Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Like other old Germanic languages, it is very different from Modern English and difficult for Modern English speakers to understand without study. Old English grammar is quite similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs have many inflectional endings and forms, and word order is much freer. The oldest Old English inscriptions were written using a runic system, but from about the 9th century this was replaced by a version of the Latin alphabet. COUNT 4
QSN1 To what language group does Old English belong? ANS1 West Germanic QSN2 Along with Old Saxon, what language is closely related to Old English? ANS2 Old Frisian QSN3 To what modern language is Old English similar? ANS3 German QSN4 In what century did the Latin alphabet replace the runic system in Old English writing? ANS4 9th