• In the language itself: Urrekers
• ISO 639-3 standard: n.a.

^{Click here for a full overview of the language vitality colour codes.}

• Classification: Indo-European → Germanic → Northwest Germanic → West Germanic → North Sea Germanic → Altsächsisch → Middle-Modern Low German → Low German → West Low German → Westphalic → Urkers. For more information, see urke1234 at Glottolog
• Script: Latin script
• Vowels: Urkers distinguishes itself most from its related languages through its vowels. For example, changing the length of a vowel in a verb is how the verb is conjugated and the Dutch diphthongs ij and ui become ee and eu.¹⁾

There is currently no standardised spelling system in place for Urkers. Urkers does have a foundation charged with promoting, recording, and researching the language and culture, called Stichting Urker Taol,²⁾ which plays a role in encouraging uniformity in writing. Urkers has historically been a spoken language with little to no use for a written variant.³⁾

There are no official Urker dictionaries. There is a crowdsourced online dictionary Dutch → Urkers, Urkers → Dutch, which contains 71 idioms, 897 words, and 11 comments as of 26-09-2025.⁴⁾ When Stichting Urker Toal was established, they set out to create an interactive digital dictionary where speakers of the language could add words themselves.⁵⁾ The foundation also stated in their policy plan that they aimed to create a uniform spelling system.⁶⁾ Neither of these goals have been met yet.

There are a few important historical sources that show a written form of Urkers, which can be seen as a basis for current written Urkers. In 1875, educator Klaas Koffeman wrote an extensive word list in Urkers, which is considered one of the most important sources for current researchers.⁷⁾ He researched the Urker language with Johan Winkler, and along with making the word list, he was the first person to publish in Urkers,⁸⁾ and he wrote an overview of conjugation in Urkers.⁹⁾ Urk also has its own “national” anthem in Urkers, which was originally written in Dutch, but later translated into Urkers.¹⁰⁾ Additionally, Urkers has a shibboleth, used to “test” people on how well they speak Urkers: “Un kweeuwkien mit gerespelde keaze” (A rusk with grated cheese). This is combarable to the Frisian “bûter, brea en griene tsiis, wa't dat net sizze kin is gjin oprjochte Fries.”

While Urk is now a part of mainland Flevoland (one of the provinces of the Netherlands), it was an island until 1942.¹¹⁾ This is an important historical event for the Urker identity and, therefore, for the Urker language. As an island, the language area was very confined and it has stayed relatively contained to the same municipality since the islands connection to the mainland. Image 1 shows where Urkers is spoken. The part coloured pink next to it is the man made land that connected the island to the mainland.

_{Image 1: Urkers on a map detailing all of the languages and dialects in the north of the Netherlands.¹²⁾}

There is no reliable information on the exact number of speakers of Urkers, though it is estimated that it is an incredibly vital language because of the pride Urkers (inhabitants of Urk) have in being Urkers. There is a very clear community in the area and the language plays a big role in that. Community insiders have to comply with the rules, including speaking the language in order to belong, which is a very strong motivating factor.¹³⁾ The intergenerational language transfer is also very high, as an overwhelming majority of Urkers are born and raised in Urk, and will end up with an Urker spouse.¹⁴⁾ All of this leads to the assumption that, with a city population of around 22.000, almost all Urkers speak Urkers.

Please describe the history of the language's presence in:

• the country's school system;
• published, broadcasted, or online learning resources.

In the early history of Urk, education was minimal and typically limited to two years of primary education before the children were expected to help their families in the fishing industry.¹⁵⁾ Because Urk was an island until 1939, it was only accessible by boat for its entire history up to that point, and, therefore, the population had little access to radio, outside newspapers, and books, which limited their exposure to standard Dutch.¹⁶⁾

Because of Urk's limited exposure to Dutch and reliance on their own language, the language of instruction in education on Urk presumably remained Urkers during its time as an island, though there are no official reports on this. With national education legislation and the connection of the island to the mainland, it has now moved to Dutch. The use of Urkers as a language of instruction in (primary) education is not prohibited and is allowed in areas where the language is very vital.¹⁷⁾

