Drèents dialects

Drèents (also Dreins, Dreints, Drents, Drints; Dutch: Drents) is a collective term for Westphalian dialects spoken in Drenthe, a province of the Netherlands. They are spoken by about half of the population of the province.

Drents
Dreins
Drèents
Native toNetherlands
RegionDrenthe and a strip of Overijssel just south of Drenthe
Native speakers
255,000 (2009)[1]
Official status
Official language in
Netherlands (as part of Low Saxon)
Regulated byProvincial States of Drenthe (spelling)
Language codes
ISO 639-3drt
Glottologdren1238
Map showing the provinces of Drenthe (most of the area in green tones) and Overijssel (mostly grey; with small regions in dark green south of Drenthe)

Dialects of Drèents

The dialects from the north and the east (see below: 'Noordenvelds' and 'Veenkoloniaals') are somehow more related to Gronings (a Northern Low Saxon dialect), the dialects from the south-west are 'Stellingwerfs', and the dialects in a few villages along the southern border with the Grafschaft Bentheim (Germany) are considered to be Sallaans (because they have an umlaut in the diminutives).

The Stichting Drentse Taol (Drèents Language Foundation) distinguishes seven main variants of Drèents within the province, based on the research done by G.H. Kocks, the main editor of the Woordenboek der Drentse Dialecten (Dictionary of the Drèents Dialects):

  • Noordenvelds
  • Veenkeloniaols
  • Zuudoost-Zaand-Drèents
  • Zuudoost-Veen-Drèents
  • Midden-Drèents
  • Zuudwest-Noord-Drèents (Also see Stellingwarfs)
  • Zuudwest-Zuud-Drèents

It also can be divided into Midden-Drents and Zuid-Drents.

Examples of usage
Emmen dialect: We moet'n nie zo haast'n.
Standard Dutch: Wij hoeven ons niet zo te haasten.
English: We do not have to hurry.
Northern Drenthe: ien twei dreei vier vief zes zeum aacht neegn tien
Southwest Drenthe: iene tweie dreie veere vieve zesse zeum achte neegn tiene
Standard Dutch: een twee drie vier vijf zes zeven acht negen tien
English: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten


Drenthe: Ie kunt wel geliek hebb'n.
Standard Dutch: U heeft gelijk.
English: You must be right.

References
  1. Drents at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
This article is a part of a series on
Dutch
Low Saxon dialects
West Low Franconian dialects
East Low Franconian dialects
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