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Dutch AlphabetThe Dutch alphabet has 26 or 27 letters, five or six of which are vowels. The alphabet used for the Dutch language is based on the Latin alphabet. The letters are: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y and/or IJ - Z. The Q and X only appear in words borrowed from other languages. The Y only occurs in foreign words, and is often replaced by IJ (IJ) in the listing. The vowels are: A - E - I - O - U - IJ (IJ) IJ is most often written with an I and J letter as a digraph 'IJ'. It is nevertheless always counted as long letter, and therefore is always capitalized as one whole when needed: ijs (ice) is written IJs at the start of a sentence, and not Ijs. The combination IJ was formerly to be collated as Y (or sometimes, as a separate letter Y < IJ < Z), but is currently nearly always collated as 2 letters (II < IJ < IK). See IJ (letter) for more on collation of this letter. In crossword puzzles however the combination IJ mostly counts as a single letter. "E" is the mostly frequently used letter in the Dutch alphabet, usually presenting a schwa sound. The least frequently used letters are "Q" and "X".
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