Luxembourgish
Lëtzebuergesch
Luxembourgish is a Moselle Franconian variety that became a national language of Luxembourg in 1984, alongside French and German. It borrows heavily from French, often without altering the word, so a Germanic sentence can be studded with terms a French speaker recognises instantly. Its written standard is recent and usage is still less fixed than in long-standardised languages. Most of its speakers are trilingual.
- Family
- West Germanic
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- ≈ 400,000
- Where
- Luxembourg
- In the game
- Rare language
How to spot it
German run through a French filter: plenty of ë and é, the pronoun “ech”, and French loanwords left untouched.
A few sentences
-
Ech hunn haut e laangen Dag gehat.
I have had a long day today.
-
Ech hunn haut leider keng Zäit.
I am afraid I have no time today.
-
Ech sinn haut ganz midd.
I am very tired today.
-
Wou ass d’Post, wann ech gelift?
Where is the post office, please?
-
D’Haus ass ze deier fir eis.
The house is too expensive for us.