As much as I hate to admit it, Paul is right in this
respect. Hanging out with a linguist for two years has
taught me this much...
English is not a form of German, it's part of the
Germanic family. We get words like beer, garden,
house, hound, wagon, etc. from German (actually it's
Angle, Saxon & Jute origins), but there are just as
strong Norse, Danish, Norman, Celtic and Latin
influences in our speech. Face it, the British have
been conquered by all kinds of people.
In my opinion (not being a trained linguist, and I'm
sure that Alexis will correct me), the key to
differences to UK & US English are 1.) American speech
stems from an older form of English, and 2.) the
African influence.
Ok, this is a boring thread. Sorry everybody.
--- Paul Secular <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Don't be stupid.... I never studied etymology or
> linguistics - but even *I*
> know that's a load of bollocks.
>
> English is a language in its own right.
>
> "a form of German" indeed!
=====
"The key to wiseness is maturiositude." - Woody Allen
http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/1092/
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