[net.followup] English

cas (04/17/83)

   I would like to remind you all that there is no such thing as an
"English" word.  They *all* came from French or German (or Greek, or
Latin, or Japanese, or Martian...).  All of our "rules" are statistical
peculiarities.
			Cliff Shaffer
			...{mcnc,we13,seismo}!rlgvax!cvl!cas

ray (04/19/83)

So all English words come from French, German etc etc.

What you are saying is either that these languages are somehow different
in that they are root languages and English is not, or that perhaps no
languages are root.

Rubbish. All languages including English have many root words (mostly Anglo-
Saxon in English) and many words derived and adapted from other languages.

Most basic English words that I can think of right now should probably
be given in rot13, e.g. f**t, f**k, s**t etc!!

cas (04/20/83)

   Further comments and clarifications on this subject follow in
net.nlang - I suggest we move this conversation (and the original
"weird" conversation) there.

			Cliff Shaffer
			...{mcnc,we13,seismo}!rlgvax!cvl!cas

mjl (04/21/83)

While it is true that all languages have words and phrases borrowed from other
cultures, English seems to be particularly prone to such assimilation.  I, for
one, think English is all the richer for this.  Just look at all the synonyms
for a simple word like house (domicile, mansion, cottage, etc.), contemplate
the subtle connotations of each, and realize that much of this subtlety is due
to the diverse origins of the words.  Of course, we pay for this flexibility
and expressiveness with the baroque spelling "rules" of English.

It is also interesting to note the fanatic intensity with which the purity of
French is upheld by the Academy, in cooperation with the French government.
Not knowing French very well, I'd like to see a comparison of the relative ex-
pressiveness of French and English.

Further discussions of this and other language topics should probably move to
net.nlang (that's where I'll be).

Mike Lutz (ucbvax!allegra!rochester!mjl)