So ... can we consider this matter settled, then?
Please, please, pretty please?
Please, please, pretty please?
What is the closest language to English?
Non, pas vraiment. Les arguments invoqués par Björn sont convaincants. D'autant qu'il connaît la réalité du Flamand occidental. Mais beaucoup d'éléments linguistiques en faveur de la thèse inverse ont été avancés ici ou là et méritent d'être réfutés un à un.
> The closest language to English spoken by more than 2 million people is Dutch,even though in most cases Dutch is only superfaceially close to English.
This might be true if you're talking of the closeness by ancestry. However I'd say Afrikaans is more similar to English as in addition to the inherited similarity from Dutch, the Afrikaans language has evolved along similar lines to English since its divergence from Dutch. For example the abandonment of grammatical gender and the loss of most inflection is something that English has experienced too. However these are examples of convergent evolution as Afrikaans has evolved in a similar way to English, but separately and not because of English.
This might be true if you're talking of the closeness by ancestry. However I'd say Afrikaans is more similar to English as in addition to the inherited similarity from Dutch, the Afrikaans language has evolved along similar lines to English since its divergence from Dutch. For example the abandonment of grammatical gender and the loss of most inflection is something that English has experienced too. However these are examples of convergent evolution as Afrikaans has evolved in a similar way to English, but separately and not because of English.
Scots is the language closest to English if you consider it a separate language and not a "dialect." Otherwise it would be Frisian.
the one l detest is, can l have a rain check, what the hell is a bloody stupid rain check.
Frisian is the closest to English.
book - boeke
boekekast - bookcase.
twelve - twolve
dead - deade
bishop - biskop
antimony - antimoon
beginning/start/commencement - begijn
ball - bal
baroness - baronesse
alarm - alaarm
book - boeke
boekekast - bookcase.
twelve - twolve
dead - deade
bishop - biskop
antimony - antimoon
beginning/start/commencement - begijn
ball - bal
baroness - baronesse
alarm - alaarm
What Language is most simillar in STRUCTURE to English?
i am lost and cannot find the answer to this perplexing question, i am confused as to looking up a languages relation to another by structure, and i have a feeling that Germanic or Romanic is the answer.
By Research i have found the Scots, and Frisian are close, but i am not sure can anybody help me?
i am lost and cannot find the answer to this perplexing question, i am confused as to looking up a languages relation to another by structure, and i have a feeling that Germanic or Romanic is the answer.
By Research i have found the Scots, and Frisian are close, but i am not sure can anybody help me?
Actually, English is a Germanic language because it shares a common root within the Germanic family. Proto-Germanic was the common language from which German, Dutch, English, and the Scandinavian languages formed. How this "Branching off" worked is much the same as how Spanish, Italian, and French came from Latin. There are many similar structures in English and other Germanic languages. You also have to take into affect what is known as a "sound shift" the first one, in the Germanic languages is p, t, k goes to f, th, ch(hard K sound), and b, d, g goes to p, t, k. This is a shift from the other indo-european languages. So latin Pater, becomes English Father, and German Vater. Sound changes happened a little differently in all the Germanic languages, but they follow the same basic pattern. There is also a second Germanic shoundshift that happened pretty much exclusively to German, that's why German is a bit different, but if you really look at it, it is not so different. A lot of things we do in English linguistically come from our Germanic backround. So, a lot of people think English is not so Germanic, but it really really is. The main Romance language influence on English is vocabulary, and little else.
<What Language is most simillar in STRUCTURE to English? >
I'd say it was the Scandinavian languages (they're all so similar, there's no point in pickin one above the others). Though English is more closely related to German, Dutch etc., the way it has developed since is more in parallel with the way that these, less closely related, languages. You could probably write down all the rules of grammar you need to learn for Danish or Swedish on a singlke piece of paper. There are other difficulties in learning either, though.
I'd say it was the Scandinavian languages (they're all so similar, there's no point in pickin one above the others). Though English is more closely related to German, Dutch etc., the way it has developed since is more in parallel with the way that these, less closely related, languages. You could probably write down all the rules of grammar you need to learn for Danish or Swedish on a singlke piece of paper. There are other difficulties in learning either, though.