Anglo-Saxon (answer to Mr. Siegel)

[David Casseres]

Jester sez

>And let's not forget about the "barbarian picts," whose language has never
>really been recorded, though was a major influence to the Celts and the
>"invading" germanic tribes, and there are Celtic/Gaelic parts of the
>language that haven't even been touched by the germanic/proto-europeans.  It
>is an interesting fact that Gaelic is so far removed from the Proto-European
>roots.  Where did it come from?  Why did the Celts have such an "original"
>language system?  You're right of course about the language being
>characterized by grammar, but English grammar after Old English to
>Early-Middle English developed in significantly different directions than
>the other germanics and latin languages.  It's significantly more
>complicated than the rest.
>
>Is there a diehard linguist on the list who can get us all on track?

I'm no linguist but I once learned a smattering of Irish Gaelic.  It's 
not as far removed from other European languages as you might think.  In 
writing it looks particularly strange to us because of the spelling rules 
invented by mediaeval monks, but there are many words that link it 
clearly to more familiar languages.  "Pairc," for example, is pronounced 
like English "park," and means a field or pasture.  "Capall" (my own 
spelling of Gaelic is unreliable) means "horse"; think of Spanish 
"caballo."  "Lan" means "full"; think of Spanish "lleno," Latin "plenum." 
 And so on.  I believe the Celtic languages are considered to have roots 
in common with ancient Greek.


Cheers,
David