• In the language itself: Sallaands
• ISO 639-3 standard: sdz

• Classification: Indo-European → Germanic → Northwest Germanic → West Germanic → North Sea Germanic → Altsächsisch → Middle-Modern Low German → Low German → West Low German → Westphalic → Sallands. For more information, see sall1238 at Glottolog
• Script: Latin

Low Saxon as a whole is not a standardized language, but it is an officially recognized regional language. ¹⁾ Low Saxon has many varieties of which Sallands is one. Sallands does have its own spelling rules written in a manual for writing the regional language of Northwest Overijssel, Salland and the Oost-Veluwe created by the Overijsselacademie. ²⁾ In this manual an overview is provided of how to write the vowels and consonants and a number of spelling issues are discussed.

In 1995 the Werkgroep Dialekt van het Cultuur Historisch Genootschap Raalte released a dictionary, with the aim to cover the Salland regional language as completely as possible in writing. ³⁾

Sallands is spoken in the western part of Overijssel, between the rivers Regge and IJssel. This region continues in the north to Meppelerdiep. In the east, the area above the Vecht river extends to the border with Germany. ⁴⁾ There is a lot of variation within Sallands, it actually differs from place to place. ⁵⁾ Within the regional language Sallands there are a couple of regional dialects like: West-Sallands, Centraal-Sallands and Oost-Sallands. There are also some city dialects: Kampers, Zwols and Deventers. ⁶⁾ The Overijsselacademie discusses the varieties of the different dialects atHet Nedersaksisch van Overijssel.

In 2005 Henk Bloemhoff conducted a survey on the use of Low-Saxon use in the Netherlands. This showed that approximately 229.000 people spoke Sallands at home and approximately 338.000 people spoke Sallands in total.⁷⁾ The amount of people being able to speak Sallands was 73.0% and speaking it at home 62.9%. The amount of people that can read it was 75.7% in this survey. (In the survey it is not called Sallands, but West-Overijssels).

Low Saxon is not part of the education curriculum and schools do not have to incorporate any kind of courses on Low Saxon (Bloemhoff et al., 2020, p. 105). ⁸⁾

Dutch dialects also have not undergone the same development as the standard language in the Netherlands. Most dialects often had less prestige than the standard language, and speaking it was discouraged by schools and parents. ⁹⁾

In traditional media, regional languages are also not highly represented, with the exception of local and regional television or radio, that sometimes use their regional language.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages by the Council of Europe was signed and ratified (1992 & 1996) by the Netherlands, with the charter coming into force in 1998. Low Saxon is protected under Part II Article 7 which can be found in Seventh evaluation report on the Netherlands. For more information on the legislation of Low Saxon on European level go to the wiki page on the variety of Low Saxon: Gronings.

Low Saxon is recognized as a regional language under the European Charter, which helps the government protect the Low Saxon language. ¹⁰⁾ Child care centers and schools are allowed to use Low Saxon and primary schools and secondary schools are allowed to teach the subject of Low Saxon. ¹¹⁾

De taal van Overijssel offers a couple of courses on dialects of Sallands (Zwols, Kampers and Steenwieks). In these courses you will learn how to speak, write and read in the dialects. And in their ‘kennisbank’ you can find a couple of links to dictionaries or more information on the grammar of dialects. ¹²⁾

The Overijsselacademie highlights a couple of people and institutions using Low-Saxon (or Sallands) in education or in general. They highlighted information on courses on regional languages in education, on a translation guide for people working in healthcare and they highlighted a podcast and some videos on Low-Saxon culture, language and history. ¹³⁾

The academy also works together with regional language working groups in Twente and West Overijssel on teaching materials for regional language in education.

It is allowed to use and teach Low Saxon in preschool, primary and secondary education. The schools have the choice whether they want to use Low Saxon in the classroom. ¹⁴⁾

There are some steps taken towards a common curriculum for Low Saxon. In 2019 the Overijsselacademie appointed a Low Saxon curriculum developer, who established core objectives for the curriculum. ¹⁵⁾ The aim of this curriculum development process was not to oblige schools to pay attention to Low Saxon, but to provide schools with tools to use Low Saxon in a professional manner. The core objectives also make it possible to develop targeted learning resources and to offer the optional subject Low Saxon in secondary education in the future. ¹⁶⁾

The Overijsselacademie launched a curriculum about the regional Lower Saxon culture, language and history for secondary vocational education. This project was continued from the regional language project in healthcare for secondary vocational education. During the course attention is paid to multicultural coexistence based on one's own culture, multilingualism and the village and city culture in the regions of the province of Overijssel. The curriculum is also suitable for higher professional education (HBO). ¹⁷⁾

De Overijsselacademie

De Taal van Overijssel