The Many--Many!--Origins of the English Language

[alfreda89]

Latin, Scandinavian and some Greek ruled at the beginning, but remember that wonderful saying so many of us have on tee shirts? About English not just borrowing from other languages? The actual quote is:

“We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.”
― James Nicoll

Thanks to this handy-dandy slide over on Slate's website, you can watch the progression of language as English swipes from the world, making it a mother lode of possible word choices for any occasion.

Comments

[aberwyn.livejournal.com]

Um, this is going to sound odd, coming from a nobody like me, but Nicoll's basic orientation is all wrong. English does not just "borrow words". That's a common misunderstanding. English is a creole language, that is, a language made up of several different languages that at various times in its history melded together. This means big grammar changes, not just vocabulary, and shifts in pronunciation.

There are plenty of word borrowings, sure, but they are icing, not cake.

It used to be thought by linguists that English was the descendant of something called "Anglo-Saxon" with a few layers of Norse and French added on top. In actuality, it started life as a Germanic language of ambiguous ancestry -- Old Frisian would be prominent in the mix -- that first creolized with British (that is, Old Welsh) in the 6th-9th centuries. Linguists used to think that the Celtic languages spoken in Britain had no effect on the Germanic strain, but that's utter nonsense, as more and more linguists now recognize. The big legacy: our use of progressive verbs, modal verbs, and verb tags( like "Isn't it?" for ex.)

Then the Norse came, and the second creolization happened.

Pop linguistics tends to ignore all this.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

There are a huge number of languages shown on this slide rule, Kit, but it doesn't go back far enough for you.

[aberwyn.livejournal.com]

Nothing goes far enough back for me. :-)

Seriously, though, it's his whole approach that I'm questioning. Focusing on "words", that is.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Then we want better sources! Share!

Just found out about this site--looks like an emphasis on words, not grammar.

http://phrontistery.info/index.html

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

There are a huge number of languages shown on this slide rule, Kit, but it doesn't go back far enough for you.

I have seen Nicoll's quote paraphrased with "grammar" instead of vocabulary, too.