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The thing about learning Latin (not that I am great at it), at least for an English native speaker, and the epiphany English language speakers have, is the real
by kls 6y ago
The thing about learning Latin (not that I am great at it), at least for an English native speaker, and the epiphany English language speakers have, is the realization that language can have structure and can be discover-able, if I know a root word then I can almost be sure that I know the meaning of con, re, dom etc. There is just no equivalent to that in English other than the Latin origin words we borrowed, because we just assimilate any words we like and make up new ones as we see fit. An example would be beaucoup a Vietnamese word but most US English speakers would know it means big. Without the historical reference of a movie you would not have a reason or rhyme why an Asian origin word made it into English. There is literally no reason or rhyme to most of the spoken language and I think that is the epiphany, that some people actually thought out a logical way to create a language and via that logic it is discover-able.
- xupybd 6y agoIsn't beaucoup French?
- britr 6y agoYes it is - France has colonised part of vietnam
- samatman 6y agoyes, and as Army slang, it made it into American English through Vietnamese
- xupybd 6y agoVery cool. Did not know this. Will have to tell my Vietnamese wife. We were trying to figure out if English had any Vietnamese words. I think this counts.
- selimthegrim 6y agoI'm pretty sure in Louisiana it was already in slang through French here
- wolco 6y agoHundreds of years of French culture through Louisiana. Other unique French US cultures: Haitian Creole New England French were are Canadian migrants. Missouri French Muskrat French from Michigan North Dakoka Metis French It could have come to some from 40 years old but it was already here for many. Still it's a French word. It is like going to Germany and learning an English word but calling it German.
- 9wzYQbTYsAIc 6y agoOui, https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/beaucoup https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/beaucoup