Top posting is a matter of some dispute. Some readers appreciate it.
English
is not German. The archaic German that was spoken in England was a very
advanced language which is unfortunately neglected by modern German
speakers. Archaic German aka Anglo-Saxon, Old Saxon, Old Franconian, etc.,
bears little resemblance to English. If you only studied the Anglo-Saxon
language instead of writing nonsense then you would be very impressed by
this form of early German, but Chaucer's English has little in common
with
any form of German.
<axel@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:na8%e.16755$iW5.15434@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In soc.culture.scottish hawker@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<flink@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>> I hope you do not mind if I top post.
>
> It's annoying... why do it?
>
>> Wright, the eminent Victorian
>> philologist, noted the total lack of German grammar in so called Middle
>> English, as well as massive word borrowings from Scandinavian and
Celtic
>> languages, and even on a smaller scale French. Grammatically English
>> bears
>> to relation to either archaic or modern German, so how can English be
>> derived from Anglo-Saxon? No, English is a pidgin language derived from
>> several other languages. This accounts for the mixed English vocabulary
>> and
>> the general lack of grammar.
>
> There is no 'general lack of grammar' in English. This is immediately
> obvious when you hear someone who does not know English well making
> grammatical mistakes.
>
> Nor is English a pidgin language - Modern English is derived via
> Middle English from Old English (Anglo-Saxon). It has been influenced
> by Old Norse - hardly surprising considering the political sway
> held by Scandinavians in Britain at one time and the more or less
> mutual intelligibility of the Old Norse and Old English languages.
>
> English vocabulary does borrow heavily from other languages but
> that is not unusual. Most of the basic ordinary words that are used
> in English can in fact be traced back to Anglo-Saxon.
>
> Axel
>
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