Frisian Pronunciation Guide – How to Pronounce West Frisian
Learning to pronounce Frisian (Frysk) correctly is easier than you might think, especially if you already speak English. West Frisian is the closest living language to English, and many sounds are similar. This guide covers the key pronunciation rules, special Frisian letters, and common sound patterns you need to know.
The Frisian Alphabet
Frisian uses the Latin alphabet with several special characters. The most important ones to learn are the vowels with diacritics:
| Letter | Sound | Example | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| â | Long open “aw” | wâld (forest) | Like “aw” in “raw” |
| ê | Long “eh-ah” | bêrn (child) | Like “ea” in “bear” |
| î | Long “ee” | tiid (time) | Like “ee” in “seen” |
| ô | Long “oh” | dôch (yet) | Like “oa” in “boat” |
| û | Long “oo” | hûs (house) | Like “oo” in “moon” |
| ü | Rounded “u” | düvel (devil) | Like French “u” in “tu” |
Key Pronunciation Rules
Consonants
| Letter(s) | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sj | “sh” sound | sjen (to see) = “shyen” |
| tsj | “ch” sound | tsjoch (cheers) = “choch” |
| g | Soft guttural (like Dutch g) | goed (good) |
| ch | Guttural (like Scottish “loch”) | acht (eight) |
| w | “v” at start, “w” after vowels | wetter (water) = “vetter” |
| v | “v” sound | fisk (fish) uses f, not v |
| f | “f” sound (used more than in Dutch) | frysk (Frisian) |
Vowel Combinations
| Combination | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| oe | “oo” as in “book” | goed (good) = “good” |
| ei | “ay” as in “say” | seis (six) = “says” |
| au/ou | “ow” as in “how” | fjouwer (four) = “fyow-wer” |
| ie | “ee” as in “see” | tsien (ten) = “tseen” |
| oa | “wa” sound | moarn (morning) = “mwarn” |
Frisian Sounds Similar to English
Because Frisian and English share a common ancestor, many words sound remarkably similar:
| Frisian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| dei | day | day |
| grien | green | green |
| wetter | vetter | water |
| brea | bray-ah | bread |
| tsiis | tseess | cheese |
| skiep | sheep | sheep |
| dream | dreh-ahm | dream |
| blau | blow | blue |
Practice Frisian Pronunciation
The best way to learn Frisian pronunciation is by listening to native speakers. Our free Frisian course includes over 1,500 audio recordings of native Frisian speakers. Every quiz and exercise includes audio so you can hear exactly how each word and sentence is pronounced.
You can also practice with our Frisian Phrases guide which includes pronunciation guides for the most common everyday phrases, or browse the Frisian Dictionary to look up individual words with audio.
