Re: OT: NB as Xy

["Patricia M. Godfrey" priscamg@xxxxxxxx]

Robert Holmgren wrote:
> Dutch is the parent of English.
Well, A parent, surely? Because though the _structure_ (idiom,
syntax, what grammar is left) of English is Germanic, a huge
percentage (85? 80? surely more than 75?) of the vocabulary is of
Latin origin: directly (through the law and the church,
scholarship at various periods, and the International Scientific
Vocabulary) or indirectly through Norman French and loan words
from other romance languages? I'm reminded of a quip of G. K.
Chesterton's: Chaucer invented English by making it half French.
Would not pass muster as historical linguistics, but a fair
enough reflection of how it looks to the well-read non-scholar.

And--nitpicking being an occupational requirement for copy
editors--would it not be more accurate to call it an elder
sibling? That is, the Angles spoke a language that evolved in one
direction into modern Dutch (and Flemish?) and in the other into
English? You're the expert here, but perhaps you were simplifying
for your audience? Or has the received opinion changed since I
dabbled in the history of the English language?
> Dutch, in British
> minds, equalled Deutsch -- platen Deutsch.
Rather as Americans call the Mennonite communities of German
origin "Pennsylvania Dutch."

--
Patricia M. Godfrey
PriscaMG@xxxxxxxx