Which language is closer to English?
Frisian or Afrikaans?
Frisian or Afrikaans?
Which language is closer to English?
What about Scots?
And I do not refer to the English spoken in Scotland, no matter the social class, level of education/prestige, nor distinctive Scottish accent.
I mean the dialect of Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon/Old English* which was varyingly called (by the Scots themselves) as "Inglis"; (as in 'Anglo', -saxon), , , "Scots" (later when the Kingdom of Scotland cultivated a sentiment of nationalism to differentiate from the Northern English) and then even more particulary (in order to distance identity from that of the Gaelic-speakers in the Highlands & Isles) as "Lallans" (meaning "Lowlands")
and even "Ullans" - one of its dialect which developed in Ulster from the 17th century onwards.
* I state both Anglo Saxon AND Old English since I am not sure at what point on the continuum Scots seperated from this stream. Did it occur when the 'Inglis' spoken in Southern Scotland was still technically as 'Anglo-Saxon' as it would have been in the 5th century or would it have been the later developed 'Old English' (c.8th-12th centuries) increasingly distanced from the Saxon spoken on the continent. Either way, Scots/Lallans was definitely seperated from Old English by the time Chaucer was around (and that would've been Middle English, right?).
And I do not refer to the English spoken in Scotland, no matter the social class, level of education/prestige, nor distinctive Scottish accent.
I mean the dialect of Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon/Old English* which was varyingly called (by the Scots themselves) as "Inglis"; (as in 'Anglo', -saxon), , , "Scots" (later when the Kingdom of Scotland cultivated a sentiment of nationalism to differentiate from the Northern English) and then even more particulary (in order to distance identity from that of the Gaelic-speakers in the Highlands & Isles) as "Lallans" (meaning "Lowlands")
and even "Ullans" - one of its dialect which developed in Ulster from the 17th century onwards.
* I state both Anglo Saxon AND Old English since I am not sure at what point on the continuum Scots seperated from this stream. Did it occur when the 'Inglis' spoken in Southern Scotland was still technically as 'Anglo-Saxon' as it would have been in the 5th century or would it have been the later developed 'Old English' (c.8th-12th centuries) increasingly distanced from the Saxon spoken on the continent. Either way, Scots/Lallans was definitely seperated from Old English by the time Chaucer was around (and that would've been Middle English, right?).
If you include Dutch amongst the major languages I'd say Dutch, to a lesser extent German
If you include Dutch amongst the major languages I'd say Dutch, to a lesser extent German
What language is this in?
'My pen was in my hand'.
It's English AND Afrikaans.
Guess what this means: 'Wat is my / jou / haar naam?'
Yep, it's 'What is my / your / her name?'
'My pen was in my hand'.
It's English AND Afrikaans.
Guess what this means: 'Wat is my / jou / haar naam?'
Yep, it's 'What is my / your / her name?'
Sorry but Scots and English are the same language. Yeah, yeah, yeah they separated 300 yrs ago and all that, but it don't mean shit! They're the same language and that's all there is to it, anyone who claims otherwise should be killed.
Hey Truth,
I don't care about Scots, I'm not Scottish and have no particular dog in this fight.
But you'll have to convince the Assembly of Northern Ireland which now officially recognises Ullans (Ulster Scots) and Gaelic as protected minority languages. Of course, very few people speak Scots nowadays, apparently only 300,000 speak it to some degree in Easter Ulster (primarily in the Glens of Antrim) but they are mostly older rural speakers and in any case they are all bilingual (speaking Ulster English when they go into towns). Their langauge is receding.
There was a Bible printed in Scots in the late 16th century, and James VI (himself a Scot) had a hard time convincing his court memebers to adopt English as the language of procedure when he travelled north following his coronation in London. However, inroads were rapidly made.
Scots: "Ye nae ken him" (verb Kennen- 'to know' in German)
English: "You don't know him" - Modern English
I don't care about Scots, I'm not Scottish and have no particular dog in this fight.
But you'll have to convince the Assembly of Northern Ireland which now officially recognises Ullans (Ulster Scots) and Gaelic as protected minority languages. Of course, very few people speak Scots nowadays, apparently only 300,000 speak it to some degree in Easter Ulster (primarily in the Glens of Antrim) but they are mostly older rural speakers and in any case they are all bilingual (speaking Ulster English when they go into towns). Their langauge is receding.
There was a Bible printed in Scots in the late 16th century, and James VI (himself a Scot) had a hard time convincing his court memebers to adopt English as the language of procedure when he travelled north following his coronation in London. However, inroads were rapidly made.
Scots: "Ye nae ken him" (verb Kennen- 'to know' in German)
English: "You don't know him" - Modern English
By the way, there is a big difference from languages seperating 300 years ago and those seperating 700 years ago.
300 years ago - Modern English already in full flow
700 years ago - Middle English was emerging.
300 years ago - Modern English already in full flow
700 years ago - Middle English was emerging.