A special project kicking off on Friday will feature every single word in the Frisian language being read aloud.
Translation by Traci White
The marathon reading sessions will take place in the courtyard of the Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden. It is expected to take until September for every word to be read out.
The project is the Fryske Akademy’s contribution to Leeuwarden and Friesland’s yearlong status as a European Capital of Culture. The Leeuwarder Courant reports that the initiative is also part of Lân fan taal.
A special version of the Frisian dictionary with 1.3 million words has been created for the occasion, featuring keywords, definitions and sample sentences. The Frisian pocket dictionary includes 70,000 keyword entries. The marathon reading sessions will not include information about part of speech, pluralization or other grammatical details.
Different speed
If all goes according to plan, the reading should finish up on 21 September, but the organisers say that it is difficult to predict exactly how long it will take because each reader has a different speed. Readings will not be held non-stop, either: readers will cover their portion of the dictionary between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, and there will occasionally be readings on Saturdays.
All of the readings will be filmed unless an individual reader objects, and the recordings will be used as a resource for language support in the province.
