[Discuss] English

[SerraAvenger]

English is the one approach to human communication with the cleanest user interface: There are no weird dialogs.

What is your definition for the english language? Discuss!

 

[ReVolver]

A language that doesn't follow it's rules in many cases, that's what I think of it. I rather read and write Spanish, but it's an international language so we all must get used to it

 

[UndeadDragon]

English is a mongrel language which is basically loads of languages thrown together. That's why it has so many bizarre spellings and sometimes we just take a word from another language and use it: E.g "Enjambment", which comes from the French language.

The good thing about English is that you can sling any words into a sentence and it will make at least a bit of sense (hopefully). In English, the word structure is not as important as in other languages.

 

[DogOfHavoc]

English is the one approach to human communication with the cleanest user interface: There are no wierd dialogs.

What is your definition for the english language? Discuss!

wierd= weird

I'm sorry, I couldn't pass on the irony.

 

[Miz]

English will take over the world if it already hasn't. Many argue its a flawed language because 40%+ of its own words don't follow its own grammar rules. This has two reasons for it, the first comes from its origin which is a mix of Latin-Based (French) and Germanic (Anglo-Saxon). So essentially its a Germanic language containing Latin Rules.

However both languages are apart of it like;
"Ask" - German
"Interrogate' - French
Both essentially mean the same thing but both come from different backgrounds.

The Next is the more major reason for the English's messed up language. The fact that it has the ability to absorb any language that gets too close. English is the largest language in the world by 50,000+ words and its still growing, the reason why is because it adopts constantly new words from other languages, to the point that it starts merging with them and making them obsolete.
Examples of this would be that Studies show, French in France will be completely replaced by English except for some areas like Paris in about 30-80 years. Making French essentially a dead language.

 

[Ninva]

I write to woo young women.

 

[SerraAvenger]

However both languages are apart of it like;
"Ask" - German
"Interrogate' - French
Both essentially mean the same thing but both come from different backgrounds.

You sure about "ask" being german? Germanic maybe, but I'm quite sure that the german expression is "Fragen" which doesn't have any obvious relation to the word "ask" ; )

Examples of this would be that Studies show, French in France will be completely replaced by English except for some areas like Paris in about 30-80 years. Making French essentially a dead language.

Well... I think that french is still the dominant language in france and will stay like that for quite a while, looking at the radio shows (10% of the songs MUST BE in french etc) and at the actual English education. From all the different accents I ever heard, the french one was the most difficult to understand (for me). Some people say it is due to french patriotism. Since their language was so heavily rooted within them, they'ld think of other languages to be less worth the efforts of learning them - even the english language.

I, a german native speaker, think that the english language is much more diverse, thus more "powerfull" and beautifull. I fear I haven't mastered its use yet (Last wednesday, I said "They must be extincted!" - to the very amusement of my english teacher )

 

[mr-death]

Languages themselves are just there because humans exist.

However, English is yet the most globally distributed language in the world.

I still wonder why it could be a subject in my school, and how it could get a significant place in my school report.

We are just told that English is useful for us. And it is, isn't it?

I mean, I wouldn't be here now if I didn't know English.

 

[codemonkey]

English is falling to Chinese Miz.

 

[Squll2]

English is falling to Chinese Miz.

Not true. Chinese will never become a widely accept language like English because, like English it is incredibly hard to pick up if it isn't your first language... Unless China takes over the world.

Yes. Chinese is the most "spoken" language in the world because of China's Massive numbers. But it is not the most wide-spread.

 

[Tru_Power22]

Not true. Chinese will never become a widely accept language like English because, like English it is incredibly hard to pick up if it isn't your first language... Unless China takes over the world.

Yes. Chinese is the most "spoken" language in the world because of China's Massive numbers. But it is not the most wide-spread.

The reasoning English is so wide spread is because the Brits set up colonies all over the world. Giving it a lot of influence. It really is a a crappy language though, seeing as the grammar is ridicules to learn if it isn't your first language.

 

[UndeadDragon]

The grammar is similar to most languages in the world, apart from Chinese (one reason why it is harder for most people to learn).

The reasoning English is so wide spread is because the Brits set up colonies all over the world

Not all countries that speak English are British colonies. I spent the week in Berlin and they speak great English.

Another thing that seperates English from a lot of other languages is that it does not have masculine, feminine and neutral nouns. English only uses "the" or "a", whereas German, for example, uses "das", "die", "der" and "ein", "eine", "einen".

 

[Tru_Power22]

The grammar is similar to most languages in the world, apart from Chinese (one reason why it is harder for most people to learn).



Not all countries that speak English are British colonies. I spent the week in Berlin and they speak great English.

Another thing that seperates English from a lot of other languages is that it does not have masculine, feminine and neutral nouns. English only uses "the" or "a", whereas German, for example, uses "das", "die", "der" and "ein", "eine", "einen".

Yeah, I took German for 6 years, that still confuses the hell out of me.

 

[tooltiperror]

-cough- Here's an excrept from my Latin Teacher's paper she wrote for us on Facebook.

> Germanic Language and Latin rules make up the English Language. English is a vast language and super adaptable, because it takes other languages' words and twists them into English, so it is a parisitic language. One day, with enough teachers, it could take over the world. If a language were to completely take over, there would likely not be an end to it, because no new language could take over. Even the Chinese would suck up that no one spoke their language and give up eventually. This would make communication and relationships between countries possible.​

Just adding that to the discussion.

 

[ElderKingpin]

English has got to the be only language i know of that can take an accent from ANY country/language/people etc.

 

[Siretu]

English is, as was previously stated, more wide-spread than Chinese. English is spreading across the world, and the internet just makes more people learn it(although there's a big group who devolve the language with "u" and "r" and such)

Personally, I like english. I'm swedish but my thoughts are 20% english. I often find that the swedish language lack ways to express what I want and I often wish I could just switch to english in the middle of a sentence without people looking weirdly at me.

 

[SerraAvenger]

Personally, I like english. I'm swedish but my thoughts are 20% english. I often find that the swedish language lack ways to express what I want and I often wish I could just switch to english in the middle of a sentence without people looking weirdly at me.

Same here, just with german being the primitive language.

 

[tooltiperror]

I'm so glad I only speak English, Latin is very similar, but a bit easier in lots of ways.

Like Direct Object ends in M. Not a lot of room for error.

 

[Varine]

When I first moved here I would accidentally combine Russian and English a lot for some reason when talking. And I always missed articles... I hate articles....

 

[T.s.e]

Personally, I like english. I'm swedish but my thoughts are 20% english. I often find that the swedish language lack ways to express what I want and I often wish I could just switch to english in the middle of a sentence without people looking weirdly at me.

I usually think in English, and not in my native language. I've also noticed that it's much harder for me to find the words to say in Norwegian than in English, it's pretty spooky.