RE: The German Language
January 17, 2016 at 5:13 pm
(This post was last modified: January 17, 2016 at 5:14 pm by Regina.)
(January 17, 2016 at 5:03 pm)Redbeard The Pink Wrote: Alex is right. Most of our Latin roots came in from Old French because English wasn't considered "pretty" enough compared to French. That kind of language shaming is also part of the reason that even the Germanic parts of English have so many silent letters that weren't there prior to this period (the "u" in the word "build" wasn't always there, for example). They were literally just adding letters to their words to make them prettier on paper like French words.
I think in these cases, it's just because the pronunciation has shifted over time, but the spelling has stayed the same. I know this is the case with words like "five" and "time" for example, which used to be pronounced "feeveh" and "teemeh" in old and maybe middle English. It's just that the "eh" sound on the end is now silent and the "I" sound has shifted.
It could be that "Build" used to actually be pronounced "bwild", especially considering both Dutch and German words for "build" have a u/w sounded letter in them.
"Adulthood is like looking both ways before you cross the road, and then getting hit by an airplane" - sarcasm_only
"Ironically like the nativist far-Right, which despises multiculturalism, but benefits from its ideas of difference to scapegoat the other and to promote its own white identity politics; these postmodernists, leftists, feminists and liberals also use multiculturalism, to side with the oppressor, by demanding respect and tolerance for oppression characterised as 'difference', no matter how intolerable." - Maryam Namazie
"Ironically like the nativist far-Right, which despises multiculturalism, but benefits from its ideas of difference to scapegoat the other and to promote its own white identity politics; these postmodernists, leftists, feminists and liberals also use multiculturalism, to side with the oppressor, by demanding respect and tolerance for oppression characterised as 'difference', no matter how intolerable." - Maryam Namazie
