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>As a mitigation, English instead calcified a few ways to structure a sentence and called it a day - one of the things that make it easier to learn, but also mu
by diffrinse 6y ago
>As a mitigation, English instead calcified a few ways to structure a sentence and called it a day - one of the things that make it easier to learn, but also much more boring.
Isn't this because the language we're reading in OP and speak now is the pidgin that developed between Viking settlers and English incumbents? Doesn't that also explain why our pronouns are Scandinavian rather than the ones found in Old English or old Norman?
- jeremyjh 6y agoThat is one idea but there are problems with it, such as the many irregular verbs in English. Doubtless both Old Norse and Norman French had a very significant influence on the language we speak today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_creole_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_creole_hypothes...
- stevula 6y ago> Doesn't that also explain why our pronouns are Scandinavian rather than the ones found in Old English or old Norman? I think only the third person plural (they/their/them) is of Old Norse origin (ON þeir supplanting OE hie). Interesting, we still use 'em which probably derives from the original English pronoun, not a shortening of "them" (we don't normally chop "th" off the beginning of a word). Compare for example: he: OE "he" / ON "hann" your: OE "eower" / ON "yðar" it: OE "hit" / ON "þat" (note: still "hit" in some modern dialects) her: OE "hire" / ON "hennar/henni"
- thaumasiotes 6y ago> Interesting, we still use 'em which probably derives from the original English pronoun, not a shortening of "them" (we don't normally chop "th" off the beginning of a word). This is not a strong point; "them" is not a normal word. We freely reduce all the pronouns.