2007-03-06 07:47:29 · 3 answers · asked by adikanelie 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Vocabulary--English has a great variety of words due to successive waves of invaders coming into England. The Celts were there first; the Vikings (Scandinavians/Germanic) brought their languages; then William the Conqueror brought French/Latin terms. English is a wonderful language to play with because any given idea may have multiple terms for it, culled from several different languages.
The Celts and Scandinavians also produced some of the earliest poetry in "English."
2007-03-06 07:58:15 · answer #1 · answered by katbyrd41 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
English because when the Anglo Saxons moved to England they encountered many Celtic speaking peoples. Scandinavian languages when the people from Denmark and Sweden and Norway invaded England for a short time.
2007-03-06 15:51:04 · answer #2 · answered by ¥¥Z 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Celtic very minor now, Scandinavian more so but both are now mainly present in place or feature names - beck, tarn.
Saxon was a far greater influence. 99 of the most common 100 words are Saxon in origin.
2007-03-06 15:51:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