Which language is the most like English?

Question

I reckon it's Danish.

American isn't a language by the way, and pig Latin doesn't count.

Answer 1

Danish did have a large influence on English in its formative years, but the two are not that close. The closest is most likely Frisian, spoken on the Frisian Islands in the North Sea. Bekkie is right.

Added: In recorded history, a group called North Sea Germanic (or Ingaevones) lived in Jutland, Holstein, Frisia, and the Danish islands. They spoke a language called North Sea Germanic, a Low German language. They split into four groups - Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians. Three of the four moved on to an island just across the sea - Britain - and one group, the Frisians, stayed on the continent and coastal islands.

The language of the ones who moved became English. It was heavily influenced twice - once by Danish during early periods of Danish occupation of the area and again by Norman French after 1066.

The language of the Frisians who remained was influenced by the Dutch and Low German spoken by their neighbors.

As a result, the two have drifted apart and now are no longer mutually intelligible, but there are words and phrases that are still understandable.

Answer 2

American

Answer 3

That would be German with Scandinavian and French influences. Most of the languages are influenced by the thousands of years of history the territory had, namely any foreign occupation.
Take the latin languages as the best example. The Romans brought a huge influence mainly on Southern Europe countries which have less direct contact with other countries, like Portugal and Spain. That is why Portuguese, Italian and Spanish dialects are much more closer to each other.

Answer 4

English, in its historical linguistic form, is a "Germanic" language, most close to Old English, which we know originated with those Angles, Saxons and Jutes and other Norsemen that swarmed over Britain at one time. If you study any of the 'Germanic' languages (i.e.,German, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, and various dialects of these languages), you will have a recognition for familiar structure and grammar and vocabulary.

English is a fluid language that also contains vocabulary and grammatic influences from tens of other languages, so the English spoken in rural Poland, for example, might sound more like a Polish dialect than English.

English is a very accommodating language. My question is "When does English stop being English and become another language altogether? What content per centage of English words are necessary for it to be classified as English?"

Answer 5

English is an amalgam of many languages and continually brings into common usage words from other languages. It was Saxon and then the Vikings came and they had a great influence on language and culture. The romans brought us Latin and this forms the root of many English, Spanish, Portuguese and French words. There have been influences from every culture that has come to these shores. Words such as bungalow, pyjamas and jodhpurs originate from India. Technology is a major factor and now we have a strong influence from Caribbean countries. It continues to change and I believe that this is good as we have, in the past, been a little isolated and, frankly, arrogant about the English language. It is easy for the English to absorb these new words into our language but it must make learning to speak English fiendishly difficult for others as there are many contradictions and one set of rules will never be enough.

Answer 6

As a couple others have said, it is indeed Frisian. I'm very into studying languages (English and its history, as well as others) and I've read about Frisian countless times. I will offer the wikipedia page as my source, though.

I'll also include this line- 'One rhyme demonstrates the palpable similarity between Frisian and English: "Butter, bread and green cheese is good English and good Friese," which is pronounced more or less the same in both languages (Frisian: "Bûter, brea en griene tsiis is guod Ingelsk en guod Frysk.")'

I always found that line a fascinating example.

Take a look at the page. It's a good read. =)

Answer 7

English is part of the Germanic family of languages, so it'd be something like Dutch, German or Afrikaans, or one of the Scandinavian languages. I only speak German, so I can't say for certain which is the closest, although I have noticed that I can understand some Dutch using my knowledge of German and it is sometimes closer to English than the German would be.

Answer 8

I believe English is a Germanic language with many other influences.
Where I come from (Newcastle) the local dialect is heavily influenced by Norweigan.

Answer 9

Actually, I found Swedish to be remarkably similar to English. There are only 12 ways that English and Swedish grammar are different. The sentence structure is almost exactly like English, and many words are borrowed.

Answer 10

American English
Canadian English

English has a lot in common with both the romance languages and Germanic languages. I've taken German and Spanish, and I'd say German is closer because of syntax, lexicon and phonology.