2007-02-16 02:39:26 · 9 answers · asked by goose 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Technically, no. The structure of the English language is Germanic, and so similar to German. Much of the English vocabulary is derived from Germanic languages.
Compare sentences like 'You are my father' to the german 'Du bist meinen Vater'.
However most English vocabulary is derived from French, which is a Romance language. This is due to the Normans conquering England in the middle ages from Normandy in France. What tends to have happened is that the French influence was mainly felt on the more complex words and ideas. This was due to the new French speaking rulers dominating political and aristocratic life. The germanic vocabulary prevailed among the lower classes to describe simplier everyday life.
So many French (or other Romance) words should be easily recognisable to English speakers. ie. poulet is French for chicken. Compare this to the english word poultry and you can see the link. Cheval is French for horse, compare this to cavalry and you can also see the link.
2007-02-16 03:10:11 · answer #1 · answered by leonardjos 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
English is a Germanic (Teutonic) language. However, due to the presence of French-speaking Normans from Normandy (France), the language adopted many French words. French was also the official language of England during the rule of the Normans. Please note that the motto of the British monarchy, "Dieu et mon droit" ("God and my right") appears underneath the national coat of arms. Also words ending in "ion" (transportation, communication, reservation, etc.) are all French. Other languages such as Spanish (armadillo, etc.) and Portuguese (lemonade, marmalade, etc.) have had a minor influence on the language.
2007-02-16 03:10:22 · answer #2 · answered by The "L" Word 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, English is a Teutonic Language not Romance
2007-02-16 03:11:40 · answer #3 · answered by Rowdy Andy 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
No. English is 100% a Germanic language. If you look at the grammar of English, it is 100% Germanic. If you look at the 1000 most common words of English, they are 90% Germanic. If you look at the French/Latin vocabulary of English it is primarily in the least common vocabulary of English. If you recorded every word you speak in an average day, 80% of them would be Germanic. English is GERMANIC.
2007-02-16 03:50:10 · answer #4 · answered by Taivo 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No. The romance languages (spanish, french, romanian, italian, etc.) are descended from Latin (Romance comes from Roman, not that they are romantic). English is a Germanic Language
2007-02-16 02:47:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 1⤋
No, english is germanic (with german, swedish, danish, dutch) but it is very latinized and franc...mm has a lot of words borrowed from french.
2007-02-16 13:31:13 · answer #6 · answered by TRN 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
no, but England was conquered or influenced by popolations (romans, french-speaking normans,)that brought there a lot of romance words
2007-02-16 03:24:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
english is the language for thugs, holligans, and slang. This also raises the question why english is the international language. But then again, you always see people in China, Europe, Middle east, and the western world all trying to rap and act like tupac, eminem, and Missy Elliot...... etc.
2007-02-16 02:56:56 · answer #8 · answered by the_hells_that 2 · 1⤊ 6⤋
no. its Germanic
2007-02-16 03:41:57 · answer #9 · answered by nola_cajun 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