (copper wire undone from its harness) I hope more companies will pick up, in Koatstertille this worked greatly even for Groningers who thought it was nice.

While planning a trip in early 80s to the Benelux countries, I had read an article about Frisan and the struggle to give it legal standing. Coming from Wales it held a resonance with Cymriag and it's legal standing within the nation and UK. I visited Snits(I like Sneek better, sorry) and Ljouwert. The nice lady in tourist office seemed amused at my interest in Frisian and Frisland as "Brits" were more interested in tulips an the many charms of Amsterdam! I still have my Frisland tshirt sadly it no longer fits me, I fear I may have put on one or two kilos in last four decades. Time for another trip.

Love your stuff dude. Constructive criticism though, maybe work on your editing skills? Also maybe invest in a nicer camera and don’t have your toothbrush in the background? Lol.

Frisian clearly is a language in its own right and not a dialect of the Dutch language. Sure, there is some mutual understanding between Dutch and Frisian, but that is limited to individual words and some expressions. Mutual understanding between Dutch and the closely related Afrikaans is a lot more extensive for example. I understand the large majority of Dutch dialects, from those spoken in the Caribian to those spoken in Limburg (yes even the dialect of Kerkrade), to those spoken in Groningen, etc. For some I need a little time to get used to them. But Frisian? I'd really have to approach that like learning a new language.

Tige dank foar dizze fideo.

This is really interesting...it hadn't crossed my mind that the language might have ever been banned in any way. My primary interest, though, is due to my grandmother having had East Frisian as her first language, though, by the time I was old enough to be interested, she no longer remembered more than a very few words. Thing I've noticed, is that there seems to be a great deal more mention on YT of West Frisia, and very little of East Frisia. I want to know things like, how much have east and west begun to differ? Is there much interaction between the two groups? Really, I want to know a lot more about the history of the region...but I keep getting distracted--I'm too interested in too many things. Heh.

I am proud to speak Frysk. Sad though that I was never taught how to write it. The school system started that one year after I left sixth grade.

The treatment of the Finnish speaking population in Sweden after 1809 is a shame of the Swedish history. Done in the same way as the Dutch did with the Frisians.

european "free" democracys being harsher than Franco in Spain against minority cultures is wild

Dit is de eerste keer dat ik je Frysk hoor praten :)

Ik hou van uw werk. De hele menselijkheid zou hiervoor dankvol moeten zijn.

So glad to learn about this - reminds me about 'brwydr yr Iaith' (tha battle / fight for the language) here in Cymru (Wales) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

In my opinion is it quite sad that if it weren't for videos like this ones, many nations would be invisible to most and the vast majority of people still think state=nation and tha all countries are homogeneous places were evryone speaks the same language, shares the same culture, traditions, costumes, identity, etc.

Could you also take a look at the frisian brothers from across the border? So east frisia and the rheiderland? I know we have been way more close in the middle ages than later on in time.

Interessant! Ik ben half-Fries, maar weet bar weinig van de Friese geschiedenis.

Low Saxon in the Eastern provinces is still looked down upon by many.

Ik reagearje ornaris net op fideo's, mar meitsje dêr foar no dochs efkes in útsûndering op. Tige nijsgjirrige fideo Hilbert! Ik wist net dat Frysk pas sûnt sa koartlyn beskerme wurdt troch de oerheid, mar dat ferklearret wol ien en oar foar my. It is my earder opfallen dat de âldste âld-leden fan ús feriening nasjonalisten binne en bygelyks foar ûnôfhinklikheid fan Fryslân binne. Dat fûn ik altyd wol bysûnder, mar sjoen de ûnderdrukking fan de Fryske taal yn harren jeugd is it tink ik ek logysk dat hja mear ôfkear fan Nederlân fiele.

All Frisians should learn Dutch as they live in the Netherlands; it's possible to do so while remaining proud of their heritage.

Wanneer komt de Friese vlag emoji

Such an inspiring beautiful story. It deeply remind me of the Acadian Student Movements that in the 1960s fought against this sort of systemic discrimination, both in language and by extension judicial and economic opportunities, in New Brunswick. It was well captured in the National Film Board movie "Acadie? Acadie!", in it you can just see how racist the english-speaking population in the courthouses, the police, on the street, were against the Acadians demanding equity who were violently suppressed, shocker. Mouvements that did end up somewhere with the election of the first ever Acadian premier in the late 60s that brought official bilingualism in place, which helped even if today the specter of cultural erasure is still very much present, perhaps even more so than back then.

Nice video. I thought this was in the United States until I watched the video.

You should do a video about the province of Groningen, its relationship to Friesland

Apologies if the following points have been covered already... I've heard that the local, West Country dialect spoken in Bristol, England, is the oldest English in the UK and that Frisian is the language to which that dialect is closest. Also, how well is Flemish doing?

There seems to be a slight rendering error at 12:34.

