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> I already speak a language (English) which is some bastard child of French, German, Dutch, Arabic, etc. It's a Germanic language (not a child of German), wit
by gaur 11y ago
> I already speak a language (English) which is some bastard child of French, German, Dutch, Arabic, etc.
It's a Germanic language (not a child of German), with significant lexical input from French and Latin. The input from "Dutch, Arabic, etc." is minor.
- tremon 11y agoBut the Germanic language family is quite large; it basically describes every language spoken on the Northern Atlantic coast. You can't say "it's Germanic" and then say "it's hardly related to Dutch or German". As for the development of the English language, I believe it derives mostly from Saxon - Frisian - Norse - French, in chronological order. I'm pretty sure Celtic should also be on that list, but I don't know in what order or to what extent.
- JetSetWilly 11y agoEnglish and Dutch are similar because they share a common ancestor. But the direct influence of Dutch upon English is minimal. Relatedness and Influence are distinct concepts, the language that influenced English was an ancestor of both Dutch and English, and so the influence of Dutch itself on English has been small compared to other languages like French.
- gaur 11y ago> You can't say "it's Germanic" and then say "it's hardly related to Dutch or German". That's not what I said. I said "it's Germanic" and "it's not a child of German or Dutch".