Is Dutch closer to English than German?

However, the closest major language to English, is Dutch. For the same reasons Dutch is the closest language to English, German is also a close language, and another one that many English speakers may find easier to learn. Dutch is commonly mentioned as the language nestled between English and German.

How close are Dutch and Low German?

Low German is most closely related to Frisian and English, with which it forms the North Sea Germanic group of the West Germanic languages. Like Dutch, it is spoken north of the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses, while (Standard/High) German is spoken south of those lines.

Are Low German and Dutch mutually intelligible?

Dutch, German, English, Swedish and Danish are all Germanic languages but the degree of mutual intelligibility between these languages differs. Danish and Swedish are the most mutually comprehensible, but German and Dutch are also mutually intelligible.

Is Dutch a mix of English and German?

Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German (Old Saxon) and High German. It is characterized by a number of phonological and morphological innovations not found in North or East Germanic.

What language is German closest to?

Well Luxembourgish, Yiddish and Dutch are properly the closest official different languages to German.

Do Dutch speakers understand German?

Most Dutch people do understand German, as 71\% of the Dutch people claim to speak German to a certain extend. This is because German is taught at school in the Netherlands. As well because Dutch and German are both originated from the West Germanic language, which gives them quite some similarities.

Are English and Frisian mutually intelligible?

However, modern English and Frisian are not mutually intelligible, nor are Frisian languages intelligible among themselves, due to independent linguistic innovations and foreign influences. In East Frisia, East Frisian Low Saxon is spoken, which is not a Frisian language, but a variant of Low German/Low Saxon.

What is the difference between Low German and High German?

Like Dutch, it is spoken north of the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses, while (Standard/High) German is spoken south of those lines. Like Frisian, English, Dutch and the North Germanic languages, Low German has not undergone the High German consonant shift, as opposed to German, which is based upon High German dialects.

What is the origin of the Low German language?

The Middle Low German language is an ancestor of modern Low German. It was spoken from about 1100 to 1600. The neighbouring languages within the dialect continuum of the West Germanic languages were Middle Dutch in the West and Middle High German in the South, later substituted by Early New High German.

Where is Low German spoken in the Netherlands?

Dialects of Low German are spoken in the northeastern area of the Netherlands ( Dutch Low Saxon) and are written there with an unstandardized orthography based on Standard Dutch orthography. The position of the language is, according to UNESCO, vulnerable. Between 1995 and 2011 the numbers of parent speakers dropped from 34\% in 1995 to 15\% in 2011.

Where is the Low German/Low Saxon language spoken in Europe?

Approximate area in which Low German/Low Saxon dialects are spoken in Europe (after the expulsion of Germans). Low German or Low Saxon is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern part of the Netherlands.