Old Dutch

In linguistics, Old Dutch (or Old Low Franconian) denotes the Frankish dialects spoken and written in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages. It is regarded as the primary stage in the development of a separate Dutch language. It evolved from Old Frankish around the 6th century and in turn evolved into Middle Dutch around the 12th century.

Old Dutch was spoken by the populace which erstwhile occupied present-day Netherlands, northern Belgium, parts of northern France, and the Lower Rhine and Westphalia regions of Germany. The inhabitants of present-day Dutch provinces—including Groningen, Friesland and the coast of North Holland—spoke Old Frisian, while those of the east (Achterhoek, Overijssel and Drenthe) exercised Old Saxon.