Why are there so many words of apparent (Middle) Dutch origin in English?
I've observed over many occasions of looking up etymologies for words that so many words that entered English during the Middle English and Early Modern period (I don't know the figures) were of Middle Dutch origin, according to linguists. This really surprised me, as besides trade links, I don't know of any particularly close social, cultural, or political ties of England to the Low Countries until the late 17th century. And so many of these words are common, everyday words. (Again, I can't name any off-hand, but perhaps someone could contribute a few.)
So, what could be the reason for this large of influx of common words from Middle Dutch? My gut reaction was that perhaps the etymologists just got it wrong in some of these cases, since with English and Dutch both being Low German languages (within the West Germanic Branch), there's a chance a certain word went completely unattested in surviving texts until relatively late.
Examples of such words:
wagon, blare, bicker, blink, block, blow, deck, golf, grab, hoist, leak, pickle, plug, morass, pit, pump, smelt, slim, slurp, snack, split, stern, trigger
Further examples
etymology middle-english
add a comment |
I've observed over many occasions of looking up etymologies for words that so many words that entered English during the Middle English and Early Modern period (I don't know the figures) were of Middle Dutch origin, according to linguists. This really surprised me, as besides trade links, I don't know of any particularly close social, cultural, or political ties of England to the Low Countries until the late 17th century. And so many of these words are common, everyday words. (Again, I can't name any off-hand, but perhaps someone could contribute a few.)
So, what could be the reason for this large of influx of common words from Middle Dutch? My gut reaction was that perhaps the etymologists just got it wrong in some of these cases, since with English and Dutch both being Low German languages (within the West Germanic Branch), there's a chance a certain word went completely unattested in surviving texts until relatively late.
Examples of such words:
wagon, blare, bicker, blink, block, blow, deck, golf, grab, hoist, leak, pickle, plug, morass, pit, pump, smelt, slim, slurp, snack, split, stern, trigger
Further examples
etymology middle-english
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– tchrist♦
Feb 15 '17 at 2:15
add a comment |
I've observed over many occasions of looking up etymologies for words that so many words that entered English during the Middle English and Early Modern period (I don't know the figures) were of Middle Dutch origin, according to linguists. This really surprised me, as besides trade links, I don't know of any particularly close social, cultural, or political ties of England to the Low Countries until the late 17th century. And so many of these words are common, everyday words. (Again, I can't name any off-hand, but perhaps someone could contribute a few.)
So, what could be the reason for this large of influx of common words from Middle Dutch? My gut reaction was that perhaps the etymologists just got it wrong in some of these cases, since with English and Dutch both being Low German languages (within the West Germanic Branch), there's a chance a certain word went completely unattested in surviving texts until relatively late.
Examples of such words:
wagon, blare, bicker, blink, block, blow, deck, golf, grab, hoist, leak, pickle, plug, morass, pit, pump, smelt, slim, slurp, snack, split, stern, trigger
Further examples
etymology middle-english
I've observed over many occasions of looking up etymologies for words that so many words that entered English during the Middle English and Early Modern period (I don't know the figures) were of Middle Dutch origin, according to linguists. This really surprised me, as besides trade links, I don't know of any particularly close social, cultural, or political ties of England to the Low Countries until the late 17th century. And so many of these words are common, everyday words. (Again, I can't name any off-hand, but perhaps someone could contribute a few.)
So, what could be the reason for this large of influx of common words from Middle Dutch? My gut reaction was that perhaps the etymologists just got it wrong in some of these cases, since with English and Dutch both being Low German languages (within the West Germanic Branch), there's a chance a certain word went completely unattested in surviving texts until relatively late.
Examples of such words:
wagon, blare, bicker, blink, block, blow, deck, golf, grab, hoist, leak, pickle, plug, morass, pit, pump, smelt, slim, slurp, snack, split, stern, trigger
Further examples
etymology middle-english
etymology middle-english
edited Feb 14 '17 at 2:11
Noldorin
asked Feb 14 '17 at 1:39
NoldorinNoldorin
10.5k24659
10.5k24659
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– tchrist♦
Feb 15 '17 at 2:15
add a comment |
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– tchrist♦
Feb 15 '17 at 2:15
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– tchrist♦
Feb 15 '17 at 2:15
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– tchrist♦
Feb 15 '17 at 2:15
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Nearly half of these words (not to mention others, like buoy) seem to be related to seafaring or fishing:
block, deck, hoist, leak, plug, pump, smelt, stern, trigger.
