Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish (ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡɪʃ ; also Luxemburgish, Luxembourgian, Letzebu(e)rgesch; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch ˈlətsəbuəjəʃ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of the Moselle Franconian language, Luxembourgish has similarities with other varieties of High German and the wider group of West Germanic languages. The status of Luxembourgish as the national language of Luxembourg and the existence there of a regulatory body have removed Luxembourgish, at least in part, from the domain of Standard German, its traditional Dachsprache. It is also related to the Transylvanian Saxon dialect spoken by the Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, contemporary central Romania. Luxembourgish was considered a German dialect like many others until about World War II but then it underwent ausbau, creating its own standard form in vocabulary, grammar, and spelling and therefore is seen today as an independent language. As Luxembourgish has a maximum of some 285,000 native speakers, resources in the language like books, newspapers, magazines, television, internet etc. are limited. Since most Luxembourgers also speak Standard German and French, there is strong competition with these languages, which both have large language resources. Because of this, the use of Luxembourgish remains limited. Luxembourgish belongs to the West Central German group of the High German languages and is the primary example of a Moselle Franconian language. Furthermore, it is closely related to Transylvanian Saxon which has been spoken since the High Middle Ages by the Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, present-day central Romania. Luxembourgish is considered the national language of Luxembourg and also one of the three administrative languages, alongside German and French. In Luxembourg, 77% of citizens can speak Luxembourgish. Luxembourgish is also spoken in the Arelerland region of Belgium (part of the Province of Luxembourg) and in small parts of Lorraine in France.
