What are the two languages that have the greatest amount of common words and/or phrases?

Answer 1

Whenever two languages are closely related, they share a vast amount of vocabulary. The more closely related they are, the more words and phrases they share. Indonesian and Malay are the same language, different countries. Hindi and Urdu are the same language, different writing systems. Romanian and Moldavian are the same language, different countries. By saying they are the same language does not mean they are 100% identical. They are dialects--like Southern US English and British English. Serbian and Croatian and Bosnian, same language, different religions. Portuguese and Spanish are VERY closely related. (And they cannot understand one another. I have seen hundreds of conversations between Brazilians and other South Americans that started out in Portuguese/Spanish, but switched to English right away because the Spanish speakers could not understand the Portuguese speakers.) There are thousands of examples around the world. Timbisha and Shoshoni in the U.S. West. Navajo and Apache in Arizona.

EDIT: Arabic is NOT derived from Assyrian. Assyrian is, indeed, descended from Aramaic, but Arabic is a COUSIN, not a descendant of either one.

Answer 2

Listen to Taivo. Forms of communication that are mutually intelligible are considered to be dialects of the same language. Therefore, separate languages are not usually mutually intelligible. However, related languages have a lot in common.

Answer 3

Assyrian & Arabic--Arabic is derived from the Assyrian language, both sharing Aramaic as its root. There are many phrases that are used interchangibly between Arabic speakers and Assyrians. Many words that share the same meaning sound similar.

Answer 4

from history Yugoslavia substitute into by no ability a united states, it substitute into cobbled mutually years some years in the past, and the peoples of those diverse international places have been culturally and racially diverse. like each of Europe, land and human beings usually get absorbed into yet another united states, think of of what substitute into the U.S., now the Federation of Russia, a brilliant style of those little international places, peoples have been as quickly as area of that empire, and Yugoslavia substitute into the comparable, while wars ensue, one facet wins and the two takes back lands it as quickly as had and those human beings bypass back into the fold, or additionally they choose to cut loose, its like moving sands, stream of human beings, is going back 1000's of years. i seem at super Britain as an occasion in a fashion, we've had colonies for hundreds of years yet they spoke generally diverse languages, in India, South Africa and someplace else, and that they wanted their independence and at last have been given it. So with all people who don't experience they belong. Europe has greater advantageous than in basic terms a complicated history, you may seem up Yugoslavia on your history books and see particularly what befell formerly it substitute into cobbled mutually.

Answer 5

Maria, if you think Portuguese is similar to French, you wouldn't believe how much it's similar to Spanish!

Every Portuguese speaker can understand everything a Spanish speaker says and writes, and vice versa. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Portuguese and French native speakers.

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Reading Taivo's answer, I realise I was wrong about he "vice versa". We, Portuguese speakers, can understand everything Spanish speakers say, but I guess it's true that not all Spanish speakers understand the things we say.

Why is it? Well, I'm going to ask it at Yahoo! Answers!!!!
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Here it is (for those who speak Portuguese, Spanish, Galego or "Portanish"):
http://mx.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061126054540AAHmvRG&r=w

Answer 6

Although politically two separate languages: Romanian and Moldovia

Answer 7

Hindi and Urdu.
They practically sound the same, only the script is different.

Or could be Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu(Malay)
Same script, sounds 70% same

Answer 8

Malay and Indonesian (same roots different countries, different sub-ethnicities))
Hindi and Urdu (different scripts and religious basis)
Serbia and Croatia and Bosnian (different scripts and religious basis and sub-ethnicities)
Romanian and Moldavian
Spanish and Portuguese (not deep conversation I think)
Danish and Swedish and Norwegian (but not deep conversation)

Answer 9

French and Portuguese or Greek and Hebrew