Frisian didn't come to England. Far as I know, it's still in Fris. :-) - but
both Frisian and Anglo-Saxon (the ancestor of English) come from the same
Germanic subgroup, so that's where the closeness derives from.
Mike
> >From: Elliott Lash <AL260@...>
> > > > > > As for Gaelic being related to English... interesting. I've
never
> > > > noticed the similarity. It would make sense, though; the origins of
> > > > English should be related to Cornish, Kentish, Welsh, Manx, Scotch,
> > > > Irish and other languages of the British Isles. The question is,
> > > > where does Frisian fit in?
...
> All a fascinating history, but not complete. How did Frisian, natively
> spoken (if memory serves) in the northern provinces of the Netherlands,
come
> to England, and how did it surplant the native Celtic languages? If it was
> an ancient language on the island (I seem to remember reading about a
> Kentish tongue), at what point did it supplant the older languages?
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at
http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.