And one can imagine that many of the others might have come into the language through sailor's lingo.
Maybe you should narrow down the question to: how closely did Dutch and English sailors interact in the Middle Ages? Maybe fishermen moonlighted as smugglers back then, and got to know their Dutch counterparts fairly well. Or maybe some ships had multinational crews.
1
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
2
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
2
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
2
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
|
show 7 more comments
What about the Flemmings?
They spoke Dutch and lived very close to England (see map). According to "Flemings in the Fens Research Association":
- Perhaps the most notable Flemish fact to that time was that about one-third of the invading Norman army of 1066 came from Flanders (Murray 1985). The Flemish mercenaries were there as a result of a marriage arrangement by William the Conqueror for a niece and a Flemish count. Many Flemings stayed in England after the Conquest.
- One of the most enduring Flemish facts in England is related to the immigration of skilled Flemish weavers and textile workers to major centres such as London, Norwich and Colchester from the 11th to the 16th C.
Flemish Migrations
The County of Flanders is the small yellow blob south east of England:
Antiqua Print Gallery
2
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
2
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f373582%2fwhy-are-there-so-many-words-of-apparent-middle-dutch-origin-in-english%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Nearly half of these words (not to mention others, like buoy) seem to be related to seafaring or fishing:
block, deck, hoist, leak, plug, pump, smelt, stern, trigger.
And one can imagine that many of the others might have come into the language through sailor's lingo.
Maybe you should narrow down the question to: how closely did Dutch and English sailors interact in the Middle Ages? Maybe fishermen moonlighted as smugglers back then, and got to know their Dutch counterparts fairly well. Or maybe some ships had multinational crews.
1
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
2
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
2
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
2
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
|
show 7 more comments
Nearly half of these words (not to mention others, like buoy) seem to be related to seafaring or fishing:
block, deck, hoist, leak, plug, pump, smelt, stern, trigger.
And one can imagine that many of the others might have come into the language through sailor's lingo.
Maybe you should narrow down the question to: how closely did Dutch and English sailors interact in the Middle Ages? Maybe fishermen moonlighted as smugglers back then, and got to know their Dutch counterparts fairly well. Or maybe some ships had multinational crews.
1
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
2
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
2
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
2
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
|
show 7 more comments
Nearly half of these words (not to mention others, like buoy) seem to be related to seafaring or fishing:
block, deck, hoist, leak, plug, pump, smelt, stern, trigger.
And one can imagine that many of the others might have come into the language through sailor's lingo.
Maybe you should narrow down the question to: how closely did Dutch and English sailors interact in the Middle Ages? Maybe fishermen moonlighted as smugglers back then, and got to know their Dutch counterparts fairly well. Or maybe some ships had multinational crews.
Nearly half of these words (not to mention others, like buoy) seem to be related to seafaring or fishing:
block, deck, hoist, leak, plug, pump, smelt, stern, trigger.
And one can imagine that many of the others might have come into the language through sailor's lingo.
Maybe you should narrow down the question to: how closely did Dutch and English sailors interact in the Middle Ages? Maybe fishermen moonlighted as smugglers back then, and got to know their Dutch counterparts fairly well. Or maybe some ships had multinational crews.
edited Feb 14 '17 at 2:34
answered Feb 14 '17 at 2:25
Peter Shor Peter Shor
62.3k5117225
62.3k5117225
1
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
2
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
2
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
2
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
|
show 7 more comments
1
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
2
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
2
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
2
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
1
1
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
Thanks for your answer. I'm not so sure about "smelt" and "trigger" relating to seafaring (at least not directly), but you make a sound point. And yes, if we could answer the question of how/why/when English and Dutch sailors interacted over the period of (say) late Anglo-Saxon times to the Early Modern period, that would help elucidate this matter.
– Noldorin
Feb 14 '17 at 2:57
2
2
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
@Noldorin Probably smelt, the fish.
– deadrat
Feb 14 '17 at 5:55
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
We have a number of seafaring words from Low German in German, too. On your list I immediately recognize Deck and Leck.
– Carsten S
Feb 14 '17 at 8:45
2
2
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
@deadrat: That's what I was thinking. But the smelt that comes from Middle Dutch is the "melting metal" meaning. The fish comes from Old English.
– Peter Shor
Feb 14 '17 at 12:07
2
2
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
The Dutch were a seafaring nation for a long time, so this could very well be the key. How much they interacted isn't exactly relevant, it's more that the Dutch had a great presence back in the day. The Dutch East India Company lasted almost 2 centuries.
