Mutually intelligible languages
A pair of languages is said to be mutually intelligible if speakers of one language can readily understand the other language. A group of languages is said to be mutually intelligible if all the language-pairs in the group are mutually intelligible. According to some definitions, if two speakers are sufficiently mutually intelligible, they are actually speaking the same language. Sometimes different speakers of what is considered the same language are not mutually intelligible. For more on this, see Dialect and Dialect continuum. It usually requires considerable time and effort to learn or understand a new language. However, many languages are similar in their grammar and vocabulary to other related languages. Speakers of these languages find it relatively easy to read or to understand the related language or languages.
However, the intelligibility among languages can vary from individuals, according to their knowledge of their own tongue, their interests in other cultures, their broadmindedness and other factors.
List of mutually intelligible languages
Written and spoken formsAfrikaans, Dutch-Flemish, Frisian and Low Saxon.Aromanian and Megleno-RomanianBahasa Malaysia and Bahasa IndonesiaBulgarian and MacedonianCornish, Breton, and WelshCroatian and SerbianDanish, Norwegian, and Swedish.English and Lowland ScotsFinnish (Suomi) and Estonian (Eesti).French, Walloon, Romansh, and OccitanItalian and Sicilian (Sicilian is not officially recognized as a separate language from Italian)Occitan and northern Italian dialectsPortuguese, Galician, Spanish, CatalanPunjabi, Seraiki, and Hindko.Russian, Belarussian, and UkrainianRomanian and Moldovan, which are actually the same language differentiated due to political reasons.Romanian and Aromanian (not always mutually intelligible)Samoan and TonganSardinian and ItalianGaelic and IrishSlovak,Czech, and Polish.Thai and LaotianTurkish and AzeriUkrainian and PolishZulu and Xhosa
Spoken forms onlySpoken Hindi and spoken Urdu see Hindustani languageSpoken Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Slovenian. see Serbo-Croatian languageSpoken Uzbek and Uyghur
Written forms onlyWritten Mandarin and written Cantonese (but not if the vernacular is written)Icelanders can read Old Norse with little difficulty
Related languages that are not mutually intelligibleEnglish and DutchLevantine Arabic and Maghreb ArabicKorean and JapaneseSwedes, Norwegians, and Danes have difficulty understanding IcelandicSpoken Mandarin and Spoken CantoneseBahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia speakers can not understand Tagalog.Many Romance languages, though related, are generally not mutually intelligibleMany Germanic languages, though related, are generally not mutually intelligibleSome Slavic languages, though related, are generally not mutually intelligible
List of mutually intelligible languages in ancient timesBiblical Hebrew, Moabite, and PhoenicianOld English and Old SaxonGothic, Burgundian, and Vandalic
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