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| Tweants | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Netherlands[1] |
| Region | Overijssel[1] |
Native speakers | 330,000 (2009)[1] |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Netherlands (as part of Low Saxon)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | twd |
| Glottolog | twen1241 |
| This article is a part of a series on |
| Dutch |
|---|
| Low Saxon dialects |
| West Low Franconian dialects |
| East Low Franconian dialects |
Tweants (Tweants pronunciation: [tʋɛːn(t)s]; Dutch: Twents [tʋɛnts]) is a group of non-standardised Dutch Low Saxon dialects, descending from Old Saxon.
It is spoken daily by approximately 62%[2] of the population of Twente, a region in the eastern Dutch province of Overijssel bordering on Germany.
Tweants is part of the larger Low Saxon dialect continuum, spreading from the Veluwe region in the middle of the Netherlands to the German-Polish border. As a consequence, it shares many characteristics with surrounding dialects, such as Sallaans and Achterhooks in the Netherlands, and Westmünsterländisch in Germany.
All towns and villages in Twente have their own local, but mutually intelligible variety. Due to this fragmentation and lack of a standard variety, many speakers of Tweants call it by the locality their variety is from (e.g. a person from Almelo would say they speak "Almeloos" rather than "Tweants"). Alternatively, speakers combine the names: a speaker from Rijssen could say they speak "Riessens Tweants".
In less precise circumstances, its speakers mostly call Tweants plat, which may either be an abbreviated form of Plattdeutsch, or a loanword from Dutch that means 'vernacular'. A widespread misconception is the assumption that it is a variety of Dutch. It is a variety of Dutch Low Saxon, recognised by the Dutch government as a regional language according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. As such, institutions dedicated to Tweants receive minor funding for its promotion and preservation.
Its revaluation as a dialect of Low Saxon rather than Standard Dutch is a relatively recent development. Due to ongoing stigmatisation, the use of the language declined in the decades following the Second World War. It was considered an inappropriate way of speaking, and thought to hinder children's language learning abilities and diminish their future prospects. Due to a general rise in regional pride, interests in preserving and promoting the language have risen, resulting in dialect writing competitions, teaching materials, festivals, and other culturally engaging projects.
