lee1962
Regular Member
I like to think that I can recognise all of the major European languages that use the Latin alphabet when I see them written down. This is not the case when I hear them spoken though. There are pairs of languages which sound pretty much the same to me, even though they aren't even in the same language family in some cases.
Spanish and Catalan
Spanish and Basque
French and Breton
West Frisian and Dutch
Albanian and Greek
I'm assuming it's because the language which has fewer speakers has been influenced by the dominant language. If so, how much further apart were these languages at one time? I know that Old English and Old Frisian were very similar, but their modern descendants aren't at all similar.
Spanish and Catalan
Spanish and Basque
French and Breton
West Frisian and Dutch
Albanian and Greek
I'm assuming it's because the language which has fewer speakers has been influenced by the dominant language. If so, how much further apart were these languages at one time? I know that Old English and Old Frisian were very similar, but their modern descendants aren't at all similar.