Re: question - Turco-Japanese (British Vikings, 400 AD)

On Tuesday, November 23, 2004, at 04:54 , Rodlox wrote:

>> What a cool question! I don't know enough about either language to
>> answer, but it puts one in mind of other abortive invasions.
>
>  I think there was a National Geographic article about a "Viking" ship
> that'd landed on Britain around 400 AD.
A century or two early for Vikings, I would have thought. But I do not see
what that has to do with _abortive_ invasions. Vikings not only invaded
but actually settled in substantial areas of Britain. Their Norse language
was one of the ingredients that contributed towards the development of
Middle English and hence modern English. The almost universal use of -(e)s
as the plural suffix, for example, is thought to be due to old Norse
influence. Certainly their 'they' and 'them' have replaced the Old English
_hie_ (they/them) - though the dative of the latter, _him_, still survives
in the colloquial _'em'. They also contribute quite a lot of vocabulary to
our language.

Ray
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Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight,
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as of the reason."      [JRRT, "English and Welsh" ]

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