No problem! I understand well what happens.

For a speaker of a Latin based language, like French, Spanish, Italian or Romanian, is a bit difficult to understand the English concept of "thing", because in our language almost everything, persons, animals or objects, anything has a gender: male or female.

In English is different, probably inheritance from Vikings long occupation of England and the other Germanic languages.

French is a Latin language, while English is Germanic language.

some scientists think it's Scandinavian http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=4710

Then, like I said, heavy influenced by the Vikings language...

What language spoken those guys, the Vikings? Old Swedish? Old Norwegian?

Oh, I found it: Old Norse.

Interesting... As people, the Vikings was in fact called Norse, "Viking" being a nickname, and a bad one, like "The Impaler" in the case of our poor King.

Yeah, even in old Norse, the word "viking" means "invader".

Most likely is how themselves named the members of expeditions who raided the Western Europe or the settlers in England or other places.

BTW, the first Russian kingdom was founded by Vikings too.

Well, those guys had a really direct style on thinking: those people go to invade England, then they are "invaders".

English is a mixture. Its roots are Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, Old Norse, bits of Latin, plus "borrowed" words from just about everywhere. And it's evolved over the centuries. Look at modern English, then look at something like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (14th Century) in the original, then Beowulf (9th century) in the original.

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@brianL, what you think? We are able to read Shakespeare in original, with our current English knowledge? Just curious.

He in what English written?


WOW! There: https://www.shmoop.com/shakespeare-translator/

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@brianL, what thee bethink? We art able to readeth Shakespeare in original, with our current English knowledge? Just curious.

that gent in what English writ?
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True, the language used by him was a bit different from today English. And looks like he used so called "Old English"

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Verily, I do bethink myself that it is indeed. It requireth but some little effort.

Ha ha! Overall, still I understand!

Some words have changed their meaning since Shakespeare's time. For example: silly - in modern use it means foolish, in his time it meant innocent or naive.

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Interesting...

So, in his time, exclaiming "Oh, what a silly lady!" you obtained eventually a smile, definitively different result from the slap of today.

The languages evolve. Not sure you will be able to understand yourself with your grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-nephew.

Possibly.

Yeah, who knows what languages will be like in the future. Somebody could be reading this thread in two hundred years time and wonder what it's all about.

Well, the Romanians are very very conservatory about language.

Even today, our language is basically Vulgar Latin with some French neo-logismes (imported words) from the previous century. OK, also with a bit of Americanish from movies and offices.

Happened several years ago, as an Japanese tourist, lost in our mountains, to manage to communicate with villagers, just uneducated county people, while speaking the Latin language, the only other language other than English he known. So, today an Romanian county guy, equivalent of Hilly Billy, is still able to understand with a Roman Empire's proud citizen.

Then, I think also I will able to communicate with my far descendant, if they keep the conservationism on language.