The closest language

 

The Saxons came from Sachsen (Saxonia) in Germany. This region is ‘axed’ between the rivers Weser and Elbe, stretching from the North Sea to Tchechia, hence its name. [1]

The Angles came from the coast of Sachsen, southwest of Denmark. The name is derived from angle-like shape of the German North Sea coast. The name Angles was used for all coastal inhabitants, from Friesland up to Denmark. According to official history the local language or dialect of those regions should be the closest language to English. Nevertheless, it’s not.

Officially, the closest language to (official) English is (official) Dutch. General Dutch is a compromise language between several distinct dialects. It is a recent standard (17th century). Fries is a part of the Dutch language group, but considered a separate language. The Frisian language is announced to be the closest language to English. There is however another candidate to that: Western Flemish. Friesland borders Germany and originally stretched beyond that border. The attempt to link the Fries language to English was clearly induced by the close location of Friesland to Sachsen and the fact that some Fries took part in the Anglo-Saxon migration. In other words: it fits the official theory. Insidious studies tried to prove a close link between the Fries language and English. The Fries people never were genuine Germans, and are proud of that. It is unlikely that only the Fries language generated English. The Anglo-Saxons dominated England, nobody speaks or spoke about Friso-Saxons or Anglo-Fries. This indicates that the Fries alone were not numerous enough to impose their language upon other Anglo-Saxons. They must be considered minority amongst the Anglo-Saxons. Fries is not easy to learn, not for the Dutch, not for Germans. It's an unlikely candidate for a compromise language.

In fact, another language is also very close to English : western Flemish. This language is still locally spoken today (Bruges, the Belgian coast, Ieper, Kortrijk). This language is considered to be a dialect of general Dutch and is an important fraction of the Dutch language group. More and more linguists consider it a separate language, just like Fries. It was once more widely spread. The coast of Flanders (Belgium) is also the geographically the closest to the English southeast coast. Nearby Calais (France), and the region around it, was until the late Middle Ages Flemish territory. The relation with English can be illustrated as follows: words like thin, pit, hill are translated in general Dutch as dun, put, heuvel but in western Flemish as dinne, pit, hille (e.g. the place-name Stalhille). It is no coincidence that both languages, Fries and western Flemish are close to English as the three have the most Ingweoon [2] characteristics. Ingweoon was a name for a set of northern German tribes ( a subdivision of Germany) and was reported by the Roman historian Tacitus.

Fries and western Flemish are separated by some 300 km. But it is known that once upon a time very similar dialects were spoken along the Dutch coast, linking western Flemish and Fries. Ingweoon is also called coastal German. So, it's no coincidence that English is also called Ingweoon. Explaining this by stating that the language 'simply' was imported from northern Germany is not sufficient. The very presence of western Flemish indicates an other possibility.

This is the welcome text in Fries upon the main page of the Fryske Wikipedia: (English in brackets)

Wolkom (welcome) by de Fryske Wikipedy!.
Ynformaasje op (upon) Wikipedy is frij en fergees te brûken.
Eltsenien is frij (free) om ynformaasje (information) ta te foegjen (to add) en te feroarjen, dêrom jout de wikipedy gjin garânsjes foar de krektens fan de ynformaasje dy't jo fine. As jo sels kennis op hokfoar mêd dan ek diele wolle mei oare Friezen, dan kinne jo dy hjir spuie! Fragen en opmerkings kinne jo kwyt op de oerlisside. De Fryske Wikipedy hat op it stuit 4.143 siden.

This is a similar text in Western Flemish:

Welgekomn (welcome) ip (upon) den West-Vlamschn Wikipedia die nog olsan stief zêre an 't groein es: der zin ol 1,158 artikels en me zin nog lange nie tènn oasem. Wikipedia es e project dat de bedoelinge eit in iedre toale ne vriejn (free) en neutroaln encyclopedie te schrivn. Olleman meugt hêlegans vo niet'n informoasje ipzoek'n, toevoegn (to add) of bewerk'n*. Ge moe nie benauwd ein vo 'n twadde te verandern of derbie te zett'n, ge kunt gerust e kêe probeern in de zanbak.

For a native English speaker any resemblance with English will seem strange. But English has adopted for centuries thousands of French words, while both languages above avoided the use of French.

*->Olleman meugt hêlegans vo niet'n informoasje ipzoek'n, toevoegn of bewerk'n.
-> All-men   may   wholly for nothing information up-seek, (to) add     or   work (on it).
Everybody may search information for free, add or alter.