How much an English speaker knows French without learning it
True.
English speakers are not necessarily ashamed of being Germanic--instead, they're really not aware that their language *is* Germanic. This is because, as the previous poster alluded to slightly, certain mindsets and connotations have been handed down over hundreds of years and one of these mindsets is that English is a Romance language/a French dialect. The academic elite are to blame for giving this misleading impression of English's place in the linguistic world. They pay too much attention to Latinate words, and ONLY Latinate words, that English speakers end up assuming ALL English words come from Latin. Educators often tell us that "there are more Latin words in English, and English should be considered a Latin language" (--actual quote from a previous teacher). They are the ones who have Latin-envy. And this adversely affects the rest of us generation after generation :(
So it's not shame. it's simple misinformation--English speakers are misinformed about their language. I am doing what I can to try and rectify this.
<<because English speakers are ashamed of being of a germanic culture>>
Some English speakers are proud of being Germanic:
"International Society of Anglo-Saxonists"
http://www.isas.us/
Purists, however, often stumble upon anti-purists. This is surely the case in my native tongue. I personally find languages lose some of their respective charm if mixed too much.
Ever heard of Anglish?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglish
For instance, Germany is called Dutchland and its language Dutch, whilst Dutch is called Netherlandic.
The Anglish movement, of course, isn't that much of a popular institution. They're just a small bunch of hobbyists who wished they had more might as you have in almost every language. Still, seeing so many purisms altogether can teach a non-anglophone a lot about the richness of the English language often neglected.
<<This is surely the case in my native tongue.>>
kasteel-burg,
vallei-daal,
arondissement-afronding,
communautair-de gemeenschap betreffend
and so on.
Nous avons invité ici, chez nous, des amis pour fêter le nouvel emploi de Marc.
hemos invitado a unos amigos, en nuestra casa, para festejar el nuevo empleo de Marcos
no me parece muy dificil de entender para un castellano!
<<For instance, Germany is called Dutchland and its language Dutch, whilst Dutch is called Netherlandic. >>
In my opinion France must be called Frenchland (O.E. Francland),but not Frankrike . Germany is called Teutonland in this site:
http://anglish.wikia.com/wiki/Frankrike
http://anglish.wikia.com/wiki/Dutchland
Here's Dutchland being used, which is better than Teutonland to my liking. Teuton has a latinized sound to it, even though it stems from the same Germanic word meaning 'folk'.
The Netherlandic thing is my proposal, but I know the word Netherlandic really exists.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1498651/Netherlandic-language
I have to correct Encyclopedia Britannica here. They only call it Flemish when they specify it's our variant, otherwise everyone calls it Nederlands, also Netherlandic in other words. ^^
Hammering on the myth we are to speak Flemish as if it we were to feel it as a different tongue can piss off many people over here (calling it Dutch is safest of all), even though a small group of Flemish particularists do exist (in the past they were more common, but often only out of devout catholicism, labeling the Dutch of the Statenbijbel to be protestant, because it was written during the Reformation).[/age-old rant]
" In my opinion France must be called Frenchland (O.E. Francland),but not Frankrike . Germany is called Teutonland in this site: "
The names of the countries often follow more historical/political reasons, not really ethnical/cultural/linguistical ones.
If France is named France it is not because it has been populated by Franks or frankish speaking people as the german name could let guess "frankreich" (by the way france is not populated by franks and is not a "reich" (kingdom) either but a republic)
France just happened to having been centuries ago founded as political entity (a kingdom) founded by germanic triben the franks.
So, the name france is not derive to the fact that it was populated by a previous "french" people, but the inverse, it is because the name of the country was france that its inhabitants (and culture, language, etc) have been called "french".
This might not being the case for Germany. The name and the creation of the country was created many centuries after the formation of a german people; So the name "deutchland" directly means "the land of the Deutch people". But this is in reality more complicated because "deutch" or "teuton" or "german" should in reality mean the same; meaning the germanic countries. In the different languages you have a lot of confusion about this subjects because each language use those words in either the wider of narowwer meaning: In french "germain" is a much wider meaning than "german" in English. Historicall Dutch/german/teuton could have been applyed to all germanic peoples, that the reason why in English it happen to be the people of netherlands to be called that way; while for the Germans thay are themselves.
In reality Germany has not more reason to be called that way than netherlands, England or Scandinavia, if we based on ethnics meanings; that is the arbitrary history of the Enlgihs language that made the country called "Allemagne" in french, "Deutchland" in German being called "Germany".
<<that made the country called "Allemagne" in french, "Deutchland" in German being called "Germany".>>
In French there's also the word 'thiois', which is etymologically the same as Teutonic, Duits, Deutsch, Diets, Tysk, etc...
" The relationship of Fr. "fêter" and "emploi" to Eng. "fete" and "employ" is somewhat more transparent than to It. "festa" and "impiego". "
What does mean "fete" in English? I guess most people would say "party" instead? As I noticed in English the ending "fest" (more obviously in reletion with "festa" than with "fête" seem more widely use such in "summerfest" or "germanfest"? no?
And "employ", how many people use that french-derive word more than the original enlgish word "job"?
<<And "employ", how many people use that french-derive word more than the original enlgish word "job"? >>
I have never heard English "employ" used to mean "job". As a noun, it wontedly means "employment".
As for "fete", I have never heard this used either, even though it's in the wordbook. If someone actually used it in speech, I would mistake it for "feat". And I'm an educated native Englisher. This is how seld it is.
<<The Netherlandic thing is my proposal, but I know the word Netherlandic really exists. >>
Not Netherlandic,but Netherlandish:
<<[edit] Netherlandish
The English adjective "Netherlandish" means "from the Netherlands". However, in practice, this adjective is normally used when referring to paintings produced in the 15th and early 16th century anywhere in the Low Countries, which are referred to as Early Netherlandish painting (in Dutch Vlaamse primitieven, Flemish primitives—also common in English before the mid 20th century). From around the 16th century onwards, art or artists from the southern Catholic provinces are usually referred to as "Flemish" and from the northern Protestant provinces as Dutch, but art historians sometimes refer to Netherlandish art for art produced in both areas between 1400 and 1830.>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands_(terminology)
Netherlandish-Nederlands-Niederländisch-Nederlandska-Nederlandsk.
Dutch-Duits-Deutsch-Tyska-Tysk.
French feter = italian festeggiare, Spanish festejar