More about English
Moof got me going, so I asked Google and Google told me some cool things about the English language:
- How many words are there in the English language?
- What is the proportion of English words of French, Latin, or Germanic origin?
- Is it true that English has the most words of any language?
- What English words end in -dous?
- A Brief Look at the History of English
- Another Brief History of the English Language
- How Does a Word Get into the Dictionary?
The "Another" history above has this bit, which I ADORE:
Also significant beginning around 1600 AD was the English colonization of North America and the subsequent creation of a distinct American dialect. Some pronunciations and usages "froze" when they reached the American shore. In certain respects, American English is closer to the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some "Americanisms" that the British decry are actually originally British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost at home (e.g., fall as a synonym for autumn, trash for rubbish, frame-up which was reintroduced to Britain through Hollywood gangster movies, and loan as a verb instead of lend).
Did you see that? American English is actually CLOSER to Shakespeare (the god of all English writing) then modern British English. WONDERFUL. Don't think I'm not going to put that in my back pocket to pull out the next time I get corrected by some Brit...
Now! The thing I want are the same items, but for Spanish! How many words, the history, etc. etc. (Once again, ask Google: Spanish language history).
-Russ