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

From:Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>
Date:Wednesday, November 24, 2004, 6:55
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 =============================================== http://home.freeuk.com/ray.brown ray.brown@freeuk.com =============================================== Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight, which is not so much a twilight of the gods as of the reason." [JRRT, "English and Welsh" ]

Replies

Kris Kowal <cowbertvonmoo@...>
Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>