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==Dialect==
{{main|Urkers dialect}}
[[File:Urk - Urkerdag - 2017 -011.jpg|thumb|Locals in Urk in traditional clothing during ''Urkerdag'' festival]]

One of the oldest and most distinctive [[dialect]]s of Westphalian is the language spoken in Urk. Nearly everyone in the village speaks this dialect and uses it in daily life.  The [[Urkers dialect|Urkish dialect]] also includes elements that are older than standard [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and were never part of the standard language. For example, the old word for "father" in the Urkish dialect is {{lang|ned|taote}}. The dialect developed this way because until [[World War II]], Urk was an island and could be reached only by boat. [[Radio]] was unknown, and the poor population did not have much money for [[newspaper]]s and [[book]]s. Until the modern era, primary education for the children typically lasted only two years; afterwards children had to help maintain the family, and formal schooling ended.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

Linguistic classifications have assigned "the dialect of Urk" or "Urk" into an own dialect group.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/measuring-dialect-pronunciation-differences-using-levenshtein-dis |title=Measuring Dialect Pronunciation Differences using Levenshtein Distance |first=Wilbert Jan |last=Heeringa |date=26 December 2004 |via=research.rug.nl }}</ref> Urk is no longer an island and exposure to standard [[Dutch language|Dutch]] through the media is widespread. However, the distinctive Urkish dialect is still alive.

The Urkish dialect has more vowel sounds than standard Dutch and each vowel has short and long forms. The pronunciation of vowels deviates from standard Dutch and is closer to [[English language|English]].

Because living conditions in Urk in historical times were very poor, young girls (typically about age 11 or 12) would frequently leave the island to become domestic servants, mostly in or around Amsterdam. They often served with [[Jewish]] families. After a few years, they would return to Urk to form families of their own. As a result of this practice, the Urkish dialect absorbed some [[loanwords]] from the Amsterdam dialect and also from [[Yiddish]]. For instance, the Yiddish "''shnur''" for "sister-in-law" became the Urkish "''snoar''" (identical meaning); the Hebrew "''kallah''" ({{Script/Hebrew|כלה}}) for "bride" became the Urkish "''kalletjen''", meaning "girlfriend" (literally "little bride").

When [[Napoleon]] [[Napoleon in Holland|occupied]] the [[Netherlands]], many French words were incorporated into both standard Dutch and Urkish. Just as for standard Dutch, French words often changed form when incorporated into Urkish. The Urkish dialect has always been primarily a spoken language, and there are not many old texts written in the dialect. Only in recent years have people begun to write prose and poetry in the Urkish dialect. There are Urkers who have translated [[Bible]] books into Urkish, such as the book of [[Psalms]].