spanish,french, english

bernard   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:14 am GMT
you're right I would never had guess that 'kans' means 'chance' :-)
Sander   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:23 am GMT
I would never had guessed bateau was a Dutch loan either! :-)
Guest   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:33 am GMT
Actually, "bateau" comes from OE "bât" (circa 1138), as does the Dutch word for boat.
Sander   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:37 am GMT
No, impossible.

Bateau comes from Frankish, (read Old Dutch 700 AD) 'batteu' or 'batter'. Saying that Dutch uses an OE word for boat is ridiculous.
Guest   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:42 am GMT
Middle English bot, from Old English bāt.]


http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:XLXIw55DkKUJ:www.answers.com/topic/boat+origin+of+the+word+boat&hl=fr
Sander   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:44 am GMT
My sources are a bit more reliable:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=boat&searchmode=term
Guest   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:47 am GMT
"bit more reliable:"
why?
Sander   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:52 am GMT
Because my information is from a specialized site about English etymology and your information is from a google search.
Guest   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:54 am GMT
"specialized site about English etymology "?

really, because it says it is speacialized?


You are specialized of something?
Guest2   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:56 am GMT
Then it's not a Dutch loanword, only an Old English or Old Norse loanword.
Sander   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:58 am GMT
No, it is specialized, unlike answers.com etymonoline is a site that focusses on (English) etymology only.


=>You are specialized of something? <=

Come again?
Sander   Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:59 am GMT
=>Then it's not a Dutch loanword, only an Old English or Old Norse loanword. <=

What are you talking about? I'm talking about the origins of the French word 'bateau' not the English word 'boat'.
Guest2   Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:12 am GMT
I'm talking about the origin of the French word 'bateau'.

bateau [bato] n. m.

• batel 1138; a. angl. bât (angl. mod. boat)

What were you talking about again?
greg   Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:31 am GMT
On ne sait pas si le mot français est d'origine néerlandais ou anglo-saxonne.
Candy   Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:49 am GMT
<<Do English speakers find the Romance languages are easier to learn than the German ones or is it the other way round? >>

Personally, I've always been able to read French much more easily than German, but I was always much better at speaking German than French. For me at least, the vast number of synonyms in English and French makes (written) French fairly easy to understand, whereas I find the rhythms and stress of German much easier to speak.

I would venture that most English speakers would find a Romance text much easier and more 'familiar' than a Germanic one, although I'm willing to believe there are exceptions to this.