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East Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken in the Saterland region of Germany. It is one of three modern Frisian dialects, the others being West Frisian in the Netherlands and North Frisian in Germany. Historically, Frisian was spoken along the North Sea coast from the Netherlands to Germany, but it has since been replaced by Dutch and Low German in most areas.123

Old Frisian, the earliest recorded form of the language, dates back to the late 13th century and shares features with English that distinguish it from other Germanic languages. While West Frisian has seen a revival and is used in schools and courts in the Netherlands, East and North Frisian are gradually being supplanted by German. East Frisian currently has only about 1,000 speakers.132

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