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Germanic Pride. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5352 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 25 of 90 08 April 2010 at 10:42pm | IP Logged | ||
I really disagree on this notion. Vocabulary, albeit important, the grammar and structure of the language shows its true roots, in my opinion. A few years back, I had taken a course at the university titled "History and Structure of the English Language." The professor was fluent in English, French, and Old English, but early on in the course she had provided a list of about five distinguishing features which Germanic languages have, that are unique to Germanic languages. Unfortunately, I do not have my notebook handy, and forget said characteristics, but seeing as most of these characteristics still hold true to this day with English, it seems foolish to say that it is a mix of French and Germanic, just because a large portion of vocabulary has been brought into English from French. I feel that vocabulary is one of the more superficial aspects of a language, personally. South African English is influenced by Afrikaans, American English by Native American tongues, etc. Sure this influence is not as strong as the wound inflicted by the Norman conquest, but a large amount of vocabulary from a Romance tongue does not convince me that English should be classified as a mix between Germanic and Romance. The underlying structure is Germanic, and thus it should be classified as such. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| apatch3 Diglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6185 days ago 80 posts - 99 votes Speaks: Pashto, English* Studies: Japanese, FrenchA2 | Message 26 of 90 08 April 2010 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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@ tracker
In which case I was correct in saying English grammar still resembles German much more than it does french in my previous post thanks for clarifying that though. I wouldn't call vocabulary superficial, especially for learners shared vocabulary is like a godsend. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5352 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 27 of 90 08 April 2010 at 11:21pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes, I agree that shared vocabulary is a godsend for language learners. I guess my point was, that I find it a bit superficial to try to classify English as a mix between Romance and Germanic, just on grounds of vocabulary. I know that some people do classify modern English as a mix, and not as a true Germanic language, and this is something that one could probably argue about forever. I personally am strongly against this classification, however, but maybe it is due to my Germanic pride again! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5481 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 28 of 90 08 April 2010 at 11:36pm | IP Logged | ||
I'm 25, and have suffered from severe depression in the past. I can tell you first hand it has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with "selfish culture", at least in my case. Saying it's caused by selfish culture is very offensive to me. The void many people feel however, I can agree that some is caused by selfish culture. However I don't feel that as I don't feel the need to keep up with the Jones. But at the same time, modern society has a lot more leeway for self-discovery, where as in the past people were told basically how to live (grow up, get a good job, marry, have kids, retire, die) and given no other choice but ostracization (socially). And that void is essentially just evidence that someone has yet to find what they truly want in life. You're making broad sweeping generalizations and that's always something that can always cause problems. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5481 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 29 of 90 08 April 2010 at 11:38pm | IP Logged | ||
Eh... I feel more as though a language exists as a massive combination of everything and none is superficial. And as to English being the "in-between" language... I think it's another beast entirely. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5422 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 30 of 90 08 April 2010 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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| Miznia Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5351 days ago 37 posts - 42 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Cantonese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese | Message 31 of 90 08 April 2010 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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By "superficial" I'm sure he means it can relatively easily be changed, which makes it hard to base classifications on it.
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| apatch3 Diglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6185 days ago 80 posts - 99 votes Speaks: Pashto, English* Studies: Japanese, FrenchA2 | Message 32 of 90 08 April 2010 at 11:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'd say grammar is like the skeleton of a language and vocabulary constitutes its flesh. Unless you have X-ray vision (or a linguists plethora of knowledge) The skeleton of a language isn't going to be the first thing that strikes you. Needless to say I don't dispute English's classification as Germanic but I do see it as the lovechild of Germanic and french roots, I guess the Germanic part was the father XD
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