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German is not a romance language yet had heavy influences from Latin. The neuter "das" is alive and kicking, no sign whatsoever of disappearance. It's das Haus
by jhoechtl 6y ago
German is not a romance language yet had heavy influences from Latin. The neuter "das" is alive and kicking, no sign whatsoever of disappearance.
It's das Haus (the house), das Kind (the child)
- Grustaf 6y agoPresumably, neutrum in Germanic languages comes from Proto-Indoeuropean, just like in Slavic languages or indeed Latin itself. Is there any reason to believe that it came to modern German by way of Latin?
- kgwgk 6y agoAnd, interestingly, das Mädchen (the girl).
- leonry 6y agoThis is because it is a diminutive, cf. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutiv#Grammatisches_Geschlecht_(Genus) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutiv#Grammatisches_Geschl...
- wolfi1 6y agoGerman is from another language family, I doubt that neuter was introduced from Latin