what are the origins of the English people? I have heard that it is mostly French. Is that true?
Origins of the English people
***Liverpool was half Irish, Scotch and Welsh and has remained so ever since***
Scotch?? Scousers go for Tetley's bitter - I don't think they sup much of the golden nectar.
Scotch?? Scousers go for Tetley's bitter - I don't think they sup much of the golden nectar.
Read 'Mother Tongue' by Bill Bryson for a good layman's analysis of the origins of the peoples of the British Isles and of the English language itself.
Brennus : « The English language (...) replaced the use of Norman French in the English parliament by 1362. »
Je dirais plutôt que 1362 est l'officialisation du moyen-anglais car la disparition totale du français du parlement anglais n'a pas été instantanée : elle a pris plus de 100 ans.
D'ailleurs le document qui officialise le moyen-anglais en Angleterre est bien sûr rédigé en ancien français :
« (...) Item, p’ ce q~ monstre est soventfoitz au Roi, p Prelatz, Ducs, Counts, Barons & tout la cõe, les g’ntz meschiefs q~ sont advenuz as plusours du realme de ce q~ les leyes custumes & estatutz du dit realme ne sont pas conuz cõement en mesme le realme, p cause qils sont pledez monstrez & juggez en la lange Franceis, qest trop desconue en dit realme ; (...) soient pledez, monstrez, defenduz, responduz, debatuz & juggez en la lange engleise ; et qils soient entrez & enroullez en latin ; (...) ».
Brennus : « (...) albeit mixed with some Latin and French words (...) »
Il n'est que de relire Chaucer dans le texte pour constater que ce laconique « some » est un pudique euphémisme.
Je dirais plutôt que 1362 est l'officialisation du moyen-anglais car la disparition totale du français du parlement anglais n'a pas été instantanée : elle a pris plus de 100 ans.
D'ailleurs le document qui officialise le moyen-anglais en Angleterre est bien sûr rédigé en ancien français :
« (...) Item, p’ ce q~ monstre est soventfoitz au Roi, p Prelatz, Ducs, Counts, Barons & tout la cõe, les g’ntz meschiefs q~ sont advenuz as plusours du realme de ce q~ les leyes custumes & estatutz du dit realme ne sont pas conuz cõement en mesme le realme, p cause qils sont pledez monstrez & juggez en la lange Franceis, qest trop desconue en dit realme ; (...) soient pledez, monstrez, defenduz, responduz, debatuz & juggez en la lange engleise ; et qils soient entrez & enroullez en latin ; (...) ».
Brennus : « (...) albeit mixed with some Latin and French words (...) »
Il n'est que de relire Chaucer dans le texte pour constater que ce laconique « some » est un pudique euphémisme.
A polite request: Please - never refer to the people of Scotland as Scotch!
We are S-C-O-T-S. Easy to pronounce.
Here is an extract from Collins English dictionary:
***Scotch: usage - in the North of England and in Scotland the word "Scotch" is NOT used outside fixed expressions such as "Scotch whisky". (or Scotch tape!) The use of "Scotch" for Scots or Scottish is incorrect, especially when applied to persons.***
That implies that people in the South of England (and obviously elsewhere) call us Scotch. Distance must account for ignorance.
I will add this to that: It won't be Scotch mist that descends when hear us being called Scotch...it'll be a (BLEEP) red mist!
Hae a guid weekend. :-)
Scotch only comes in a bottle.
We are S-C-O-T-S. Easy to pronounce.
Here is an extract from Collins English dictionary:
***Scotch: usage - in the North of England and in Scotland the word "Scotch" is NOT used outside fixed expressions such as "Scotch whisky". (or Scotch tape!) The use of "Scotch" for Scots or Scottish is incorrect, especially when applied to persons.***
That implies that people in the South of England (and obviously elsewhere) call us Scotch. Distance must account for ignorance.
I will add this to that: It won't be Scotch mist that descends when hear us being called Scotch...it'll be a (BLEEP) red mist!
Hae a guid weekend. :-)
Scotch only comes in a bottle.
Imagine that.
Scot Finger Biscuits...
http://www.aussiefavourites.com.au/cornershop/images/arn_scotchfin.jpg
Scot Finger Biscuits...
http://www.aussiefavourites.com.au/cornershop/images/arn_scotchfin.jpg
" have heard that it is mostly French. Is that true? "
No. We're mostly Germanic and Celtic.
If we were mostly French, we would be aristocratic snobs, just like the French despite them having the Revolution, who look down on other countries and cultures with disdain, not very polite and can be rude to strangers for no apparent reason, would eat frogs, snails and other slimy creatures and would have no bravery on the battlefield.
No. We're mostly Germanic and Celtic.
If we were mostly French, we would be aristocratic snobs, just like the French despite them having the Revolution, who look down on other countries and cultures with disdain, not very polite and can be rude to strangers for no apparent reason, would eat frogs, snails and other slimy creatures and would have no bravery on the battlefield.
History of the English -
England is named after the Angles (Old English genitive case, "Engla" - hence, Old English "Engla Land"), one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. This is also the origin of its Latin name, Anglia. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when the Kingdom of Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity England/Wales. England's (and Europe's) largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.
The earliest record of human activity in England dates back to over 500,000 years ago [3], although the repeated ice ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with advanced megalithic cultures arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from continental western Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons"—a name bestowed by Phoenician traders and an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network.
The Britons were significant players in continental affairs and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius's conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island —roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales—became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent.
Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern-day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, including Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and the Breton language. But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly English areas.
