Favorite GERMANIC language (loan, richest, land)

[ABQConvict]

Norwegian and English.


ABQConvict

[cmptrwlt]

1. Swedish
2. Islandic
3. English
4. Norwegian
5. German

[Bibi12]

I always found it interesting that english is considered germanic even though around 27% of it is french and 25% of it is latin in origin, in other the majority of english is actually latin in origin.

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by NihonKitty

I always found it interesting that english is considered germanic even though around 27% of it is french and 25% of it is latin in origin, in other the majority of english is actually latin in origin.

You're right: considering only the vocabulary, English is a real mongrel. The reason it's still considered Germanic is because of its grammatical structure. That's definitely Germanic--very close to the Scandinavian branch languages.

Oh! Cool, Swedish is tied with the big-boy-on-the-block English! 8 to 8... Go Swedish!!!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Faroese - but I only voted for that because you don't have Jutlandische ... LOL!

[orangeapple]

Originally Posted by pigeonhole

I voted for GERMAN, because it's the only Germanic foreign language that I speak ...and besides, I really love the German language, beautiful in my book.

Aren't you a Frenchman who speaks English?

[pigeonhole]

Aren't you a Frenchman who speaks English?


I'm a Frenchman indeed (from birth) but English is the language of my heart.

[Audrey Ann]

Originally Posted by pigeonhole

Aren't you a Frenchman who speaks English?


I'm a Frenchman indeed (from birth) but English is the language of my heart.

I chose German as well ... I have a close friend who is German and the first time I heard him speak, I thought it was French ... he spoke so softly, nothing hard at all.

About six years ago I began studying the German language - what I like is even though I (often) speak grammatically incorrect, they still understand what I am trying to say. Most of them do not correct me, and if they do, never have they laughed or winced ... just simply corrected my mistake.

I have heard that Flemish is the easiest language for an english speaker to learn because the grammar is the same ... just have to memorize words. ??

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by Audrey Ann

I have heard that Flemish is the easiest language for an english speaker to learn because the grammar is the same ... just have to memorize words. ??

Flemish = Dutch (actually a dialect of Dutch, linguistically). Yes, Dutch is quite similar to English and easier than German to learn.

The closest relatives to English are arguably Lowland Scots and Frisian.

Frisian has about 75 - 80% lexical similarity.

Scots is argued to be a dialect of English by some and a separate language by others. Suffice it to say the typical English speaker understands almost nothing when first hearing true spoken Scots (this is not the same as Scottish English!). But it is fairly easy to understand with a bit of practice. Speaking it is another matter!

[effie g-tad]

^


i love the netherlands, their people and their language a lot, although the language (similar to schwyzerdütsch) can strike you like a throat disease ...

kindly forgive me.