What are “Lowlands languages and cultures”?

“Lowlands languages” are those Germanic languages that developed in the “Lowlands” the low-lying areas adjacent to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. These are primarily Dutch, Zeelandic (Zeeuws, West Flemish), Frisian, Limburgish and Low Saxon (Low German). Also included are those languages that descended from autochtonous Lowlands languages and are used elsewhere; for example, Afrikaans, Lowlands-based emigrant languages, pidgins and creoles, and also English and Scots. “Lowlands cultures” are those cultures that utilize Lowlands languages or are clearly derived from such cultures.

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Important information

We very much encourage you to join us. However, before you send us your application for free membership, please do take the time to find out more about Lowlands-L, its aims, intents and limitations.

To start with, please click here.

Anniversary

In 2005, Lowlands-L celebrated its 10th year. In celebration of this and further anniversaries we’re bringing to you a Low Saxon folktale translated into a good number of Lowlands language varieties, both in written and in spoken form. Hopefully, this will illustrate the sorts of similarities and differences we regularly discuss in our forum. Also—in celebration of human language globally—we are bringing you translations into other languages, as party guests, so to speak. If you are a language lover, this is an event you don’t want to miss.

Click here for the special anniversary project-website.

Resources presented by Lowlands-L

Throughout its history, the Lowlands List has collected a lot of useful and interesting information for language learners and enthusiasts around the world. For instance, the “Lowlands Talk” project provides short presentations about the languages of the Lowlands area, we offer you a swadesh list of hundreds of words, and a detailed map of the Lowlands region. Also, we present to you a list of offline material (books, dictionaries, magazines) who deal with (one or more of) the language varieties of the Lowlands, and a long list of internet links. And last but not least, all previous postings to the Lowlands List can be read in the archive.