Lest we forget. Amen.
English, German, & Dutch
It was cool to see those word lists.
Sure, in direct translation most of the words are not the same as english.
However, they are still very close to English words, and the replying poster would always point out (I think that was "more original name"? :P
This is how dutch can me easy to pick up. When reading dutch, I may get confused by brandwonde, but from I can figure out "brand wound," and from context understand they mean a burn. Shampoo is used for hair washing, so i'll remember when I see a Dutch word like "hair washing," that's shampoo.
If they don't translate directly, then they're cognates, or compound words I can figure out.
Sure, in direct translation most of the words are not the same as english.
However, they are still very close to English words, and the replying poster would always point out (I think that was "more original name"? :P
This is how dutch can me easy to pick up. When reading dutch, I may get confused by brandwonde, but from I can figure out "brand wound," and from context understand they mean a burn. Shampoo is used for hair washing, so i'll remember when I see a Dutch word like "hair washing," that's shampoo.
If they don't translate directly, then they're cognates, or compound words I can figure out.
Yes, those word lists were interesting to see. It's amazing to see how similar Dutch and German actually are and that there are a lot of words completely identical to each other!
"However, they are still very close to English words, and the replying poster would always point out (I think that was "more original name"? :P
This is how dutch can me easy to pick up. When reading dutch, I may get confused by brandwonde, but from I can figure out "brand wound," and from context understand they mean a burn. Shampoo is used for hair washing, so i'll remember when I see a Dutch word like "hair washing," that's shampoo."
You picked out two easy words like haarwasmiddel and brandwonde.
Would you really have found out the meaning of words like geheim, onvoorbereid, gevaar, wandel, gering, verbergen, aard, arbeidsplaats etc. just by looking for English words which seem to be very close?
This is how dutch can me easy to pick up. When reading dutch, I may get confused by brandwonde, but from I can figure out "brand wound," and from context understand they mean a burn. Shampoo is used for hair washing, so i'll remember when I see a Dutch word like "hair washing," that's shampoo."
You picked out two easy words like haarwasmiddel and brandwonde.
Would you really have found out the meaning of words like geheim, onvoorbereid, gevaar, wandel, gering, verbergen, aard, arbeidsplaats etc. just by looking for English words which seem to be very close?
Look at how similar Afrikaans can be to English
"My hand is in warm water."
This phrase is exactly the same in Afrikaans as it is in English.
"My hand is in warm water."
This phrase is exactly the same in Afrikaans as it is in English.
Some of the differences between English and Germanic Language can of course be accounted by isolation, but an idea that's slowly becoming more accepted, is that the development of English was influenced in some ways by a Celtic substratum. Like for example the lack of possessive datives, the use of the present progressive tense, the do periphrasis etc.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Dx-qL0anXSYC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=%22do+periphrasis%22+celtic&source=web&ots=VJILFLkiBe&sig=pEeEabDy9ysZhiJegpyEoVVuDLo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Dx-qL0anXSYC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=%22do+periphrasis%22+celtic&source=web&ots=VJILFLkiBe&sig=pEeEabDy9ysZhiJegpyEoVVuDLo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result
uers2 said:
You picked out two easy words like haarwasmiddel and brandwonde.
Would you really have found out the meaning of words like geheim, onvoorbereid, gevaar, wandel, gering, verbergen, aard, arbeidsplaats etc. just by looking for English words which seem to be very close?
onvoorbereid kinda sounds like unprepared.
wandel - like winding, maybe.
aard - like art
and even then, i'm saying that already knowing the meanings. Again, this is why it would only be possible. Had I never seen those words before, i'd think aard = art, wandel = i could probalbly think of many, onvoorbereid = i'd probably be totally lost, maybe reverberated or something else distant and stupid lol.
But in context, within a sentence, I'd pobably get them. Onvoorbereid would probably be hardest.
But again, what would your point be anyway? No one's saying Dutch will ALWAYS be similar to English. Not to mention how some English words it DOES look like, may be archaic in English.
You picked out two easy words like haarwasmiddel and brandwonde.
Would you really have found out the meaning of words like geheim, onvoorbereid, gevaar, wandel, gering, verbergen, aard, arbeidsplaats etc. just by looking for English words which seem to be very close?
onvoorbereid kinda sounds like unprepared.
wandel - like winding, maybe.
aard - like art
and even then, i'm saying that already knowing the meanings. Again, this is why it would only be possible. Had I never seen those words before, i'd think aard = art, wandel = i could probalbly think of many, onvoorbereid = i'd probably be totally lost, maybe reverberated or something else distant and stupid lol.
