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Art, Music, History, and Linguistics
English is not normal, says John McWhorter
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[QUOTE="N1206, post: 6826706, member: 659058"] The Nordics are where English got subject-verb-object grammar from, which Dutch does not have--and so the Nordic languages may indeed be easier to pick up than Dutch. And the Dutch have kept the German 'megaword' habit. 'Cellular telephone factory parking lot' could very well be a single word in Dutch--and that fries English-speaking brains. The longest work in English is 'antidisestablishmentarianism', but that is just a wee thing compared to hundreds of Dutch words (and while American dictionaries may not have that long word in them, yes it is a thing. Look up Bishop Strachan and Upper Canadian history from the 1830's) So the Nordic languages might be easier--but all those symbols above the letters! But Fries. Sample size of one, but still. My dad is from North Holland, came to Canada in 1953 and speaks very good English. His friends came from Friesland in 1962 and also speak very good English. And when they speak Fries, dad doesn't understand them at all. If Fries were so close to English, then knowing English and Dutch should make picking up Fries easier. It doesn't. And Newfinese. I work with Newfoundlanders. Have for 20 years. We had an outporter work here once. The lad from St. John's couldn't understand him most of the time. I never understood a word he said. One of the lads from a bunch farther north than St. John's could make him out and translate, because otherwise, forget it. [/QUOTE]
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English is not normal, says John McWhorter
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