2006-09-27 02:21:09 · 13 answers · asked by robwalker1959 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
No, it is not true. English was originally a dialect of Low German from the northern coast of modern Germany. They migrated to the island of Britain in the 5th century, originally settling in the southeastern part of that island. In the 6th century, with the collapse of Celtic civilization in Britain, they expanded to control the entire region now known as England.
EDIT: How many times do we have to say this? English is NOT derived from Latin. The Germanic languages are NOT derived from Latin. The Indo-European languages are NOT derived from Sanskrit. :p
2006-09-27 02:24:45 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Well, the real problem here, is what do you mean by 'original'?
When did English become 'English' rather than just being a dialect of another language? It's a very hard one to answer!
The family of languages is more like one big tree than lots of separate plants. Before Modern English, there was Old English, which was a member of the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, which all (almost certainly) have a common ancestor, a hypothetical language called Proto-Indo-European.
Frisian is supposed to be the closest relative to English... it's spoken in Northern Germany... modern-day Frisian can sound as though you're listening to an English speaker but you just haven't tuned in to what they're saying... (same with Flemish and Dutch, which are closely related!) Of course, Frisian 'branched off' from English because of influence from languages like Gaelic, Norse and factors like the Norman invasion!
2006-09-27 02:48:14 · answer #2 · answered by solomonthecat 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The original English language was Anglo-Saxon, the tongue of the invaders from Northern Europe who pushed the indigenous people into the far corners of the British Isles and who were in turn conquered by the Normans (who ironically were themselves of Viking descent). The indigenous language of the British isles was Celtic and still survives as Welsh, Manx, Cornish, Gaelic and Breton.
2006-09-27 03:22:29 · answer #3 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Saxons were Germanic people who came from Cent ral Europe their language was very similar to German.
Then came the Normans from NORMANDIE they spoke
French, Modern English is a mixture of both plus Latin
and Greek words for scientific English
2006-09-27 05:25:02 · answer #4 · answered by opaalvarez 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, Old English was brought over from Scandanavia by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who conquered the Britons. The name of the land was changed from Britain to Angle Land that became England. The Britons were Celtic. Middle English is a blend of Old English with Norman French after William Duke of Normandy conquered England in 1066.
2006-09-27 03:12:47 · answer #5 · answered by miyuki & kyojin 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
English is an Anglo-Frisian language brought to southeastern Great Britain in the 5th century AD by Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest Germany (Saxons, Angles) as well as Denmark (Jutes).
2006-09-27 02:24:43 · answer #6 · answered by *duh* 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure, but the grammar and spelling on yahoo answers has a lot to be desired. There are times when I have difficulty understanding the question, all I can say is god help people trying to learn english language from this source Buenas tardes
2006-09-27 02:35:04 · answer #7 · answered by xenon 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
the original english language came from germany, anglo saxon.
northern eastern english folk can sound a bit germanic/scandinavian, so maybe you have a point lol.
2006-09-27 02:23:57 · answer #8 · answered by swot 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The language of North-West England at one time was Welsh, so the answer to your question seems to be no.
2006-09-27 02:31:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
English was once Gaelic. It was erradicated by an influx of various invasions. The English we know today is different from 100 years ago. You may even ask, what was the first language and where did it origonate??
2006-09-27 02:26:04 · answer #10 · answered by mick241602 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