English's Closest Relative
Ever heard of the language Yola?
Probably not, because it's extinct!
Where was Yola spoken?
Yola was spoken in County Wexford, particularly in the baronies of Forth and Bargy. It's very similar to English as we know today. It's almost scary!
How and Why is it similar?
As for how, many Yolan words are almost the same as modern english. A few examples are:
about/abut
against/ayenst
among/amang
for/vor
upon/apan
through/trugh
Many nouns are also similar!
morsel/morsaale
hatchet/hatcheat
dinner/dineare
reader/readeare
wedding/weddeen
Even their numbers were similar!
one/oan
two/twye
three/ dhree
four/voure
five/veeve
six/zeese
seven/zeven
eight/ayght
nine/neen
ten/dhen
As for why they sound the same, Yola uses a lot of words we still use today, they just change where the emphasis is, such as hatCHEAT instead of hATCHet.
Fun fact: Yola means "old" in Yola.
(This is a brief breakdown of Yola, find more info from my source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_and_Bargy_dialect )
