4 ms·

> I still think Dutch is closest to English Frisian is very similar to English

• inglor_cz 5y ago
  One rhyme demonstrates the palpable similarity between Frisian and English: "Bread, butter and green cheese is good English and good Friese," which is pronounced more or less the same in both languages (Frisian: "Brea, bûter, en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk.") Interestingly, English has become a world language, while Frisian must fear extinction. 10 centuries ago, neither development would be predictable.
  • webwielder2 5y ago
    Predictions a year out are a crap shoot, I think all bets are off when we get to a thousand!
    • inglor_cz 5y ago
      Well, as long as humanity itself survives to 3021, neither English, nor Spanish, nor Chinese are likely to be gone. Even Quechua is likely to persist. Languages of massive empires rarely die out; they might be transformed (such as when Latin gave birth to an entire family or related languages), but outright disappearance is typically not their fate. The curious thing about English is that it gained a massive role after spending almost a thousand years of its previous existence as a niche language spoken on a small island on the edge of Europe.