Among the new publications is “D’Lëtzebuerger Verben”, a practical manual of Luxembourgish verb forms, the choice for which was based on the most searched terms on the Luxembourgish online dictionary (LOD). 

The LOD, in fact, has generated visits from an average 2,500 people per day, with some 9m terms having been viewed on the site in the past 12 months, according to the education ministry, which they say “illustrate[s] the growing public interest in the Luxembourgish language”. 

Additional translations, synonyms and examples are expected to be added over the coming months, while LOD has also served as an open data source for Microsoft. The software giant announced on Wednesday the development of a free-of-charge, downloadable language accessory pack which is included in applications with automatic spell checking, as well as Office 365 web versions, plus their Chrome and Edge extensions.

Luc Marteling, ZLS director, spoke in the announcement of an “ever increasing popularity of the Luxembourgish language”, and that tools such as those provided through Microsoft “are supporting this trend and meeting growing user demand.”

Official Luxembourgish spelling had been recently modified, with new rules entering force for the 2020 school year start, although only around 1.5% of the LOD terms were impacted by these changes. The ministry has also announced that LOD is undergoing progress to be more accessible to dyslexic learners, for example, while video content is also getting a push. 

Additional publications

In addition to the aforementioned verbs manual, ZLS has also launched a 12-volume series, "Lëtzebuerger Wuertschatz", which aims to promote the language through participation. The first volume is titled “Aläert, jauwen, Zockerboun”, while the second volume is forthcoming. In 2021, a campaign should be launched to garner unusual phrases and ancient expressions from the general public as part of this series. 

The “Eis Sprooch richteg schreiwen”, adapted in English (“An Introduction to Luxembourgish Spelling”) as well as French, helps language learners better write in the language, while “DʼLëtzebuerger Orthografie” will get a reprint.