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Language isn't DNA but it's highly correlated. Most people in the US speak Germanic languages, ie english.

by singularity2001 2y ago

chrisco255 2y ago
Given that English is itself germanic to an extent, yes. But it's also clearly got a lot of latin influence. All of northwestern europe, of course, had quite a bit of DNA mixing over the centuries, so to what extent some DNA is particularly "German" or "English" largely depends on the time period.
- dylan604 2y ago
  What do you mean to an extent? It's definitely not Romantic.
  - laurencerowe 2y ago
    While English is a Germanic language a huge number of words come from Old French since that was the language of the ruling elite following the Norman conquest of 1066 and continued to be used in administration for a couple of centuries. Amusingly the Franks after whom French is named were also Germanic but they adopted the Vulgar Latin derived Old French then spoken in Northern France and which the Norse who invaded Northern France adopted before invading England. https://www.reddit.com/r/asklinguistics/comments/324w60/how_did_french_become_a_romance_language_and_not/ https://www.reddit.com/r/asklinguistics/comments/324w60/how_...
ekianjo 2y ago
English is a Germanic language...
- Retric 2y ago
  Old english was a Germanic language. Modern English borrowed a little too much to really qualify.
  - progmetaldev 2y ago
    Modern English didn't pop up out of nowhere, or relied on borrowing everything. Old English was a Germanic language, and while modern English borrowed quite a bit from other languages, it didn't start from scratch. It is still based upon Old English, which was Germanic. Even if you mean extremely modern, the base language is Old English, although the language evolves constantly. You would have a harder time comparing what is currently being spoken to Old English, but at the same time, you can't disconnect the two just because comparing the two now sounds entirely different. Language should evolve, since it's meant to communicate, not on it's own merit (as much as those who study language would like it to be). It's not crazy to think that in the future that a language could evolve even further to convey more meaning in a smaller amount of speech.
    - Retric 2y ago
      We’re well past “quite a bit” at this point. Overall 29% of English words have Latin roots, 29% are French, and only 26% are Germanic in origin. Common vernacular favors French. It’s best described as a creole language.
      - progmetaldev 2y ago
        I upvoted because that make sense, but isn't that Old English still a kind of "glue language", where words are replaced and of different origin, but ultimately just chosen based on contact with other languages and/or slang that matches another language? I'm honestly interested, because translating from Old English or Germanic seems to be easier to do with automated tools, than what you'd consider modern English. Granted, being American, I am pretty good with figuring out slang or new words (especially having a teenager). I can definitely see American-English being a creole language, with a lot of evolution towards Spanish, given a lot of Hispanic culture being blended into American culture. I wish I knew more about language evolution, because it seems exciting and actually useful for tracking meaning between people. I guess I explained so much so that you could tell I wasn't trolling, and looking for a legitimate answer (or your educated opinion). I appreciate whatever you respond with!
rayiner 2y ago
This shouldn’t be downvoted. Except for colonizer languages, most languages in the world are coextensive with an ethnic group or closely related ethnic groups. Virtually everyone who speaks Bangla, Japanese, Korean, or Thai is ethnically Bengali, Japanese, Korean, or Thai.
- wqaatwt 2y ago
  That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of (often forced) assimilation or worse involved for that to happen. e.g. it’s not like Japan didn’t have a “native population” that spoke a different language(s). The colonization just happened a few thousand years earlier than in the Americas.
- DiogenesKynikos 2y ago
  > Except for colonizer languages Which are spoken by billions of people around the world. That's a huge exception.

Language isn't DNA but it's highly correlated. Most people in the US speak Germanic languages, ie english.

Given that English is itself germanic to an extent, yes. But it's also clearly got a lot of latin influence. All of northwestern europe, of course, had quite a bit of DNA mixing over the centuries, so to what extent some DNA is particularly "German" or "English" largely depends on the time period.

dylan604 2y ago
What do you mean to an extent? It's definitely not Romantic.
- laurencerowe 2y ago
  While English is a Germanic language a huge number of words come from Old French since that was the language of the ruling elite following the Norman conquest of 1066 and continued to be used in administration for a couple of centuries. Amusingly the Franks after whom French is named were also Germanic but they adopted the Vulgar Latin derived Old French then spoken in Northern France and which the Norse who invaded Northern France adopted before invading England. https://www.reddit.com/r/asklinguistics/comments/324w60/how_did_french_become_a_romance_language_and_not/ https://www.reddit.com/r/asklinguistics/comments/324w60/how_...

ekianjo 2y ago

English is a Germanic language...

Retric 2y ago
Old english was a Germanic language. Modern English borrowed a little too much to really qualify.
- progmetaldev 2y ago
  Modern English didn't pop up out of nowhere, or relied on borrowing everything. Old English was a Germanic language, and while modern English borrowed quite a bit from other languages, it didn't start from scratch. It is still based upon Old English, which was Germanic. Even if you mean extremely modern, the base language is Old English, although the language evolves constantly. You would have a harder time comparing what is currently being spoken to Old English, but at the same time, you can't disconnect the two just because comparing the two now sounds entirely different. Language should evolve, since it's meant to communicate, not on it's own merit (as much as those who study language would like it to be). It's not crazy to think that in the future that a language could evolve even further to convey more meaning in a smaller amount of speech.
  - Retric 2y ago
    We’re well past “quite a bit” at this point. Overall 29% of English words have Latin roots, 29% are French, and only 26% are Germanic in origin. Common vernacular favors French. It’s best described as a creole language.
    - progmetaldev 2y ago
      I upvoted because that make sense, but isn't that Old English still a kind of "glue language", where words are replaced and of different origin, but ultimately just chosen based on contact with other languages and/or slang that matches another language? I'm honestly interested, because translating from Old English or Germanic seems to be easier to do with automated tools, than what you'd consider modern English. Granted, being American, I am pretty good with figuring out slang or new words (especially having a teenager). I can definitely see American-English being a creole language, with a lot of evolution towards Spanish, given a lot of Hispanic culture being blended into American culture. I wish I knew more about language evolution, because it seems exciting and actually useful for tracking meaning between people. I guess I explained so much so that you could tell I wasn't trolling, and looking for a legitimate answer (or your educated opinion). I appreciate whatever you respond with!

rayiner 2y ago

This shouldn’t be downvoted. Except for colonizer languages, most languages in the world are coextensive with an ethnic group or closely related ethnic groups. Virtually everyone who speaks Bangla, Japanese, Korean, or Thai is ethnically Bengali, Japanese, Korean, or Thai.

wqaatwt 2y ago
That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of (often forced) assimilation or worse involved for that to happen. e.g. it’s not like Japan didn’t have a “native population” that spoke a different language(s). The colonization just happened a few thousand years earlier than in the Americas.
DiogenesKynikos 2y ago
> Except for colonizer languages Which are spoken by billions of people around the world. That's a huge exception.