Locale Lb 001

Reference data for the Luxembourgish locale — endonym Lëtzebuergesch, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: lb-001
• ISO 639-1: lb
• ISO 639-3: ltz
• Script: Latn (Latin)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 400,000
• L2 (additional): 200,000
• L1+L2 (total): 600,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Luxembourgish. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

• Locale Lb Lu (Luxembourgish (Luxembourg))

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — n = 1 (e.g. 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch) is a West Central German language and one of three official languages of Luxembourg. Written Luxembourgish follows the spelling reform of 1999 and its later updates. It is distinct from Standard German; do not treat it as a dialect of German in translation.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Do not translate through German or French word by word; Luxembourgish has its own idioms and many French loanwords. Use the Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (LOD, https://lod.lu) as the reference.
• Re-express English idioms by meaning.

Grammar.

• Three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three cases (nominative, accusative, dative); the genitive is mostly gone.
• Verb is second in main clauses and final in subordinate clauses, as in German.
• The n-rule (Eifeler Regel): a final -n is dropped before most consonants ("hien" but "hie kënnt"); keep it before vowels and d, t, z, h, n.

Register.

• "Du" is the informal singular. "Dir" is the polite form and the plural. Public-facing text commonly uses "Dir" or an impersonal form.

Orthography and typography.

• The 1999 reform has been updated by the Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS); Luxembourgish spelling uses letters like ë and é: "Lëtzebuerg", "Mëttwoch".
• Quotation marks „…“ or «…»; decimal comma; euro; dates "17. Oktober 2026".

Common pitfalls

• Writing Standard German or French in place of Luxembourgish.
• Missing the n-rule.
• Using pre-1999 spellings.
• Using German genitive forms.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (LOD, https://lod.lu)
• Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS)