Is English language more Romance or Germanic ? (test your abilities)

I think that if a compatriot of mine, who only knows the Spanish language, is given to read texts in Portuguese, Italian, French and English, most likely he understands almost all the Portuguese text, much less of the Italian text, less even of the French text ... but of the English text, except for a few words of Latin origin (many with different meanings than in Spanish), he would understand almost nothing ...
 
I think that if a compatriot of mine, who only knows the Spanish language, is given to read texts in Portuguese, Italian, French and English, most likely he understands almost all the Portuguese text, much less of the Italian text, less even of the French text ... but of the English text, except for a few words of Latin origin (many with different meanings than in Spanish), he would understand almost nothing ...

Ive just updated my comment above, but even some southern English cannot understand Northern English etc, due to the strong dialects...lol.

I was working in Maidstone down in Kent, and most locals could not understand me. I had to completely change the way I talked, and had to talk slowly and change many actual words and sounds, in order to be understood. There was a Scot working there, and he had no problem, but when we talked normal speed together, the locals could hardly understand a word.

English is Germanic, but is strongly influenced by Dialects, from later further Scandinavian influences in the North etc, and this is more reflected in local dialects, than the standard English today. Standard English today, is very very different to localised regional English use, which retains much of its original Germanic forms.
 
Paul333: excellent posts. The following is a question about some family research I’m doing . . . As a northern speaker, how do you pronounce the name of the town of Heysham, in Lancashire?
 
Paul333: excellent posts. The following is a question about some family research I’m doing . . . As a northern speaker, how do you pronounce the name of the town of Heysham, in Lancashire?


looking at the writing I would say Haeshem, the ae would sound like a drawn out/long A.

its hard to put sounds into words but thats the nearest I could get to how I would describe how It sounds would be Haes Hame. Hey would sound more closer to Hae/Haay/hay, Heys could be interpreted as Haes, therefore it could be 'Haes' 'hame/yame'. possible home of a man called Haes, even a shortening of Heastein/Hastein a possible viking surname, which would fit lancashire.

My dialect is from an ancient area of Northumbria, Eastern County Durham, know known as 'Mackem', by those North of us, and 'Yakker' by those South of us. Another description is Pitmatic, related to the coal mining . Locally it can even be subdivided to specific area,s as was the case during the not too distant 'Jack the Ripper hoax', which identified a part of our accent, down to a very small area in Sunderland. ( re - Wearside Jack 1978/9 )

Regarding Accents. There is a very distinct break and remarkable difference of dialects in my area which could be due to an ancient viking division of lands here in 918AD. In a matter of a Mile or So the accents are completely different, and relate from the very area of that division. This is partly believed to of been through Olaf Ball ( Onlafball )a Viking who divided the area between Olaf ( possibly Guthfrithson )and Scula in AD 918. The difference is very marked from this ancient boundry of the Castle Eden Dene, Beck. Olaf the North to the river Wear, and Scula the south to the river Tees.

It is very important, to hear the local accents and dialects spoken, if you really want, or need to understand English, as it is within these Local dialects and speech, that still retains its oldest Germanic forms.

England has many different counties, each with very different dialects, and within each of these counties, there are many localised differences. Standard Educating English, in other words 'Newspaper English', is miles away, and very distant from Local English, much of which still today you can hear its original Germanic root, dialects, and accents.

If you type in Google 'Death of a dialect, Raymond Reed', and you can hear some old Northumbrian,but even he has to talk slowly and different in order to record it, if he spoke normal it would be quick and very different but it gives you an idea, especially about the long 'A' sound. He really starts about 5.40, but if you compare it against Standard English you will see where our accent came from.
 
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Thanks. I believe the inhabitants say hee-sham, but neither that or your version support my private theory (which I won’t bore you with).
 
Thanks. I believe the inhabitants say hee-sham, but neither that or your version support my private theory (which I won’t bore you with).

Ive updated my post with a link for google, regarding the differences from Northumbrian to Standard English, and Accents etc at the bottom.

Regarding your theory, my views are only my opinion, and they may be totally wrong. Stick with it, it may be the right one.

The accents around Heysham will probably be very different from mine.

Its a shame, but these accents etc which will have been handed down by 'parents to children', verbally, and in unbroken link, from more than 1500 years ago, are soon set to dissapear forever within only a few generations from now.
 
You can make up thousands of example sentences, some closer to Dutch, others closer to French, since English is a hybrid of Old Dutch/English and Old/Norman French. But the bottom line is that English vocabulary has about twice more French or Latin roots (58%) than Germanic (26%) ones.

This is true. However, the "function words" (the most common words used to communicate basic things) in the English language are still predominantly Germanic.
 
If you look at an English dictionary only 25% of the words might be AngloSaxon, while in any conversation down the pub, 70% of common words will be AngloSaxon. French or Latin words are softer while AS is harsher, think Finish versus HALT or Stop.
I read that if you look at Churchill's speeches during the war are mostly in As, they appeal to the heart.... we shall fight them on the beaches, etc.... the only French word in this is 'surrender'.
 

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