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My difficulty with English was in rural Alabama, when I stopped at a roadside farm stand and tried to talk to one of the vendors. I had to ask her to repeat herself so many times that she finally threw up her arms and said "Lordamercy!" That was literally the only thing she said I did understand! I wished her a good day and moved on.
In my German Assimil book, it says if someone speaks to you in a dialect you don't understand, say "Ich bin nicht von hier" ("I'm not from here") and then they will speak to you in standard German. They would do this for other Germans who don't understand their dialect either.
McWhorter does podcasts and has done at least one Ted Talk.
The similarity between English and Dutch was more amazing. "De man eet een appel en drinkt water". Not really hard to figure out, not that everything is that obvious. (Frisian, a dialect spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium is actually the closest language to English.) English was a Germanic language influenced by the Norman invasion, so we have a lot of words. I would really hate to be one of those native language speakers trying to learn English. It must be confusing.
I think English is Latin-based brought to conquered lands by the Roman Empire 45 yrs before Christ was born. Norman invaders were French speakers and decreed French as the official language of Britain for abt 300 years.
I think English is Latin-based brought to conquered lands by the Roman Empire 45 yrs before Christ was born. Norman invaders were French speakers and decreed French as the official language of Britain for abt 300 years.
French is a Latin-based language. I am sure the Romans had to have some influence, as well, but the Anglo-Saxons spoke a West Germanic language related to that in what are now the northern countries of Scandinavia like Denmark, Netherlands, etc., before the Romans got there. The later invaders' languages mixed with the old English and added many words, which is why English often has two related words for similar things. Think cow (Germanic) and beef (Latin/French).
Language is forever changing. And we do have the ability to keep learning, although adults learn language differently from the way children learn.
French is a Latin-based language. I am sure the Romans had to have some influence, as well, but the Anglo-Saxons spoke a West Germanic language related to that in what are now the northern countries of Scandinavia like Denmark, Netherlands, etc., before the Romans got there. The later invaders' languages mixed with the old English and added many words, which is why English often has two related words for similar things. Think cow (Germanic) and beef (Latin/French).
Language is forever changing. And we do have the ability to keep learning, although adults learn language differently from the way children learn.
Yes indeed. The Romans were in Britain for over 400 years, and many never left after the fall of Rome, which was proven by taking DNA samples of British men. Latin has had a large influence on what is now the English language, although as you know, English is not considered a Latin language like French, Spanish, Italian. Even so, a large percentage of English words come directly or indirectly from Latin or Greek, especially through French. Even the modern German language has words that come from Latin which some people find hard to believe.
"About 80 percent of the entries in any English dictionary are borrowed, mainly from Latin. Over 60 percent of all English words have Greek or Latin roots. In the vocabulary of the sciences and technology, the figure rises to over 90 percent. About 10 percent of the Latin vocabulary has found its way directly into English without an intermediary (usually French)." https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-origins/
Last edited by marino760; 04-12-2023 at 05:35 AM..
Yes indeed. The Romans were in Britain for over 400 years, and many never left after the fall of Rome, which was proven by taking DNA samples of British men. Latin has had a large influence on what is now the English language, although as you know, English is not considered a Latin language like French, Spanish, Italian. Even so, a large percentage of English words come directly or indirectly from Latin or Greek, especially through French. Even the modern German language has words that come from Latin which some people find hard to believe.
"About 80 percent of the entries in any English dictionary are borrowed, mainly from Latin. Over 60 percent of all English words have Greek or Latin roots. In the vocabulary of the sciences and technology, the figure rises to over 90 percent. About 10 percent of the Latin vocabulary has found its way directly into English without an intermediary (usually French)." https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-origins/
Yes! When I was playing with Dutch, I was surprised to see that "to read" was "lezen", which is not too far from the Spanish "leer" or the French "lire". But "read" comes from Old English "rædan".
I've always liked etymology, and now it's even more interesting learning the French and Spanish and seeing the relationship, or lack of it, between the words in those languages and English.
There some excellent language learning websites too. Deutsche Welle is a government (tax payer) funded website and global media outlet with an excellent language learning platform. No commercials or sign up fees, courtesy of the 18 Euro monthly media tax on every residential unit in Germany (including mine!).
Before I retired in 2017, I started to "re-learn" German after not speaking it much since the 1970s. I went through several of the DW courses above including "Nicos Weg" two times. Nicos Weg is an almost legendary self-study course among immigrants & refugees in Germany who have learned the language well and are on their way to being successful in school or work.
I learned German with a rural Franconian dialect in the 1940s and I swear the German today is not the German that I learned. The good part is that most Germans speak English.
It seemed to me that the German spoken around Frankfurt and the German spoken around Vienna are related but hardly the same.
Even though I have never really studied German, when I was there for a few weeks my honest effort to speak and comprehend seemed to be well received.
One of the primary reasons I'd like to learn Latin. Being a "dead language", not only means that no society uses it as a primary language anymore, but that it doesn't change. What was written in Latin 2,000 years ago means the same thing now as when it was written. And, what we write today will hopefully mean the same thing 2,000 years into the future.
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