Too many people have peed in the pool

Re:Too many people have peed in the pool by tremon on Monday February 15, 2016 @01:15PM (#11104916)

But the Germanic language family is quite large; it basically describes every language spoken on the Northern Atlantic coast. You can't say "it's Germanic" and then say "it's hardly related to Dutch or German".

As for the development of the English language, I believe it derives mostly from Saxon - Frisian - Norse - French, in chronological order. I'm pretty sure Celtic should also be on that list, but I don't know in what order or to what extent.

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Re:Too many people have peed in the pool by JetSetWilly on Monday February 15, 2016 @02:04PM (#11105205)

English and Dutch are similar because they share a common ancestor. But the direct influence of Dutch upon English is minimal. Relatedness and Influence are distinct concepts, the language that influenced English was an ancestor of both Dutch and English, and so the influence of Dutch itself on English has been small compared to other languages like French.

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Re:Too many people have peed in the pool by gaur on Monday February 15, 2016 @05:30PM (#11106537)

> You can't say "it's Germanic" and then say "it's hardly related to Dutch or German".

That's not what I said. I said "it's Germanic" and "it's not a child of German or Dutch".

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