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Is English a “creole Language”?

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu

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Re: Is English a “creole Language”?

#161
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned the same phrase in perfect BBC Polish and it backfired. I said it so well that the Poles just ignored it and continued to speak in Polish. Then I ended up with a Polish girlfriend back in the states and learned real fast. She was gorgeous.

That was exactly the response I got. However, I did not end up with a Polish girlfriend. Your "She was gorgeous", is, I recall, redundant.

> Your "She was gorgeous", is, I recall, redundant.

Your recollection is accurate

Re: Is English a “creole Language”?

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very much debatable. Only around one in four English words is Germanic in origin, whereas half of English words are Latinic or Romanic. [1] Some properties of English's grammar are also more similar to Romance languages than Germanic ones. For example, whereas Germanic languages only mark tense on verbs, English verbs (like Spanish verbs) are marked with aspect in addition to tense: there is a distinction bet…

> Only around one in four English words is Germanic in origin, whereas half of English words are Latinic or Romanic. Are you measuring by fraction of words in a word list, or fraction of words in a typical utterance? Word usage is highly non-uniform, so you'll get very different ratios between the former and latter.

>Are you measuring by fraction of words in a word list, or fraction of words in a typical utterance?

I think he's measuring the first, which gives a skewed picture, the latter is why english is considered a germanic language. The core of the language is all germanic words and you can still get by reasonably well without using any of the french/latin additions. Generally if a word is smaller and less 'fancy' it's of germanic origins, if it's longer and 'fancier' it's probably of romance origins.

Re: Is English a “creole Language”?

#163

We know that human populations have been mixing throughout history, including with species that no longer exist. We (Homo Sapiens) have genetic adaptations for speech, so it seems likely (but unproven AFAIK), that some Ur proto sound communication immediately fractured on migration, with isolated groups diverging rapidly, such that languages were not mutually comprehensible. Languages are cultural, so mutate much fas…

Having dealt with litigation in both varieties of jursidiction, I much prefer code over common law (the latter leads to the rent-seeking grift of providing search engines for sufficiently handy precedents, and a long phase of arguing over what the law may be, instead of starting from a shared understanding of the law and going directly to arguing about what the facts may be).

As to the actual question: for immediate relatives of english, perhaps icelandic (is)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_language#:~:text=Tho....

In the indo-european context, lithuanian (lt) is said to be relatively conservative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_language#Old_Lithua...

If we don't require widespread oral use, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese (lzh) goes back a ways, but by current I think you do mean to require widespread spoken use. this also disqualifies (he) for the interregnum during which it was merely liturgical.

A basic issue seems to be that within a language family, different branches tend to conserve and innovate in different ways, making it difficult to pick "most conservative" out of any current members.

Did you have any languages in mind?

Re: Is English a “creole Language”?

#164
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very much reminds me of a Kids in the Hall skit from ages ago. Two guys are at a party, one says "hello", the other says -- in perfect English -- "Sorry I don't understand you, I don't speak English. please don't beat me up." The first guy assumes it's a joke and plays along until he gets annoyed at the perfect accent and responses ("no really, I don't understand what you're saying, nor what I'm saying, I've just pra…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vgoEhsJORU

Since we're posting skits, I'll post this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk

Re: Is English a “creole Language”?

#165

We know that human populations have been mixing throughout history, including with species that no longer exist. We (Homo Sapiens) have genetic adaptations for speech, so it seems likely (but unproven AFAIK), that some Ur proto sound communication immediately fractured on migration, with isolated groups diverging rapidly, such that languages were not mutually comprehensible. Languages are cultural, so mutate much fas…

Having dealt with litigation in both varieties of jursidiction, I much prefer code over common law (the latter leads to the rent-seeking grift of providing search engines for sufficiently handy precedents, and a long phase of arguing over what the law may be, instead of starting from a shared understanding of the law and going directly to arguing about what the facts may be). As to the actual question: for immediate…

Not so conservative, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language (fa) has old roots.

[on a tangent: Cyrus' mother was so and so, but his father is only said to have been (λέγεται) so and so. Anyone know if this is a common greek formulation, or was Xenophon throwing shade?]

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