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Frisian Translators & Interpreters

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Frisian interpreters and translators

Cal Interpreting & Translations (CIT) offers Frisian interpreters and translators with legal, medical and specialty experience, including criminal and civil matters, employee meetings, engineering, patent cases, labor disputes, immigration and more.

Although based in Los Angeles, CIT offers comprehensive Frisian language services including interpretation, translation and transcription, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, worldwide. Our interpreters and translators are native speakers who have been screened, certified, have provided credentials, field tested, and kept up to date with developments in both English and the Frisian language through means such as lectures, conferences, and travel. CIT’s Frisian language interpreters and translators possess in depth knowledge of the Frisian language, as well as of the culture and history of the Frisian people, allowing them to provide informed and complete interpretation and translation.

The Frisian Language

The Frisian language is a West Germanic language that is closely related to English. It was formerly spoken in North Holland but today, Modern Frisian is spoken only nin three areas, with each area having it’s own dialect. The dialects are: West Frisian (spoken in Friesland and islands of Schiermonnikoog and Tershelling), East Frisian (spoken in Saterland) and North Frisian (spoken along coast of Schleswig in Germany along with Sylt, Fohr, Amrum, Halligen Islands and Helgoland). Sater Frisian is also spokeb by about 2,000 people in the German state of Lower Saxony.

To date, the oldest record of Frisian is from the 1200s, written in Old Frisian. Old Frisian lasted until around the 1500s. It has several similar characteristics of English but is specifically different from other Germanic languages. English and Frisian have about an 80% similarity. Today, Eastern and Northern dialects of Frisian are being taken over by German.

Frisian Dialects

As previosuly mentioned, there are three main dialects of Frisian. North Frisian is spoken in the rural district of North Frisia, known as Nordfriesland. Even without having official language status in Germany, North Frisian is used at local town meetings. Some villages have road signs in Frisian. The language is also taught as a second language to school children for a few hours a week. Additionally, adults may take Frisian language courses.

There are some Frisian broadcasts on local radio along with some articles in local German newspapers, some Frisian literature, acting and songs. The North Frisian dialect is also known as Noodfreesk, Nordfrasch, Nordfrisk, Nuurdfresk and Nuurdfriisk. Even within the Northern dialect, there are different pronunciations between the Sylt, Mooring and Fohringer dialects.

The next dialect, Sater Frisian, is spoken primarily in three villages in the Northwest corner of Lower Saxon County of Cloppenburg. Those three villages are Ramsloh, Scharrel and Strucklinger. Sater Frisian is taught only to small school children but is often seen in Cloppenburg newspapers. There are even some plays performed in Sater Frisian.

The last dialect, West Frisian, is spoken in the Dutch province of Fryslan (Friesland) along with some border villages on Groningen. There are TV shows, newspaper articles and radio broadcasts in West Frisian.

Fun Facts about Frisian

• A very popular sport in Friesland is fierljeppen, or ditch vaulting.

• The mysterious woman, Mata Hari hails from a northern Dutch province

• Friesland is known for its many water sports

CIT By The Numbers

12,000 +

Worldwide Linguists

250 +

Languages

1,350,000 +

Translations

12,000 +

Clients Served

12,000 +

Worldwide Linguists

250 +

Languages

1,350,000 +

Translations

12,000+

Clients Served

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No matter what your needs may be, we can and are ready to assist you now. We have translators and interpreters standing by 24/7.

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