How similar is Low German (Nederduits) to Dutch?

Tegenwoordige verspreidingsgebied van de Nederlandse en de Nederduitse dialecten

A chart on the Dutch Wikipedia here compares the vocabulary for a number of Germanic languages, beginning with English and then moving on to Frisian, Afrikaans, Dutch, Low German (Nederduits), German, Swedish, Danish, and finally Norwegian. Removing Afrikaans, Swedish and Danish gives the following:

English	Frisian	Dutch	Low German	German	Norwegian
Apple	Appel	Appel	Appel	Apfel	Eple
Board	Board	Bord	Boord	Brett	Brett
Beech	Boek	Beuk	Böke	Buche	Bøk
Book	Boek	Boek	Book	Buch	Bok
Breast	Boarst	Borst	Borst	Brust	Bryst
Brown	Brún	Bruin	Bruun	Braun	Brun
Day	Dei	Dag	Dag	Tag	Dag
Dead	Dea	Dood	Dod	Tot	Død
Die	Stjerre	Sterven	sterven	Sterben	Dø
Enough	Genôch	Genoeg	Nog	Genug	Nok
Finger	Finger	Vinger	Finger	Finger	Finger
Give	Jaan	Geven	Geven	Geben	Gi
Glass	Glês	Glas	Glas	Glas	Glass
Gold	Goud	Goud	Gold	Gold	Gull
Hand	Hân	Hand	Hand	Hand	Hånd
Head	Holle	Hoofd/ Kop	Kopp	Haupt/ Kopf	Hode
High	Heech	Hoog	hog	Hoch	Høy
Home	Hiem	Heim / thuis	Heem	Heim	Hjem
Hook	Heak	Haak	Haak	Haken
House	Hûs	Huis	Huus	Haus	Hus
Many	Mennich	Menige	Mennig	Manch	Mange
Moon	Moanne	Maan	Maan	Mond	Måne
Night	Nacht	Nacht	Natt/ Nacht	Nacht	Natt
No	Nee	Nee(n)	Nee	Nein	Nei
Old	Âld	Oud	aol	alt	Gammel (maar: eldre, eldst)
One	Ien	Een	Een	Eins	En
Ounce	Ûns	Ons	Ons	Unze	Øse
Snow	Snie	Sneeuw	Snee	Schnee	Snø
Stone	Stien	Steen	Steen	Stein	Stein
That	Dat	Dat, Die	Dat (Dit)	Das	Det
Two/Twain	Twa	Twee	Twee	Zwei/ Zwo/ Zwan	To
Who	Wa	Wie	Wee	Wer	Hvem
Worm	Wjirm	Wurm/ Worm	Worm	Wurm	Orm

Aside from Norwegian (since it's a Northern Germanic language, not Western) you can see that German really sticks out from the others (Frisian, Dutch and Low German) with a lot of T in place of D, B in place of V and a lot of other differences. Makes you wonder what the linguistic situation would have been like if Germany had been unified around the languages in the northern part of the country and England hadn't spent so much time under Norman rule.


In a related story, here's something from Coaldale near Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) today:

A unique children’s storybook has been published in Coaldale featuring true stories in two languages.

The Jeschijchtenbuak storybook was two years in the making from the initial idea to the gathering of stories from the Low German speaking community. Susana Dyck, project coordinator, was “excited and thrilled” when the book was officially launched last Thursday.

and:

The writing and collecting of stories and illustrations for the book began about a year ago. Dyck said the dream of creating the book, which will give parents in the Low German community an opportunity to read stories to their children in their own language, began two years ago...The book sells for $10 and is available at the County of Lethbridge Literacy office.