Low German dialect

Low German
Low Saxon
Plattdütsch, Plattdüütsch, Plattdütsk, Plattduitsk German: Plattdeutsch, Niederdeutsch Dutch: Nederduits
Native to	Northern Germany Western Germany Eastern Netherlands Southern Denmark
Ethnicity	Dutch, Frisians and Germans; Historically Saxons (Germanic peoples and modern regional subgroup of Germans)
Native speakers	301,000 in all countries; 6.7 to 10 million understand it. (2001)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Ingvaeonic Low German
Early forms	Old Saxon Middle Low German
Dialects	West Low German East Low German
Official status
Official language in	Germany  Schleswig-Holstein  Hamburg  Lower Saxony  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern  Netherlands
Recognised minority language in	Mexico (100,000)  Bolivia (70,000)  Paraguay (30,000)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	nds
ISO 639-3	(Dutch varieties and Westphalian have separate codes)
Glottolog	lowg1239  Low German
Linguasphere	52-ACB
Approximate area in which Low German/Low Saxon dialects are spoken in Europe.
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Plattdütsch, Plattdüütsch, Plattdütsk, Plattduitsk

 Germany

 Bolivia (70,000)

Low German or Low Saxon (Low German: Plattdütsch, Plattdüütsch, Plattdütsk, Plattduitsk; Dutch Low Saxon: Nedersaksies; German: Plattdeutsch, Niederdeutsch; Dutch: Nederduits) is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is also spoken to a lesser extent in the German diaspora worldwide (called the Plautdietsch), by ethnic Frisians wherever Friso-Saxon dialects are spoken, and in Southern Denmark.

As an Ingvaeonic language, Low German is quite distinct from the Irminonic (High German) languages like Standard German, and closely related to Dutch, Frisian and English. This difference resulted from the High German consonant shift, with the Uerdingen and Benrath lines being two notable linguistic borders.