02-11-2009, 10:56 AM
Since we're off topic...
I didn't want to mention the Oppenheimer theory, but since it has been I'll join in. Whilst genetics is still not flawless by any means and his findings are being challenged they still throw up some interesting questions. He has been joined by a small number who argue the case on linguistic grounds. The gist of these theories goes something like this:
*A great portion of eastern and southern Britain spoke a proto-English/Scanda-proto-English language having come from the Germanic and Scandinavian speaking areas of Europe (and that which now lies under the North Sea) after the Ice Age. Some, in the south, spoke the Germanic of the Belgae ect.
*By the Late Iron Age/Romano-British period a great portion were dominated or rule by Brythonic speaking elite with Brythonic enclaves.
*They were then dominated by the Anglo-Saxons who spoke a similar, but not the same, language.
*Anglo-Saxon was the dominant written language until the Normans arrived.
*As AS was suppressed by the Normans, the lower class proto-English was allowed to finally rise. (Possibly explaining the reason why in 200 years we went from Old Enlgish (AS) to Middle English and managed to loose 90% of Anglo-Saxon words).
*Is this why there are so few Brythonic words and placenames in what is now England; because so few were ever used or there?
*Is this why the east were far more accepting of Anglo-Saxon, or and even Roman, rule, because they preferred it to Brythonic?
These theories are all pretty new and need many more years of study and debate, but anyone interested should also read The History of Britain Revealed: The Shocking Truth About the English Language. It's an irreverent book (and somewhat nasty to fellow academians) with a terrible title and cover, written by an Applied Epistimologist. It's a book you'll either love or hate, as testified to by the reviews at Amazon.co.uk. I thoroughly enjoyed it... but I'm sure I wouldn't have if I were a professor of Anglo-Saxon studies! I also may not have done if I had a greater knowledge of the evolution of the English language.
There's also a website dedicated to proto-English by a Dutch guy who's very open to criticism and debate. That's at...
http://www.proto-english.org/
I didn't want to mention the Oppenheimer theory, but since it has been I'll join in. Whilst genetics is still not flawless by any means and his findings are being challenged they still throw up some interesting questions. He has been joined by a small number who argue the case on linguistic grounds. The gist of these theories goes something like this:
*A great portion of eastern and southern Britain spoke a proto-English/Scanda-proto-English language having come from the Germanic and Scandinavian speaking areas of Europe (and that which now lies under the North Sea) after the Ice Age. Some, in the south, spoke the Germanic of the Belgae ect.
*By the Late Iron Age/Romano-British period a great portion were dominated or rule by Brythonic speaking elite with Brythonic enclaves.
*They were then dominated by the Anglo-Saxons who spoke a similar, but not the same, language.
*Anglo-Saxon was the dominant written language until the Normans arrived.
*As AS was suppressed by the Normans, the lower class proto-English was allowed to finally rise. (Possibly explaining the reason why in 200 years we went from Old Enlgish (AS) to Middle English and managed to loose 90% of Anglo-Saxon words).
*Is this why there are so few Brythonic words and placenames in what is now England; because so few were ever used or there?
*Is this why the east were far more accepting of Anglo-Saxon, or and even Roman, rule, because they preferred it to Brythonic?
These theories are all pretty new and need many more years of study and debate, but anyone interested should also read The History of Britain Revealed: The Shocking Truth About the English Language. It's an irreverent book (and somewhat nasty to fellow academians) with a terrible title and cover, written by an Applied Epistimologist. It's a book you'll either love or hate, as testified to by the reviews at Amazon.co.uk. I thoroughly enjoyed it... but I'm sure I wouldn't have if I were a professor of Anglo-Saxon studies! I also may not have done if I had a greater knowledge of the evolution of the English language.
There's also a website dedicated to proto-English by a Dutch guy who's very open to criticism and debate. That's at...
http://www.proto-english.org/
Arturus Uriconium
a.k.a Mak Wilson
May the horse be with you!
[url:17bayn0a]http://www.makltd.biz[/url]
a.k.a Mak Wilson
May the horse be with you!
[url:17bayn0a]http://www.makltd.biz[/url]