How about the low Saxon Dutch speakers?

My first impressions when I seen the thumbnail art was. Frisian IRA??

Wêrom ha ik hjir noait fan witten? Ik tocht dat it Frysk al best lang as taal erkend waard. Ik fyn it hiel raar dat ik hjir noch noait fan ha heard.

interesting, I never even knew such a movement existed

🇵🇹👍💚❤️ Frísia NATION

From now on I consider milk a patriotic drink!

Im extremely Proud to he Hôttsk and wish my ancestors didnt just give up the struggle with our own government. I will speak the language of the Heatts untill I die as my grandfather did and his father before him

Zou je misschien ook een keer een video kunnen maken over Groningen?

Wauw, wat een verhaal!

Ahh- stubborn resistance. A trait in our family as well......

#FrisianLivesMatter

We need to change the national anthem to Don’t Touch My Clogs

Some of my mother’s ancestors were from Frisia. I was told my Grandmother spoke dutch. I wonder if she spoke Frisian?

Angeldansk how many variations of Frisian dialects are there. how close was old english with itself having many dilects. How close is low german or old saxon to Frisian.How many dilects do they have. Oslo university has many linguist who believe that english is actually an Scandinavian language how we know it today. On another this is a Good story the protection of this version of Frisian.

Do you speak Frisian?

The Netherlands, imports en masse foreign muslims and non-Western migrants and gives them the necessary means to get translators and benefits to settle and live in the country while it continues to discriminate against and not fund the indigenous Frisian in administration. That's not unique to the Netherlands of course, it's what all Western European countries have been doing for over 4 decades. Might change very soon but it won't help indigenous minority groups and languages because nationalist parties are very much against them and tend to support a one country, one language rule.

What movies do you want to see get a Frisian dub?

Fight for the Frisian language!

i LOVE that tie BTW, however i don't wear ties anymore and my Pierre Cardin collection of such hangs in a closet. Back to theme, i think that the problems mentioned go back to Revolutionary France and then Napoleon - conformity and unity with no room for minorities. In the movie "The Three Musketeers" the father tells his son that he's a Gascon first and then French. That would not be allowed after the Revolution. Sadly post-Bonapartist countries continued this.

Hello Hilbert. Very interesting. So with all the disruption, no-one got to buy a brown cow from the farmers, but you could register the transaction later in Frisian?

The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Anastasia and The Prince of Egypt all need Frisian dubs.

Nu Nedersaksisch nog.

That’s pretty cool

I wonder whether a West Riding dialect in Yorkshire would be a good idea? Since dialect was commonly used in several almanacks at the time for general writing.

Anti fries is cambuur, the local football club. It's more the hatred against he*renveen. because they claim the Frisian identity, and that is why we say Leeuwarden anti Fries

Makkertsie het serieus ien basic fit tos krekt als klaasie jenkstra

The ANTI FRIES stickers you find in Leeuwarden have nothing do to with the language or the culture. It has everything to do with Football. SC Heerenveen is the rival of Cambuur Leeuwarden. SC Heerenveen made the Frisian nationality their image. So naturally SC Cambuur fans want nothing do to with it. But when you're in the stadium of SC Cambuur, there is Frisian spoken.

Tige tank foar it meitsjen fån dizze fideo! Wy ha it faak net troch, mar de aksjes út it ferline meitsje wêr't wy hjoeddedei stean. Wy meitsje ål flinke stappen nei lykberjochtiging yn ferskate domeinen mar wy binne der noch net. Mei grutskens foarút blinder!

GV

Frisian is the closet relative of English.

“Frisian Language Matters”?

Nice video, but what's with the Bolshevist Fist in the thumbnail?

I thought Turkish was the second language of the Netherlands?

sapato de pau

bit biased

BIPOC the 'B' stands for: 'Belgian Minority'

Nu komt de aap uit de mouw. Ik kom niet uit Friesland. Mijn voorouders uit Groningen. Ik ben niet trots op mijn land of taal, maar geloof wel dat vriezen een beetje overdrijven In de stad Utrecht leven meer mensen dan de hele provincie Friesland. Ik ken ook mensen die uit Limburg komen. Echt, het plaatselijk dialect.... ik denk dat deze mensen ook recht hebben op erkenning als vriezen dat ook mogen. Mijn vrouw is Duitstalig. Ik heb me zelfs verdiept in het oost vries.

: a joke

The colonizers had a taste of being colonized.

FASCINATING!

Will deff try to make effort to catch up on more of your content but wanted to informed you that I visited Friesland October 2022 and it was amazing! A very beautiful and great countr-I I mean province 😁

In Leeuwarden nog wel, Stadsfries gebied.

Ironically many Frisian's genetics are Scandinavian like. This is fact via a scientific paper.

I have ancestors from Frisia. They left Frisia Mid 19th century and migrated too Iowa USA.