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UiO linguist makes sensational claim - English is a Scandinavian language

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Curt:
What if it was Scandinavian structure with Germanic & French words?-TaoPhoenix (November 29, 2012, 05:16 PM)
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English words are mainly of 'West-Germanic', Scandinavian ('North-Germanic'?), and French origin.
I'm not sure of proportions.
(I couldnt answer your question either way.)

PS I've no vested interest in the article. I've read a fair bit about the evolution of the English language but not really -whats-the-word- 'scholarly' stuff :-[
There's influence from all the mentioned countries - whether it gets called Germanic or North Germanic doesnt make any difference to me one way or the other!
-tomos (November 29, 2012, 06:43 PM)
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Danish - the oldest Scandinavian language still in existence - contains a lot of German and French words from various periods in time. In the 17'th century it was modern to speak French, so a lot of French words were adopted (including my own family name), but in the 18'th century the same thing happened with German as supplier.

However, it hasn't changed the basics; Danish and English are VERY similar constructed - I don't have to think very much in order to write this post, I almost translate directly from Danish to English. If I was to translate into German, I would first have to think hard, because the basic construction is quite different. I remember from my childhood, it was said that when fishermen from he most western part of Denmark went on land in England, they could quite easily understand what was said. The Danish language includes several thousand English words, and the English a few thousand Danish words.

Historically, Denmark and England have been closely connected from approx year 850 when a man came from "England-to-be". His son was the actual founder of the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway: Harold Bluetooth.

tomos:
 :up: nice to hear from the source Curt :)

Curt:
-rather than from the horse -:)

Shades:
Was it not the trading between North European countries that ultimately led to a language form and structure understood by all? When I (native Dutch) keep listening/reading to the nordic languages, I do get what has been said without translation.

People always told me that this became possible, because of the active trading between North-Europeans.

Curt:
I feel the original linked story is telling too little about actual history: Gorm, the English man who came to Denmark (and who's son became king of all of Denmark and Norway), was accepted as king of a small part of Denmark. Important detail: He did not fight his way to become a ruler of foreign territory, but was accepted as the new king - meaning, he must have been speaking a language that was easy for the Danes to understand; you don't elect a leader you don't know what is saying. So, already 1200 years ago English and Danish were quite similar. I think the linked post should have reflected this a lot more.

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Regarding Shades words:
I cannot understand the spoken Dutch, but we (Danes and Netherlanders) do have several words in common. And I too have noticed that it is quite possible for me to read Dutch - but only because I also know the German language.

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