Is Frisian closer to Dutch or German?
Frisian (Frysk) is a Germanic language, spoken by an ethnic minority known as the Frisians in the northern regions of the Netherlands and Germany. It is similar to Dutch, German, Danish and most similar to English. In fact, Frisian is, along with Scottish, the closest living language to English.
How similar are Frisian and Dutch?
In Dutch it translates to “kaas” and in German to “Kãse”, which is all similar enough. The Frisian “IE” is identical to the “II” sound, which as mentioned before is like the English “EE”, while for some reason both Dutch and German have both gone with an “A” sound in these words. But the similarities don’t stop there.
Can German understand Frisian?
Frisian vocabulary is 50\% about 50\% similar to Dutch. But Frisian and Dutch are not mutually intelligible. As far as I know, Frisian is closer to Dutch than it is to German; but Frisian is Germanic enough to be roughly familiar. Frisian is not close to English at all.
Is Frisian closer to English than Dutch?
Definitely closer to Dutch, because Modern English has drifted so far away from continental Germanic languages due to contact (in part with Old Norse, but also French and other languages). Regardless, Frisian is the closest continental relative to English.
Why do you think Frisian is called the cousin of English language?
Overall, the closeness of the Anglo-Frisian languages is partly from shared vocabulary, and mostly because of how recently they were mutually intelligible. By those standards, linguists actually consider Scots more closely related than Frisian – among those who don’t simply consider it a dialect of English.
Is the Frisian language closer to English or Dutch?
Genetically, West Frisian (the branch of Frisian with the vast majority of speakers) is closer to English. English and Frisian are grouped together with Scots in the “Anglo-Frisian” branch of Germanic. However, it sounds like Dutch to English-speakers, so it apparently evolved through the centuries in a manner more like Dutch did.
What are the Anglo-Frisian languages?
These two languages are now in a group of their own: the Anglo-Frisian languages, which today include English, Scots, North Frisian (as spoken in the North of Germany), West Frisian (as spoken in the Netherlands) and East Frisian (as spoken in the German Saterland).
How similar are northern and southern German dialects?
This is comparable to the situation when Germans coming from the southern regions listento German dialects from the northern regions. Spoken words appear to be similar, but the pronunciation is still different in several aspects. The similarities, however, may help to extend the comprehension.
What is Low German?
Low German remains a sort of “in-between” language somewhere between Standard German and (old) Dutch.