Northern Low Saxon

Northern Low Saxon (in Low German, Noordneddersassisch) is a West Low German dialect.

As such, it covers a great part of the West Low-German-speaking areas of northern Germany, with the exception of the border regions where Eastphalian and Westphalian are spoken. However, Northern Low Saxon is easily understood by speakers of these dialects.

Northern Low Saxon can be divided into Holsteinisch, Schleswigsch, East Frisian Low Saxon, Dithmarsch, North Hanoveranian, Emsländisch, and Oldenburgisch.

Holsteinisch is spoken in Holstein, the southern part of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, in Dithmarschen, around Neumünster, Rendsburg, Kiel and Lübeck. The local variant of Lübeck ("Lübsch") was a lingua franca for the Hanseatic league in the Middle Ages.

Schleswigsch is spoken in Schleswig, in Germany and Denmark. It is mainly is based on an South Jutlandic substrate. Therefore it has some notable differences in pronunciation and grammar with its southern neighbour dialects. The dialects on the west coast of Schleswig and some islands show some North Frisian influences.

Oldenburg dialect (Low Saxon Ollnborger Platt, High German Oldenburger Platt) is spoken around the city of Oldenburg. It is limited to Germany. Its difference to East Frisian Low Saxon, which is spoken in the Frisian parts of Low Saxony, is the lack of a Frisian substrate. Ollnborger Platt is in the city of Bremen as Breemsch (Bremian), which is the only capital where Ollnborger Platt is spoken. The Westphalian town or city of Minden possibly partly belongs to the area, where Ollnborger Platt is spoken traditionally.

See also East Frisian Low Saxon.