But in context, within a sentence, I'd pobably get them. Onvoorbereid would probably be hardest.
But again, what would your point be anyway? No one's saying Dutch will ALWAYS be similar to English. Not to mention how some English words it DOES look like, may be archaic in English.
<<and preposition usage seems much closer to each other than either is to English (even though one does see preposition usage closer to that in Dutch or German in more archaic English and fixed forms like "whereof").>>
Travis,
English preposition formations similar to Dutch/German are not archaic--You have merely cited one such preposition which happens to be archaic: "whereof".
"therefore", "thereby", "whereby", "herein", etc are all still very much used today and are based on the same model.
English - "you're welcome"
Dutch - " (U bent) welkom"
German - "Bitte (schön)"
Travis,
English preposition formations similar to Dutch/German are not archaic--You have merely cited one such preposition which happens to be archaic: "whereof".
"therefore", "thereby", "whereby", "herein", etc are all still very much used today and are based on the same model.
English - "you're welcome"
Dutch - " (U bent) welkom"
German - "Bitte (schön)"
>><<and preposition usage seems much closer to each other than either is to English (even though one does see preposition usage closer to that in Dutch or German in more archaic English and fixed forms like "whereof").>>
Travis,
English preposition formations similar to Dutch/German are not archaic--You have merely cited one such preposition which happens to be archaic: "whereof".
"therefore", "thereby", "whereby", "herein", etc are all still very much used today and are based on the same model.<<
Mind you such forms in English are frozen, unlike their counterparts in Dutch and German, and for that matter have largely fallen out of the everyday spoken language for most people. At least in North American English, the only one of those which is really used on an everyday at all outside expressions such as "lack thereof" is "therefore", and even that has a formal sound to it.
Travis,
English preposition formations similar to Dutch/German are not archaic--You have merely cited one such preposition which happens to be archaic: "whereof".
"therefore", "thereby", "whereby", "herein", etc are all still very much used today and are based on the same model.<<
Mind you such forms in English are frozen, unlike their counterparts in Dutch and German, and for that matter have largely fallen out of the everyday spoken language for most people. At least in North American English, the only one of those which is really used on an everyday at all outside expressions such as "lack thereof" is "therefore", and even that has a formal sound to it.
<<"therefore", "thereby", "whereby", "herein", etc are all still very much used today>>
Leasnam, where are you from? I'm really interested to know where exactly those prepositions are still "very much" used today.
Leasnam, where are you from? I'm really interested to know where exactly those prepositions are still "very much" used today.
<<Mind you such forms in English are frozen, unlike their counterparts in Dutch and German, and for that matter have largely fallen out of the everyday spoken language for most people.>>
okay, then what about: "what for" (same model as 'wherefore' and 'therefore'), "anywho", "outright", "Everlast"...besides, this is just a matter of personal taste--Germans prefer the older adv. first; English has progressed.
of course they're frozen--they have been created and there is no need to revisit them--they work fine. It's like saying that English numerals don't count because they're frozen. : \
<<Leasnam, where are you from?>>
I am American.
"The baboon fell from the tree thereby causing his death"
"I think therefore I am"
"Herein lies the key..."
What would you use in place of these quote/unquote "antiquated" terms?
okay, then what about: "what for" (same model as 'wherefore' and 'therefore'), "anywho", "outright", "Everlast"...besides, this is just a matter of personal taste--Germans prefer the older adv. first; English has progressed.
of course they're frozen--they have been created and there is no need to revisit them--they work fine. It's like saying that English numerals don't count because they're frozen. : \
<<Leasnam, where are you from?>>
I am American.
"The baboon fell from the tree thereby causing his death"
"I think therefore I am"
"Herein lies the key..."
What would you use in place of these quote/unquote "antiquated" terms?
Actually, I was referring to a much more specific type of compound, being the there/where/here + preposition-type compounds (such as English "whereof", German "heraus", and Dutch "daarvoor"), which are extremely common in German and Dutch but mostly frozen and in most cases formal if not archaic in English, and not just any old compounds made out of Germanic words. Even "what for" does not fit that model, even though it is much closer to it than "anywho", "outright", or "everlast"...