West Frisian grammar
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The grammar of the West Frisian language, a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland (Fryslân) in the north of the Netherlands, is similar to other West Germanic languages, most notably Dutch. West Frisian is more analytic than its ancestor language Old Frisian, largely abandoning the latter's case system. It features two genders and inflects nouns in the singular and plural numbers.
Verbs inflect for person, number, mood, and tense, though many forms are formed using periphrastic constructions. There are two conjugations of weak verbs, in addition to strong and irregular verbs.
Gender
In West Frisian there are two grammatical genders for nouns: the common gender (de-words), and the neuter gender (it-words).[1][2] All plural nouns and common singular nouns take the definite article de, while singular neuter nouns take the definite article it. Regardless of gender, all nouns take the indefinite article in.
| Common | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|
| Definite singular | de | it |
| Definite plural | de | |
| Indefinite singular | in | |
Number
West Frisian nouns inflect for two numbers: singular and plural. There are two productive suffixes used to form the plural: "-(e)n" and "-s". The suffix "-(e)n" is used for nouns in which the final syllable is stressed. The suffix "-s" is appended to plural nouns that end (in the singular) with unstressed syllables "-el", "-em", "-en", "-er", "-ert", "-ier", "-mer", "-ter", "-ster", "-sje". It also appears after the diminutive suffixes "-je", "-ke", and "-tsje", or as "-'s" at the end of many borrowed words.[3]
- wurd "word" → wurden
- boarne "source" → boarnen
- doar "door" → doarren
- see "sea" → seeën
- hoekje "little hook" → hoekjes
- skrapke "comma" → skrapkes
- provinsje "province" → provinsjes
- tv "TV" → tv's
In rare cases, usually with nouns that generally come in pairs, a "double plural" is used, where both suffixes appear.
- reed "skate" → redens
- lears "boot" → learzens
A few nouns have irregular plural forms:
- bern "child" → bern
- skiep "sheep" → skiep
- ko "cow" → kij
- skoech "shoe" → skuon
- dei "day" → dagen
- wei "way" → wegen
- lid "member" → leden
- âlder "parent, elder" → âlden
- man "man" → manlju
- frou "woman" → froulju
Diminutive
In West Frisian, there are three productive diminutive suffixes: "-je", "-ke", and "-tsje". The first of these three is used with nouns that end with the sounds /x/, /ɣ/, /k/ and /ŋ/, "-tsje" with nouns that end with /d/, /l/, /n/ and /t/, and "-ke" with all other sounds.
- stik "piece" → stikje
- esk "ash (tree)" → eskje
- bult "pile" → bultsje
- hart "deer" → hartsje
- aai "egg" → aike
- hynder "horse" → hynderke
All nouns that are derived as diminutives are neuter and take the ending "-s" when pluralizing.
Case
Old Frisian's system of four grammatical cases (nominative, genitive, dative and accusative) has not survived in modern West Frisian. The only remainder of the old declension system is the genitive case suffix "-s", which is used to denote possession.[4]
The genitive form may be "-(e)" or "-(e)s".
The ending "-(e)" ("-e" or zero) is used with monosyllabic nouns ending with a consonant or the vowel "-e". Also, it may be used with kinship terms and some plural nouns, mostly in idiomatic, fixed expressions: Ruerde mêm "Ruerd's mom", memme mûs "mom's mouse", fammene pronkjen "the girls' talk".
In most other cases, the "-(e)s" ending is used: har mans bern "her man's child(ren)", Fryslâns wâlden "Friesland's forests".
In the spoken language, genitive forms are rare and are normally replaced by analytical constructions with the preposition "fan (of)" or a possessive pronoun: de heit fan Anneke "Anneke's father", Anneke har heit (-//-, lit. "Anneke her father").[citation needed]