Drèents (also Dreins, Dreints, Drents, Drints; nl, Drents) is a collective term for Westphalian dialects spoken in Drenthe, a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. They are spoken by about half of the population of the province.

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 Northern Low Saxon (in High German: ', in Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West Low German-speaking areas of northern Germany, with the exception of the border regio ...

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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) are considered to be

Sallaans Sallaans ( nl, Sallands; Low Saxon: ''Sallaands'') is a collective term for the Westphalian language, Westphalian dialects of the region Salland, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, as well as in minor parts of Gelderland ...

(because they have an umlaut in the diminutives). The foundation ''Stichting Drentse Taol'' distinguishes seven main variants of Drèents within the province, based upon the research made 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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreents Languages of the Netherlands Dutch Low Saxon Westphalian dialects Culture of Drenthe Culture of Overijssel