Re: English compared to other European languages
- From: Ruud Harmsen <realemailseesite13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 13:59:07 +0200
Sat, 23 Apr 2005 22:20:51 +0100: Prai Jei
<pvstownsend@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>: in sci.lang:
>Pre-Conquest English was a recognisably Germanic language and was as
>complicated then as German was then. Grammar and vocabulary in perfect
>harmony.
>
>Then William came over and forced the language to accept an entirely new
>Latinate vocabulary. These new words did not blend with English grammar at
>the time and the only way out was to simplify the mass of conjugations,
>declensions and whatnot.
So how do you explain that Dutch has almost as many simplifications as
English, and Afrikaans as many or more? Neither had such a "William
the Conqeurer" episode.
--
Ruud Harmsen - http://rudhar.com
.
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