The invaders fell into three main groups: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Gradually, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another, the most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of England in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted two generations later by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899).
The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the languages of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place names in England and, to a lesser extent, Scotland are derived from Celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover, and Colchester. Several place name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, and coomb for a small deep valley. The Welsh name for England itself is Lloegr, of unknown origin, although it has been speculated to mean "Lost Lands". [citation needed]
Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or that the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British may not have been pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England.[4] Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
The Norman conquest of England, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry
Queen Elizabeth IIn 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings and conquered the existing Kingdom of England. They instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the Middle Ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day.
While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Germano-Romance creole now known as Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time.
wikipedia.org
England is named after the Angles (Old English genitive case, "Engla" - hence, Old English "Engla Land"), one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. This is also the origin of its Latin name, Anglia. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when the Kingdom of Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity England/Wales. England's (and Europe's) largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.
The earliest record of human activity in England dates back to over 500,000 years ago [3], although the repeated ice ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with advanced megalithic cultures arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from continental western Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons"—a name bestowed by Phoenician traders and an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network.
The Britons were significant players in continental affairs and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius's conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island —roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales—became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent.
Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern-day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, including Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and the Breton language. But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly English areas.
The invaders fell into three main groups: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. Gradually, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another, the most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of England in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted two generations later by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899).
The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the languages of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place names in England and, to a lesser extent, Scotland are derived from Celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover, and Colchester. Several place name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, and coomb for a small deep valley. The Welsh name for England itself is Lloegr, of unknown origin, although it has been speculated to mean "Lost Lands". [citation needed]
Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or that the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British may not have been pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England.[4] Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
The Norman conquest of England, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry
Queen Elizabeth IIn 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings and conquered the existing Kingdom of England. They instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the Middle Ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day.
While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Germano-Romance creole now known as Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time.
wikipedia.org
"Damian in Edinburgh Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:17 pm GMT
A polite request: Please - never refer to the people of Scotland as Scotch!
We are S-C-O-T-S. Easy to pronounce.
Here is an extract from Collins English dictionary:
***Scotch: usage - in the North of England and in Scotland the word "Scotch" is NOT used outside fixed expressions such as "Scotch whisky". (or Scotch tape!) The use of "Scotch" for Scots or Scottish is incorrect, especially when applied to persons.***
That implies that people in the South of England (and obviously elsewhere) call us Scotch. Distance must account for ignorance.
I will add this to that: It won't be Scotch mist that descends when hear us being called Scotch...it'll be a (BLEEP) red mist!
Hae a guid weekend. :-)
Scotch only comes in a bottle. "
You ever see Garth Marengi's Dark Place? the episode with the "Scotch Mist", piss funny......
"EPISODE 5: SCOTCH MIST
A strange killer mist surrounds Darkplace, tartanning the hides of unwary travellers while phantom bagpipes play on, regardless. Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. must face more than the music as he unravels the secret behind its sudden appearance. The answer, when it comes, lies a little too close to home, even though Romford would seem a safe enough distance from Glenrothes."
Ide never call a Scot a Scotch...too risky, he might start drinking him self...;)
A polite request: Please - never refer to the people of Scotland as Scotch!
We are S-C-O-T-S. Easy to pronounce.
Here is an extract from Collins English dictionary:
***Scotch: usage - in the North of England and in Scotland the word "Scotch" is NOT used outside fixed expressions such as "Scotch whisky". (or Scotch tape!) The use of "Scotch" for Scots or Scottish is incorrect, especially when applied to persons.***
That implies that people in the South of England (and obviously elsewhere) call us Scotch. Distance must account for ignorance.
I will add this to that: It won't be Scotch mist that descends when hear us being called Scotch...it'll be a (BLEEP) red mist!
Hae a guid weekend. :-)
Scotch only comes in a bottle. "
You ever see Garth Marengi's Dark Place? the episode with the "Scotch Mist", piss funny......
"EPISODE 5: SCOTCH MIST
A strange killer mist surrounds Darkplace, tartanning the hides of unwary travellers while phantom bagpipes play on, regardless. Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. must face more than the music as he unravels the secret behind its sudden appearance. The answer, when it comes, lies a little too close to home, even though Romford would seem a safe enough distance from Glenrothes."
Ide never call a Scot a Scotch...too risky, he might start drinking him self...;)
Than why you the so brave angles or whatever vikings or other Germs you are, have still the ROYAL FRENCH motto ? DIEU ET MON DROIT ?
And why your language is 30% FRENCH ?
And why your language is 30% FRENCH ?
The English equivalent is Le Franglais......English words are messed around so that they look French without losing the obvious English meaning. Miles Kington has specialised in the Franglais Language and has written a series of books full of comedy sketches in the form of wee playlets, in which all the characters are speaking Franglais.
Par example: M et Madame Angleterre nip across Le Manche pour le day trip to Boulogne sur le ferry and even the people dans les cafes de Boulogne are all speaking la Langue Franglaise.
Par example: M et Madame Angleterre nip across Le Manche pour le day trip to Boulogne sur le ferry and even the people dans les cafes de Boulogne are all speaking la Langue Franglaise.
Adam : "(...) who look down on other countries and cultures with disdain, not very polite and can be rude to strangers for no apparent reason (...) ".
Mais c'est une définition qui te va comme un gant !
Brennus : "le godfader".
Bien vu ! Mais ça ne veut rien dire en français...
Mais c'est une définition qui te va comme un gant !
Brennus : "le godfader".
Bien vu ! Mais ça ne veut rien dire en français...