I mean I was planning to visit in the next couple of years anyway I guess…

  • Bob@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    German is the biggest contributor to modern English

    Common misconception. English and German are West Germanic languages with a common ancestor, whose ancestor in turn is common among Norwegian, Gothic, Saxon, etc etc. The only influence German has now is the odd loanword, like Weltschmerz and Schadenfreude. English loaned a lot of words from French a thousand years ago because Norman was the substrate language in England a thousand years ago and is still a sort of prestige language. Dutch is much the same but you never hear anyone say that.