FRISIANS, a people of Teutonic stock, who at the beginning of the Christian era occupied the coast lands stretching from the mouth of the Scheldt to that of the Ems. They were closely related by speech and blood to the Angles and Saxons, and the other Low German tribes, who lived in Schleswig-Holstein and to the east a the Ems. The first notice of this people is found in the 'Annals) of Tacitus. They became tributaries of Rome under Drusus, and lived for some time on friendly terms with their conquerors, but were driven to hostilities by oppression. They submitted again in 47 A.D., and in 58 attempted to extend their ter ritory between the Rhine and Yssel; in 70 they rebelled again with the Batavians in the campaign of Claudius Civilis. From this time on their history is obscure for several cen turies. They appear to have been with their neighbors, the Saxons and Batavians. It is very probable that great numbers of Frisians joined with the Angles and Saxons in their sea-roving expeditions, and assisted them in their invasions and conquest of Eng land and the Scottish lowlands. About the end of the 7th century, the Frisians in the south west were subdued by the Franks under Pepin d'Heristal, who compelled them to accept Christianity. A century later the eastern branch of the tribe was conquered and chris tianized by Charlemagne. Their country was divided into three districts, two of which were annexed on the division of the Carlovingian Empire to the possessions of Louis the Ger man, and the other to Charles the Bald. The latter part was called West Frisia (West Friesland), and the two former East Frisia (East Friesland). The distinctive national features were gradually lost by assimilation with their neighbors, and their modern history is chiefly connected with Holland and Hanover.
Emmius, Ubbo, Frisicarum (Leyden 1616) ; Winsemius, P., Thronique van Vriesland' (Franker 1822) ; Klopp, O., schichte Ostfrieslands) (3 vols., 1854-58) ; Hooft van Iddekinge, 'Friesland en de Friezen in de Middeleeuwen' (Leyden 1::1) ; Blok, P. J., 'Friesland im (Leer 1891).
Language and Low German dialect, formerly spoken along the North Sea coast from the Scheldt to the Ems, where dwelt the Frisians, from whom it takes its name. It is now much more restricted in territory, and is confined almost entirely to the peasantry. It is closely akin to Anglo Saxon, and has many points in common with Dutch, Danish and Icelandic. As now spoken it is divided into numerous dialects, some of which differ widely one from the other. The general dialectic divisions are East, West and North Frisian. The East Frisian is again divided into the Ems and Weser dialects. It has been supplanted by Plattdeutsch, and is now spoken by but a few hundred people in the Saterland of Oldenburg and on the island of Wangeroog. The name East Frisian, how ever, is popularly given to the dialect of Platt deutsch which has supplanted the older tongue. The North Frisian is subdivided into about 10 dialects, many of which are but admixtures of Low German, Danish or West Saxon. Of the pure North Frisian there is scarcely any record. West Frisian has extensive literary re mains, however, and modern West Frisian is the vehicle of all modern Frisian literature. It is subdivided into six dialects, which do not diverge greatly. The morphology of the lan guage is essentially of the German type and its syntax is of the type of the older German dialects.
Old Frisian literature is very scanty, con sisting mainly of collections of laws, a few epic poems and sagas. The Asegabuch (1200) was a series of laws valid for all Friesland. An almost complete collection of those laws is to be found in Richthofen's 'Friesische Recbt squellen' (1840). Most of the poetry is a mixture of dialects which renders it useless for the study of the language; (Thet freske a collection made in 1671, is a good example. The most important work in North Frisian is 'Di Gidtshals of di Siil'ring Pid'ersdei' of Hansen, a comedy published at Flensburg in 1809, and which appeared in a second edition together with (Di leddelk Stjiiiirman,' a story and some poems at Sonderburg in 1833. In West Frisian has appeared nearly all modern Frisian literature of any consequence. Its pe riod began in 1609 with the comic dialogue enti tled (Een tramensprelcinghe van twee boersche Personem, Wouter en Lialle.) West Frisian poetry received considerable impetus from the work of Gijsbert Japiks and Jan Althuysen in the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. Since then there has been no great name in Frisian poetry, and comedy portrayals of peasant life form alike the best and bulk of modern Frisian literature. The most famous of these comedies are Meindert's 'It libben fen Aagtje Ijsbrants, of dy frieske boerinne' (1779) ; tankbre boerezoon' (1778) ; reijs fen Maicke Jakkelis> (1778) ; and 'Het jonge lienes boosk.) Other names of more recent date are Eeltje (1797-1858), Salverda, Rinse. Van Blom, Van der Wey-Rutgers, van der Veen, W. Dijkstra and Pieter Troelstra.
Bendsen, 'Die nordfriesiche Sprache nach der Mohringer Mundert' (Ley den 1860) ; Colmjon, 'Beknopte friesche Spraakkunst vor den tegenwoordigen Tijd' (Joure 1889) ; Cummins, 'Grammar of the Old Frisian Language' (London 1887) ; Dijkstra and Hettema, 'Friesch Woordenboek' (4 vols., Leeuwarden 1896-1903) ; Grimm, 'Deutsche Helten, 'Zum altfriesichen Vo kalismus' (Strassburg 1906) ; Hewett, 'Frisian Language and Literature) ; Hettema, 'Oude friesche Wetten' (Leeuwarden 1845-51) ; Hen ser, 'Altfriesisches Lesebuch mit Grammatik und Glossar> (Heidelberg 1903) ; Jaekel, alt friesische Verse vom hute des abbe (in Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philologie, Vol. XXXI, Halle 1907) ; Johansen, 'Die nordfriesische Sprache' (Kiel 1862) ; Kock, "Vokal-balance im Alt friesichee (in zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Litteratur,' Halle, 1904); Richthof en, 'Altfriesisches WOrter buch) (Gottingen 1840) ; id., 'Friesische Recht squellen' (Berlin 1840) ; Siebs, "Geschichte der fnesischen Sprache (in (Grundriss der german ischen Philologie' von Paul, Vol. II, Strassburg 1901-09) ; • id., 'Geschichte der friesischen Lit teratur,' Vol. III (ib. 1900) ; id., (Syher Lust spiele' 1898) ; id., Geschichte der Englisch-friesisch Sprache' (Halle 1889) ; Sipma, 'Phonology and Grammar of Modern West Frisian' (Oxford 1913) ; Sturenburg, 'Ost-friesisches Worterbuch) (Aurich 1862) ; Ten Doornkaat Kooman, (Worterbuch der Ost friesischen Sprache, etymologisch bearbeite0 (3 vols., Norden 1879-84) ; Van Helten, 'Al tosttriesische Grammatik' (Leeuwarden 1890) ; Walter, 'Der Wortschatz des Altfriesischen' (Naumburg 1911) • Winkler, 'Algemeen neder duitschen en friesch Dialecticon' (The Hague 1874).