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  • people who don't realize...

    Argh, yet again I had another "debate" with someone about the Wonderful English language and its roots.

    To put it simply he WAS one of those who took AP English way back in HS and KNOWS that English is a romance language...

    Took him down a few pegs with the following...

    So if it's basis is Latin, then there should be no reason as to why almost all of our basic words (word you used almost every day, such as a/an, I, this, that, etc.
    I asked him to explain why these aren't some variation on une, ego, quid, quo... then he just quit... (BTW those English come from an [one,] Ic [self], this [pronounced like thees], thaet [pronounced like it is now)

    yes we have a lot of latin in our language, what with the Church of Rome being big, and French Speaking vikings invading the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons, of course, I had thought about speaking to him in Old English and then some in Middle... but I didn't want to have to open up word to get the eth/thorn or wyn letters, and Middle English spelling is just.... well there's a reason Chaucer is hard to read...

    Of course I think he would be the type that would bite my head off for ending a sentence in a preposition (something English speakers CAN do thanks to the Germanic background, and is regarded as OK in the modern era.)

    on a completely unrelated note I love my favorite quote recently...

    Modern English is the result of Norman Men-at-arms trying to pick up Saxon Wenches, and is no more legitimate than any of the other results.


    Oh and a second one.

    From the WoW Boards, I just love seeing, Blizz hates the Horde... with no real reason (hmmm always seemed that they hated the Alliance due to you know, just how easily you can be 10 levels above an alliance town that's away from the major cities and completely kill anything/everything)


    ah must be because they got the pretty-boy not evil looking Blood Elves, and water-walking got nerfed because of Moonbrooking.
    Last edited by bunnyboy; 09-16-2009, 09:49 PM.

  • #2
    Ah yes my grandmother always insisted that English was a romance language. She did know, however, that most scholars consider the English language Germanic.

    It's somewhat hard to do, but if you try to listen to people speak English without understanding what they say, English does sound a lot like German.
    The key to an open mind is understanding everything you know is wrong.

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    • #3
      English is a pretty harsh sounding language. Why anyone would think it's a romance language is beyond me.
      Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst. - Starship Troopers

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      • #4
        I took Latin in seventh and eighth grade, and according to my teacher, the reason English and all the other languages that descended (or supposedly descended) from Latin are called Romance Languages is because the Romans called their language (Latin) Romans (pronounced "ROH-MAHNZ"). From that, they got the "Romance Languages" part. It really has nothing to do with romance in the way we usually think of it.

        That's what my Latin teacher said, anyway.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by guywithashovel View Post
          That's what my Latin teacher said, anyway.
          She's right. The "Romance" languages take their name from the fact they are derived from Latin, not because they are 'romantic'. It's just a coincidence that the big three (Italian, Spanish, and French) sound very romantic.

          There's also a big difference between things that are "romantic" and "Romanticism".

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          • #6
            Originally posted by bunnyboy View Post
            So if it's basis is Latin, then there should be no reason as to why almost all of our basic words (word you used almost every day, such as a/an, I, this, that, etc.
            not trying to be rude or anything but this sentence has no ending so I must ask: So if it's basis is Latin, then there should be no reason as to why almost all of our basic words what?

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            • #7
              worse, grem! The entire rest of the post is a parenthetical aside! (I'm assuming that it's the basis for your new thread? )
              Any comment I make should not be taken as an absolute, unless I say it should be. Even this one.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by gremcint View Post
                not trying to be rude or anything but this sentence has no ending so I must ask: So if it's basis is Latin, then there should be no reason as to why almost all of our basic words what?
                D'oh... yeah that'll teach me to do it after a very bad day. Anyways I was trying to say they have nothing at all in common with the latin, aside from being descended from the same Indo-European roots.


                maybe I should just edit it again.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by BroomJockey View Post
                  worse, grem! The entire rest of the post is a parenthetical aside! (I'm assuming that it's the basis for your new thread? )
                  not the basis, just a reminder of something I wanted to post.

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