• aeronmelon@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    5 hours ago

    When I was a child, I spoke like a child. Now I am a man and I speak like the King of England!

    English is three different languages in a trench coat. It’s all borrowed to some degree.

    • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      3 hours ago

      Most linguists formally classify English as Germanic (West Germanic, alongside Frisian, Dutch and German, though one Norwegian linguist made a case for it being North Germanic), though some people refer to it as a Romance-Germanic creole. It is quantifiably true that, if you want to read Old English, knowing Icelandic will be more helpful than knowing modern English.

    • Anti-Face Weapon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      2 hours ago

      Three languages?

      1. Anglo German (aka old English)
      2. French
      3. Norwegian/Danish?

      Not sure what the third one is. You could make an honest argument for a number of languages to be number 3.