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>> … English is unmistakably North Germanic and not West Germanic … that’s exactly what they were saying. English is traditionally described as West Germanic w
by permo-w 4y ago
>> … English is unmistakably North Germanic and not West Germanic …
that’s exactly what they were saying. English is traditionally described as West Germanic with German, Frisian and Dutch, but as a creole with Old Norse it could be instead described as North Germanic
- thaumasiotes 4y agoThe link says that Old English is not an ancestor of modern English. triyambakam says that it is. A creole would be neither West Germanic nor North Germanic; creoles are new. The grammatical structures of a creole are, in general, not inherited from any of the "parent" languages.
- permo-w 4y agoit’s a synecdoche. the link is saying it didn’t solely develop from Old English, not that it didn’t at all
- thaumasiotes 4y agoIt really can't get any clearer than stating "Middle English did not develop from Old English."
- permo-w 4y agoyou’re reading it too literally
- thaumasiotes 4y agoYou are attempting to read in a viewpoint that the book specifically says it doesn't believe.
- permo-w 4y agodo you genuinely think that the book is saying that English is not descended at all from Old English and is in fact solely descended from Old Norse? based on the rest of the text which is making the argument that middle-English is a creole between Old English and Old Norse, it's very clearly a synecdoche to be read as "Middle English did not solely develop from Old English.". you're taking your attempt to be contrary a bit too far here