– Mast
Feb 14 '17 at 20:44
|
show 7 more comments
What about the Flemmings?
They spoke Dutch and lived very close to England (see map). According to "Flemings in the Fens Research Association":
- Perhaps the most notable Flemish fact to that time was that about one-third of the invading Norman army of 1066 came from Flanders (Murray 1985). The Flemish mercenaries were there as a result of a marriage arrangement by William the Conqueror for a niece and a Flemish count. Many Flemings stayed in England after the Conquest.
- One of the most enduring Flemish facts in England is related to the immigration of skilled Flemish weavers and textile workers to major centres such as London, Norwich and Colchester from the 11th to the 16th C.
Flemish Migrations
The County of Flanders is the small yellow blob south east of England:
Antiqua Print Gallery
2
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
2
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
add a comment |
What about the Flemmings?
They spoke Dutch and lived very close to England (see map). According to "Flemings in the Fens Research Association":
- Perhaps the most notable Flemish fact to that time was that about one-third of the invading Norman army of 1066 came from Flanders (Murray 1985). The Flemish mercenaries were there as a result of a marriage arrangement by William the Conqueror for a niece and a Flemish count. Many Flemings stayed in England after the Conquest.
- One of the most enduring Flemish facts in England is related to the immigration of skilled Flemish weavers and textile workers to major centres such as London, Norwich and Colchester from the 11th to the 16th C.
Flemish Migrations
The County of Flanders is the small yellow blob south east of England:
Antiqua Print Gallery
2
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
2
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
add a comment |
What about the Flemmings?
They spoke Dutch and lived very close to England (see map). According to "Flemings in the Fens Research Association":
- Perhaps the most notable Flemish fact to that time was that about one-third of the invading Norman army of 1066 came from Flanders (Murray 1985). The Flemish mercenaries were there as a result of a marriage arrangement by William the Conqueror for a niece and a Flemish count. Many Flemings stayed in England after the Conquest.
- One of the most enduring Flemish facts in England is related to the immigration of skilled Flemish weavers and textile workers to major centres such as London, Norwich and Colchester from the 11th to the 16th C.
Flemish Migrations
The County of Flanders is the small yellow blob south east of England:
Antiqua Print Gallery
What about the Flemmings?
They spoke Dutch and lived very close to England (see map). According to "Flemings in the Fens Research Association":
- Perhaps the most notable Flemish fact to that time was that about one-third of the invading Norman army of 1066 came from Flanders (Murray 1985). The Flemish mercenaries were there as a result of a marriage arrangement by William the Conqueror for a niece and a Flemish count. Many Flemings stayed in England after the Conquest.
- One of the most enduring Flemish facts in England is related to the immigration of skilled Flemish weavers and textile workers to major centres such as London, Norwich and Colchester from the 11th to the 16th C.
Flemish Migrations
The County of Flanders is the small yellow blob south east of England:
Antiqua Print Gallery
answered Feb 14 '17 at 4:01
LaurelLaurel
32.9k664117
32.9k664117
2
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
2
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
add a comment |
2
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
2
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
2
2
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
As an English person of Flemish descent, I had always presumed this was the correct answer to this question. Some of the similarities between English and dialects of Dutch spoken in Flemish areas are startling: one can practically understand them word for word.
– Matt Thrower
Feb 14 '17 at 14:30
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
Thanks, but this doesn't fully answer the question I'm afraid. (Also, it looks very much like what @ab2 posted in the comments section, but perhaps that's coincidence!) Proximity alone is far from enough. I mean, Wales and Scotland are just as close (and Ireland is closer than Flanders, socioculturally at leat)... yet the words from their native Celtic languages that entered English are very few indeed.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:15
2
2
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
@MattThrower: For simple sentences, this can be surprisingly true, yes. In particular with the Frisian language. But the reason is due to the fact they share a (relatively close) common ancestor in the Low German dialects of NW Germany and the Low Countries. The Angles, Saxons, etc. migrated to/invaded England, and thence their languages slowly diverged – although they did evolve in similar ways, by coincidence, cultural contact, and natural linguistics phenomena.
– Noldorin
Feb 15 '17 at 1:17
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f373582%2fwhy-are-there-so-many-words-of-apparent-middle-dutch-origin-in-english%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
– tchrist♦
Feb 15 '17 at 2:15