Why the English language is odd
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The writer outlines the history of English and how the many different languages that contributed to it caused it to be so different from most other languages. Some of the oddities he notes are quite fascinating because we English-speakers take them so much for granted. He only hints, however, at what is probably the English language’s greatest gift — its gigantic vocabulary resulting from its remarkable ability to absorb new words — which probably comes from that same polyglot history.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar to the right or below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Link here.
The writer outlines the history of English and how the many different languages that contributed to it caused it to be so different from most other languages. Some of the oddities he notes are quite fascinating because we English-speakers take them so much for granted. He only hints, however, at what is probably the English language’s greatest gift — its gigantic vocabulary resulting from its remarkable ability to absorb new words — which probably comes from that same polyglot history.
I think that a major part of English’s problems is that we have way too many vowel phonemes and too little vowel letters. So we had to invent new ways of using letter combos to make different sounds. This is unlike Spanish which has five vowel sounds and five vowel letters.
Maybe you misunderstand my perspective. I don’t see any of these English oddities as problems. They aren’t bugs, they are features! Or at least, they are a reflection of the way the language formed, which gave us the largest vocabulary and richest language the world knows.
I have heard English described as the result of Norman Knights working to seduce Saxon Barmaids.
I saw a t-shirt at a science fiction convention that said something like “English doesn’t borrow from other languages, it hunts them down in dark alleys and mugs them.”
Japanese seems close to English in terms of loaned/borrowed words, and neologisms.
The neat thing about Japanese is that when they borrow a word, they write it in a phonetic alphabet (katakana) dedicated to foreign words. Because there are so few sounds in the Japanese language, sometimes it can be hard to figure out the original English word that served as the inspiration.
My favorite is “baa kodo,” or bar code, describing the hairstyle of a balding man who combs the few hairs he has left across the top of his head (from a bird’s eye view his head looks like it has a bar code).
This well written article seems to closely follow this prior work:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375320/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsVz5U76kX0
Convergent thoughts perhaps?
I am the product of several Norman knights and Saxon barmaids. Some Viking raiders and Pict barmaids as well.
If you examine Norwegian, it is a kind of middle ground between German and English.
Related:
Free American First Amendment English language for me but not for thee.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/11/clinton-goes-after-laugh-factory-comedians-for-making-fun-of-her/
A little too thin skinned for me, and that is the least objectionable thing about her and her followers.
She does not like this Free American First Amendment English language either.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/11/18/watch-how-hillary-clintons-security-handles-man-calmly-holding-sign-critical-of-candidate-during-rally/