The amusing differences between British and...

[Alrik]

I do know that English is the "lingua franca", but here in Germany people do know and speak so relatively good English we almost don't need any translators anymore !

Of course this is a bit exaggerated, but in principle this is so.

I remember in an newspaper article ambassadors ( I think it was even Polish ambassadors) saying Germans were so good at speaking English they principally don't need to teach the German language anymore - especially for the environment of embassys. Or so I have the article in my memory.

If this goes on, all Germans tend to use rather English than German !

[Elliot Kane]

Some day the whole world will speak the same language. It will probably be an evolved form of English the way things are going, but it will be very good for the world whatever language it is.

If people can talk together & think together in the same language it makes misunderstandings a lot harder and harmony a lot easier.

I won't live to see it, unfortunately, but it will only benefit the human race as a whole when it finally happens

[rockergrl]

I learned some British terms from watching S Club 7 tv show and also have read some of them online before too.

[killerzzz]

Its not surprising that the German people are able to easily adjust to the English language (and technically, English speakers should be able to adjust to German just as easily, but like Elliot said, not many speak more than one language for some reason). The reason is that German and English are VERY closely related.

Contrary to popular belief, English is originally a Germanic language, not a Latin one (though it has a very extensive latin based borrowed vocabulary).

If you look at the language carefully, and Alrik, given that you know the two very well you're luckily able to do that, you should find alot of common words. My German sucks, otherwise I'd give some examples.

The only one I know would be from the older English usage of "Mine" in the place of "My" usually in poetry. For example: "Mine hart I give to you," or something. Interestingly, the German "Mein" is pronounced spelt almost the same, and is the equilivent of "My" (I think). ;D

IMO, the language of the far future will probably end up like it does in some Sci-Fi: English and Chinese. One will be the "High" language, and the other "Common" or "Low" language. Its not the first time its happend in certain areas. At one long point in England, the English language was the "Low" language of the slaves under the masters who spoke the "High" or "Proper" lanugage of status, French.


That aside, I had another question, conserning the word "summat" (if thats how its spelt). Does it mean "Someone" or "Something"? I know I've heard it somewhere. Probably in a Harry Potter book. ;D Wait... Yeah! Hagrid.

Killerzzz

[Elliot Kane]

'Summat' = 'something' Kaz

Yeah, English is a Germanic language. Several waves of German settlers saw to that, the most notable being the Saxons, of course. They were the dominant culture until the Normans came.

[killerzzz]

admin said:

Yeah, English is a Germanic language. Several waves of German settlers saw to that, the most notable being the Saxons, of course. They were the dominant culture until the Normans came.

Nono, I mean it was originally Germanic. The term "English" comes from the two tribes who pushed out the Celts (The Angles and the Saxons), together called the "Anglo-Saxons" who lived in what eventually was called "Angle Land" (which is preserved in the French name for England, "Angleterre --> Angle Terre")

In fact, when the Normand invasions took place, and after a sort of agreement the English and Scandinavians lived together rather peacefully, the languages at the time were almost EXACTLY the same, in the way that Canadian and American Englishes are almost the same.

That is the origin of English. Before that, the Celts were there, and they were pushed out so completely that almost no trace of their language entered English.

So basically, the English were almost the same linguistically and tribally as the Scandinavians, Normands, Vikings, or whatever Germanic group/tribe/name you want to put out there. ;D

Killerzzz

[Elliot Kane]

I know, Kaz I've studied the period. Not in depth - but I have

The original English got pushed into Wales and Cornwall

[killerzzz]

admin said:

I know, Kaz I've studied the period. Not in depth - but I have

The original English got pushed into Wales and Cornwall

Oh, k. ;D I'm just on an info frenzy right now. Random outburst and all that.

Killerzzz

[Alrik]

admin said:

Some day the whole world will speak the same language.

I disagree.

Okay, there might be English in it, but I believe it will be this one :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language

Or an derivate.

It even has its own grammar ( ! ) .


Besides, Killerzzz, you don't have to tell me ... Language (especially English language) is one of my hobbies ...
(Although not a prominent one. But it explains very good why I'm so much into international forums ... )

My favourite book (partly because I don't know any better ones) is the "Loom of Language" by one Frederick Bodmer.

[Elliot Kane]

Kaz... There's the History forum if you really feel like expounding at length...

[killerzzz]

admin said:

Kaz... There's the History forum if you really feel like expounding at length...

Eehn, maybe some other time. I'm a wee burnt out.

Killerzzz

[Alrik]

admin said:

The original English got pushed into Wales and Cornwall

You mean celtic-based English.

[killerzzz]

alrik said:

admin said:

The original English got pushed into Wales and Cornwall

You mean celtic-based English.

Which technically wasn't "English" per se.

Yeah, I know; you guys already know that. I'm obsessive compulsive, I have to say it. ;D

Killerzzz

[Elliot Kane]

I think all the Celts went up into Scotland... The Britons were not a Celtic people, IIRC... I'm a bit fuzzy on that one, though...

[Alrik]

I think I've read (wikipedia has *lots* of interesting pages around that, by the way !) that the people speaking a form of what we call "celtic" now went up to Iceland, because it has the most difiicult grammar around these languages - even worse than Irish.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_language

[Elliot Kane]

The Celts were a lot of different tribes. The Scots are of Celtic descent, as are the Irish. There should be a lot of Celtic blood throughout Europe as a whole, too, but most of it has been mixed by now.

[Alrik]

I see. I've taken a look into my link above and saw that I was wrong in some parts, or had it wrong in my memory.

About the Celts. I tend to rather see them in their language kontext ... not so much genetics.

There have been many celtic buildings / "towns" here in Germany, with the one at Manching, located near Munich, being the far biggest.

In a huge hill or ridge above the home town of my father's mother there was such a "town", because the remains of the walls have been found.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornburg_(Hessen)
It's the photo with the wood.

(And actually I must admit that I'm surprised that this article about this collection of small towns (under the "Dornburg" umbrella, because that's the name of the mesa-like ridge) is translated in so many languages ! :eek:

[killerzzz]

The Celts native of what would become "England" were indeed pushed into Wales and also all over the islands that surrounded that of England itself, which includes Ireland.

In fact, those pushed into Wales were called the Welsh, which meant in the germanic languages "outsiders" or something like that. So the natives were deemed outsiders in their own lands.

Killerzz

[Alrik]

Yes, especially with the Anglo-Saxons moving in, later the Romans, and after that William the Conqueror, if I have this right in my memory.

[Elliot Kane]

There's a few more waves of immigrants in there, guys, but yeah. The Jutes usually get overlooked (From Jutland, obviously) for one.

England was ultimately colonised by the pioneers of many races. Or 'conquered' if you happened to be a native Briton