The obvious answer would be Modern English, of course. But ME has had so much influence from other languages since the Norman Invasion that I'm thinking Anglo-Saxon's closest relative might be a derivative of a cognate language and not a derivative of AS itself.
2006-07-12 14:44:17 · 7 answers · asked by Z, unnecessary letter 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Modern English is an unqualified descendant of Old English. There is no debate on that issue. To claim that Modern English is somehow not a direct descendant of Old English is not based on any linguistic fact. It is non-linguistic drivel.
The closest relative of English is Frisian, spoken along the north coast of Europe from the Netherlands to Denmark.
2006-07-13 07:15:15 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, since Old English was really Anglo-Saxon German, my guess would be that German or perhaps a norse language would be the closest relative. It's not french; I promise. French is derived from Latin, and the Gauls who occupied France before Old English was ever a language didn't speak Latin, French, or Anglo-Saxon German.
2006-07-12 22:20:58 · answer #2 · answered by Amish B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
English is a rather new language and is a mixture of words from other languages. The basic is the Anglo and Saxony, but if one look into the grammar, it is very much alike the Norse languages like Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. German, hardly with its complicated grammar.
2006-07-13 03:12:15 · answer #3 · answered by Realname: Robert Siikiniemi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The closest living relative of Old English is Frisian.
2006-07-13 06:01:48 · answer #4 · answered by Dennis J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
French, for real. The Angles, and Saxons were both from France.
2006-07-12 21:47:53 · answer #5 · answered by vertical732 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
old english didn't turn into much, it did heavily influence modern english look in wikipeadeas old english section
2006-07-12 21:50:02 · answer #6 · answered by intraspettro 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
German and Olde english are closely related.
so I would guess German
2006-07-12 22:19:21 · answer #7 · answered by james h 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