English vs. other West Germanic languages

"These were the ages you were thinking she might be, then you mention her attractiveness and describe your communication with her as a 'fruitless endeavour?"

No, good god! I wasn't implying that she was that young, it's just that those numbers were the first to pop into my head. I often forget numbers in German if I don't count them in order from a certain starting point. So, it helps me to remember how to say 15, 18, etc., when I start from 10. I don't know why.

Does anybody else share my same opinion? That English often resembles French more so than it does German/Dutch?

What is also very interesting, is that a lot of French words which I can pick up on, are not even because of knowledge of Spanish vocabulary, but because of their close similarity with English words.

English, to me, is so distant from other West Germanic languages, that I think it should even be in its own distinct sub-group.

The problem with the language family trees we are used to see, is that they don't show language contact, which often has shaped languages just as much as their original ancestry.

Instead of viewing it like this:


- Germanic - English,...
Indo-European - Romance - French,...
- Slavic - ...

We could view it like this:

Old English ......
French ................ English
Norse ......

Instead of viewing it like this:

.....................- Germanic - English,...
Indo-European - Romance - French,...
......................- Slavic - ...

>> English, to me, is so distant from other West Germanic languages, that I think it should even be in its own distinct sub-group. <<

<sigh>

Tell me LAA, which of the following sentence is most likely to be used by you?

- I provided the feline some lactose.

or,

- I gave the cat some milk.

In some ways I understand what he (LAA) is going through because most native English speakers are not exposed to any other Germanic languages therefore the distance geographically per se has produced a distict language far removed especially in pronunciation. English's Germanic cousins maybe similar to the situation of Romanian and French versus all the other Romance languages (not to offend of course). Just like most other English speaker no matter their ancestary and especially in the U.S many of us would find it easier to learn a Romance language than a Germanic language maybe because we are exposed to them more (especially spanish) than other Germanic languages. And yes, I would understand both sentences posted by sander above with the latter sentence being more appropriate but i know if that latter sentence was written in other Germanic languages (ie. Dutch and German) the written form would be similar in simplicity but I woudn't understand that same sentences if spoken aloud by those languages because of the vast differences in the sound systems that exist between English and all other Germanic languages.

I have to say that most of Sander's post was gobbledegook to me. I would have more luck with Romance languages.

And you don't need to be able to talk to cute girls to score, LAA. Just last weekend I managed to hook up with a Mexican guy, despite my pathetic smattering of Spanish and his total lack of English. A smile and some beer are all it takes! (Well, and just being me.... ;p)

Well, it's a hella of a lot easier for a chick to pick up on a guy, than it is the other way around, unless of course, she is a "I got drunk at a party, and it just happened..." type of a girl.

In addition to taking my survey, I spend most of my time working my game on European chicks who come here on vacation. For a "closet nerd", I'm pretty damn good too.

<<sla het vat maar aan.
*Open up the barrel (with beer)* >>

I suppose I could have guessed that Vat meant barrel. It is identical to the English word Vat which is a vessel which stores liquid usually in large amounts. Could 'Sla' be a cognate of English 'Slide'? Slide open the Barrel. That Zullen word got me as well, I really thought it looked like Shall, but I suppose there isn't that much between Will and Shall. There were others as well like Belang which looked like belong and I thought samen meant same at first. I would like to learn Dutch, but it is hard to find classes here as Dutch is not a language people want to learn in this country (England), mores the pity.

« In addition to taking my survey, I spend most of my time working my game on European chicks who come here on vacation. For a "closet nerd", I'm pretty damn good too. »

Well you obviously don't have testosterone deficiency! *laughs and cries simultaneously*

>>Well you obviously don't have testosterone deficiency! *laughs and cries simultaneously*<<

Lol, I must say that remark by LAA scared me a bit. I think I had a but of a revenge of the nerds flashbacks.

* a bit of a ... flashback

Yeah, that movie is a wee bit old now. Nobody my age knows how much of a book worm I am. You seriously would not know that about me if you were a teenager. I just don't act like it amongst people my own age. That would jeapordize my chances with the ladies. And by god, that aint gonna happen.

That's why I like these discussion boards. Where else could I talk to people about linguistics of all topics?

>>That would jeapordize my chances with the ladies. And by god, that aint gonna happen. <<

So you live in a lie?

« Nobody my age knows how much of a book worm I am. You seriously would not know that about me if you were a teenager. I just don't act like it amongst people my own age. That would jeapordize my chances with the ladies. And by god, that aint gonna happen. »

Next thing, you'll be telling us about how much time you get to spend with your shirt off at that hotel, and how it effects your love life. LOL.

I agree with Sander — I usually find that it's better to be honest about myself. But then again, I'm not interested in 'the ladies' (or boys either, for that matter), so it's a mentality which I find rather difficult to imagine.

"Next thing, you'll be telling us about how much time you get to spend with your shirt off at that hotel, and how it effects your love life. LOL."

I'm laughing my ass off right now because that is so true, but I will spare you that discussion. lmao!!!

"(or boys either, for that matter),"

Yeah, let's hope not Ben!

"so it's a mentality which I find rather difficult to imagine."

Yeah, I suppose you would have to be a teenager to understand. It's not that I hide anything, people who are in my classes know who I am, and how I talk in certain circles, but I'm not going to discuss why a capital gains tax cut would benefit the economy with a fellow teenager, when they wouldn't understand it or care to for that matter, in the first place, especially not with a girl lounging by the pool.

Oh my god dude, I'm still laughing.