The national Dutch government has not recognised Urkers as a seperate in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. However, Urkers is generally considered a part of the Low Saxon language group,¹⁸⁾ which was recognized under Part II of the charter.¹⁹⁾

Urkers in not officially recognized as a national minority under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the protection of National Minorities. However, similarly to the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, Low Saxon, which is the language group Urkers is generally considered to fall under, is recognised.²⁰⁾

The lack of formal recognition on a European level results in Urkers being excluded from structured language policy development, legal protection, and mandatory government funding. The languages that are formally recognised in the European union have to undergo periodic evaluation and recommendations for its maintenance or revitalization. Urkers also does not benefit from this mandated monitoring and evaluation process.

There are no national laws regarding the implementation of Urkers as a school subject, and there are no core objectives, as there are for Dutch, Frisian, and other (foreign) languages.²¹⁾ The Dutch government does not officially recognise Urkers as a language, and, therefore, there are no laws mandating the use of Urkers as a language of instruction or as a medium of education. In principle, schooling is provided in Dutch, but the use of Urkers is allowed in areas where the language is very vital.²²⁾

At the municipal/local level, there are no legal acts regarding the use of Urkers in education. Urkers is recognised as a language, with Stichting Urker Toal being responsible for monitoring it.²³⁾ There are no local language policies regarding Urkers. The local community values and maintains the language largely without governmental interference.

The quality of education in the Netherlands is enforced by national bodies such as the Inspectorate of Education, which ensures schools' compliance with national curricula.²⁴⁾ There are no specific governmental bodies tasked with the enforcement of Urkers, as it does not have an official place in the Dutch education system.

There are no institutions concerning themselves with Urker language education. Educational institutions focus primarily on Dutch, Frisian, and other (foreign) languages officially taught in schools. There are local initiatives, such as Stichting Urker Uitgaven,²⁵⁾ which promote the language and its history, but they do not provide any educational support.

There is no funding specifically allocated to support the (development of) education in Urkers or its promotion.

There are no structured learning materials that are being or have been developed for Urkers. Materials that could be utilised for educational purposes do exist. For example, published stories in Urkers,²⁶⁾ the unofficial dictionary,²⁷⁾ or in depth descriptions of the linguistic features²⁸⁾ could all be used to teach Urkers.

There are no formal teacher training courses that focus on teaching Urkers or using Urkers in the classroom and there is no other teacher support systems in place for teaching Urkers.

The Urker language has a very minimal place in education in the language area.

The Urker language has no official place in preschool education, although it is, presumably, used quite frequently. At preschool age, Urkers is naturally acquired by children from their parents and the community around them.

The Urker language has no official place in primary education curricula. There are no formal evaluations of language proficiency nor of the teaching of Urkers itself. There are 13 primary schools on Urk and teachers are allowed to use Urkers as a language of instruction in their classroom how they see fit.²⁹⁾ Language transmission still relies heavily on parents and the community around the children.

The Urker language has no official place in secondary education curricula. Secondary education does not have the same leniency that primary education does with regards to the language of instruction. Dutch or English are used as language of instruction or occasionally a different (foreign) language, such as French or German. There are three secondary education schools on Urk and none of them offer Urkers. Any further Urkers learning is done through parents and the community around the child.

There are no vocational education schools on Urk and Urkers is not included in any vocational school curricula elsewhere.

There are no higher education schools or universities on Urk. Urkers is not offered in any higher education or university education programs elsewhere. Urkers is occasionally the focus of linguistic or sociological research, but this is not a standard fixture and is entire dependent on students developing an interest towards Urkers.³⁰⁾³¹⁾

There are no adult learning courses dedicated to Urkers. Learning the language is almost entirely dependent on help from the community.

Formal online learning materials for Urkers do not exist. There are local initiatives, which provide dictionaries³²⁾ and language documentation³³⁾ online.

The Stichting Urker Taol works to preserve, document, and promote Urkers. They publish literature and organize events to do with the language.((