Saterfrisianthe last East Frisian language, still spoken in Saterland
Seeltersk is the smallest Frisian language. Learn 180 of its words, hear them from a speaker from Saterland and see how close they are to the Frisian you know.
What is Saterfrisian?
Saterfrisian, Seeltersk in its own name, is spoken in Saterland, a municipality in Lower Saxony in the north west of Germany. It lives in four villages: Ramsloh, Scharrel, Strücklingen and Sedelsberg.
There are three Frisian languages: West Frisian in the Netherlands, North Frisian on the German North Sea coast, and Saterfrisian. Saterfrisian is the last living form of East Frisian. Everywhere else in East Frisia people switched to Low German centuries ago.
Saterland lay between wide moors and was hard to reach for a long time, and that kept the language alive. Today only a few thousand people speak it at most, and UNESCO lists it as severely endangered.
Hear it from Saterland
A speaker from Saterland recorded these words for LearnFrisian. Tap a word to hear it.
Saterfrisian next to West Frisian
Tap a card to see the West Frisian word.
The course: 15 lessons in 3 units
Each lesson teaches 12 words with short quizzes: choose, match, spot the real word and write it yourself. You earn the same points as in the main Frisian course, and it stays optional.
Unit 1
- 1🌱Words you already know
- 2👪Family and people
- 3🙋I, you, we
- 4🔢Counting
- 5📅Days of the week
Unit 2
- 6🖐️Your body
- 7🐑Animals
- 8🌦️Sky, earth and weather
- 9🏠In the house
- 10🍞Food and drink
Unit 3
- 11🏘️Town and village
- 12🎨Describing words
- 13🏃Doing words
- 14🧩Little words you need
- 15🗣️Talking Seeltersk
One word, five languages
Saterfrisian sits between West Frisian and German. Put the words next to each other and you see both sides.
| Saterfrisian | West Frisian | Dutch | German | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huus | hûs | huis | Haus | house |
| Ku | ko | koe | Kuh | cow |
| Dochter | dochter | dochter | Tochter | daughter |
| Fout | foet | voet | Fuß | foot |
| Sunne | sinne | zon | Sonne | sun |
| Täärp | doarp | dorp | Dorf | village |
| Säärke | tsjerke | kerk | Kirche | church |
| Tonk | tank | dank | Dank | thanks |
Questions about Saterfrisian
Where is Saterfrisian spoken?
In Saterland, a municipality in the district of Cloppenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. The four villages are Ramsloh, Scharrel, Strücklingen and Sedelsberg.
Is Saterfrisian the same as East Frisian Low German?
No. Most people in East Frisia speak a form of Low German today. Saterfrisian is a Frisian language, and the last one left of the old East Frisian branch.
Can I understand Saterfrisian if I speak West Frisian?
Some of it. Words like Fisk, Skip and Dochter are the same or nearly the same. Others look more like German or Low German, and the sounds are different.
Why are Saterfrisian nouns written with a capital letter?
Saterfrisian follows the German habit: every noun starts with a capital. That is why the course writes Huus, Bouk and Ku.
Does the Saterfrisian course cost anything?
No. All 15 lessons cost nothing. Make a LearnFrisian account to save your progress and collect points.
Ready for your first 12 words?
Lesson 1 starts with words you already know. It takes about five minutes.
See all 180 words by theme in the Saterfrisian dictionary →
Every Saterfrisian word was checked in the Sprachlehre des Saterfriesischen (Fryske Akademy, 2022) and in Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
