At the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain, the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family had developed into three large groups:
X . Eastern, represented by ancient Gothic, and now completely extinct.
X . Northern, which became Norse, the language of the Vikings, and ancestor of modern Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic – the last is the language that preserves the most ancient Germanic features.
X . Western, the group that included Anglo-Saxon, and whose descendants include as well as English, modern German, Dutch, Frisian, Yiddish, and Afrikaans.
Frisian, the foreign language closest to English is spoken in the north of the Netherlands and as a dying language along the coast of Germany. It is said that a Yorkshireman who concentrates hard can understand much modern spoken Frisian.
For Scientific english editing and Medical Writing Services visit www.manuscriptedit.com
