FrisianLanguage

Frisian is a language spoken by a minority of people in the northern part of The Netherlands. Perhaps there are about 100000 speakers. It was once spoken in nearby parts of Germany and Denmark as well. It is most similar to Old English (but not Modern English), Dutch, and Low German, but is probably different enough to all those to count as a different language rather than just a dialect.

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The earliest definite written examples of Frisian are from approximately the 9th century AD. A few examples of runic inscriptions from the region are probably older and possibly in the Frisian language.