Challenge 52 in 52: German

Wie eine Blume am Winterbeginn
Und so wie ein Feuer im eisigen Wind
Wie eine Puppe, die keiner mehr mag
Fühl' ich mich an manchem Tag

Like a flower at the beginning of winter

and like a fire in an icy wind.

Like a doll that nobody likes anymore,

this is how I feel on many a day.

Dann seh' ich die Wolken, die über uns sind
Und höre die Schreie der Vögel im Wind
Ich singe aus Angst vor dem Dunkel mein Lied
Und hoffe, dass nichts geschieht

Then I see the clouds, above us

and hear the cries of the birds in the wind

I'm singing because I'm afraid of the dark

and hope that nothing's going to happen.

Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Sonne
Für diese Erde, auf der wir wohnen
Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Freude
Ein bisschen Wärme, das wünsch' ich mir

A little bit of peace, a little bit of sun
on this earth, we all live on.
A little bit of peace, a little bit of happiness,
A little bit of warmth, is what I'm wishing for.

Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Träumen
Und dass die Menschen nicht so oft weinen
Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Liebe
Dass ich die Hoffnung nie mehr verlier'

A little bit of peace, a little bit of dreams
and that the people don't cry so often.
A little bit of peace, a little bit of love,
that I'll never lose hope again.

Ich weiß, meine Lieder, die ändern nicht viel
Ich bin nur ein Mädchen, das sagt, was es fühlt
Allein bin ich hilflos, ein Vogel im Wind
Der spürt, dass der Sturm beginnt

I know that my songs, won't change so many things
I am just a girl, who says what she feels
alone I am helpless, a bird in the wind
who feels that a storm is brewing.

Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Sonne
Für diese Erde, auf der wir wohnen
Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Freude
Ein bisschen Wärme, das wünsch' ich mir

Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Träumen
Und dass die Menschen nicht so oft weinen
Ein bisschen Frieden, ein bisschen Liebe
Dass ich die Hoffnung nie mehr verlier'

Sing mit mir ein kleines Lied
Dass die Welt in Frieden lebt

Sing with me a little song,
that the world lives in peace.

Singt mit mir ein kleines Lied
Dass die Welt in Frieden lebt

Challenge 52 in 52: Scots (Leid or Lallans)

Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster in Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language which was historically restricted to most of the Highlands, the Hebrides and Galloway after the 16th century. The Scots language developed during the Middle English period as a distinct entity.

Scots is a recognised indigenous language of Scotland, a regional or minority language of Europe and as a vulnerable language by UNESCO.

As there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing a language from a dialect, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots and particularly its relationship to English. Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects exist, they often render contradictory results. Broad Scots is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with Scottish Standard English at the other.[16] Scots is often regarded as one of the ancient varieties of English, but it has its own distinct dialects. Alternatively, Scots is sometimes treated as a distinct Germanic language, in the way that Norwegian is closely linked to but distinct from Danish.

In the 2011 Scottish Census, 1.5 million people in Scotland reported to be able to speak Scots.

Scots at Omniglot
Scots at Wikipedia

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome to your gory bed,
Or to victory!

Scots, who have with Wallace bled,

Scots, whom Bruce has often led,

Welcome to your gory bed

Or to victory.

Now's the day, and now's the hour;
See the front o' battle lour,
See approach proud Edward's power—
Chains and slavery!

Now is the day, and now is the hour:

See the front of battle lower (threaten),

See approach proud Edward's power –

Chains and slavery.

Wha will be a traitor-knave?
Wha can fill a coward's grave?
Wha sae base as be a slave?
Let him turn and flee!

Who will be a traitor knave?

Who will fill a coward's grave?

Who's so base as be a slave? –

Let him turn, and flee.

Wha for Scotland's king and law
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand or freeman fa',
Let him follow me!

Who for Scotland's King and Law

Freedom's sword will strongly draw,

Freeman stand or freeman fall,

Let him follow me.

By oppression's woes and pains,
By your sons in servile chains,
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free!

By oppression's woes and pains,

By your sons in servile chains,

We will drain our dearest veins

But they shall be free.

Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in ev'ry foe!
Liberty's in ev'ry blow!
Let us do or dee!

Lay the proud usurpers low,

Tyrants fall in every foe,

Liberty is in every blow,

Let us do or die!

Challenge 52 in 52: Frisian

West Frisian, or simply Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland (Fryslân) in the north of the Netherlands, mostly by those of Frisian ancestry. It is the most widely spoken of the three Frisian languages.

For English linguists, West Frisian is notable as being the most closely related language to English outside of Britain, and it is often considered to be "in between" English and Dutch.

Omniglot West Frisian

Challenge 52 in 52: Dutch

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting the majority of people in the Netherlands (where it is the sole official language) and Belgium (as one of three official languages). It is the third-most-widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives English and German.

Outside the Low Countries, it is the native language of the majority of the population of Suriname where it also holds an official status, as it does in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, which are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean. Historical linguistic minorities on the verge of extinction remain in parts of France and Germany, and in Indonesia, while up to half a million native speakers may reside in the United States, Canada and Australia combined. The Cape Dutch dialects of Southern Africa have evolved into Afrikaans, a mutually intelligible daughter language which is spoken to some degree by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia.

Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is colloquially said to be "roughly in between" them. Dutch, like English, has not undergone the High German consonant shift, does not use Germanic umlaut as a grammatical marker, has largely abandoned the use of the subjunctive, and has levelled much of its morphology, including most of its case system. Features shared with German include the survival of two to three grammatical genders — albeit with few grammatical consequences — as well as the use of modal particles, final-obstruent devoicing, and a similar word order. Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates slightly more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. As with German, the vocabulary of Dutch also has strong similarities with the continental Scandinavian languages, but is not mutually intelligible in text or speech with any of them.

Omniglot about Dutch

Some comparison:

English: one, two, tree, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Scots: ane, twa, three, fower, five, sax, seiven, echt, nine, ten

Frisian: ien, twa, trije, fjouwer, fiif, seis, sân, acht, njoggen, tsien

Dutch: een, twee, drie, view, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen, tien

Flemish: één, tween, drie, view, vijf, zes, zeven, acht, negen, tien

Afrikaans: een, twee, drie, view, vyf, ses, sewe, ag, nege, tien

German: eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Jiddish: eyns, tsvey, dray, fir, finf, zeks, zibn, akht, nayn, tsen

Challenge 52 in 52: North Germanic Languages, week IV

Asking Questions

E: who, what, why, when, where, how?
S: vem, vad, varför, när, var, hur
D: hvem, hvad, hvorfor, hvornår, hvor, hvordan
N: hvem, hva,  hvorfor, når, hvor, hvordan
I: hver, hvað, af hverju, hvenær, hvar hvernig
F: hvør, hvat, hvorfo, nær, hvar, hvussu

Yes/No questions: Invert the subject and verb so that the verb begins the question.

E: Can you help me?
S: Kan du hjälpa mig?
D: kan du hjælpe mig?
N: Kan du hjelpe meg?
I: Getur þú hjálpað mér?
F: kanst tú hjálpa mær?

E: Do you speak English?
S: Talar du engelska?
D: Taler du engelsk?
N: Snakker du engelsk
I: Talar þú ensku?
F: Dugir tú eingilskt?

Question Words: The question word begins the question, and the verb comes next, followed by the subject.

E: How are you?
S: Hur mår du?
D: Hvordan har du det?
N: Hvordan har du det?
I: Hvernig hefurðu það?
F: Hvussu gongur?

E: What is it?
S: Vad är det?
D: Hvad er det?
N: Hva er det?
I: hvað er það?
F: Hvat er tað

E: Where is Sten?
S: Var är Sten?
D: Hvor er Sten?
N: Hvor er Sten?
I: Hvar er Sten
F: Hvar er Sten?

E: What does Elsa do?
S: Vad gör Elsa?
D: Hvad gør Elsa?
N: Hva gjør Elsa
I: Hvað gerir Elsa
F: Hvat ger Elsa?

E: How old are you?
S: Hur gammal är du?
D: Hvor gammel er du?
N: Hvor gammel er du?
I: Hversu gamall (m) / gömul (f) ert þú?
F: Hvussu gamal (m) / gomul (f) ert tú?

E: What's your name? What are you called?
S: Vad heter du?
D: Hvad hedder du?
N: Hva heter du?
I: Hvað heitir þú?
F: Hvussu eitur tú?