Re: Is language development evolutionary, or designed by the culture?

On 15 Jun 2005 11:53:42 -0700, Ken Shackleton
<ken.shackleton@xxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:1118861622.914832.152740@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
in sci.lang:

> Brian M. Scott wrote:

>> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:47:33 +0000 (UTC), "David Wright Sr."
>> <dwrightsr@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
>> <news:Xns96768221CAFA7nokvamli@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> in sci.lang:

[...]

>>> The major example to all of us is English, which contains
>>> a vast number of French words and expressions primarily
>>> due to the Norman conquest.

>> This is false. The great majority of borrowings from French
>> are from long after the Conquest, with a peak in the second
>> half of the 14th century.

> You think so?

I know so.

> The french content in english would still be due to the
> influence of the descendants of the Norman invaders and
> their political alliances with the continental French.

On the contrary, it's due primarily to the later cultural
supremacy of France, which is also reflected in numerous
French borrowings in German.

[...]

Brian
.

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