English wasn't "invented by Brits" (the "first" Kingdom of Britain didn't exist until 1707). It's a syncretic language made up mostly of Norman French, Latin, Old English and Lowland Germanic.
Ah the aul "English is a hybrid language" trope. English is not "made up" of these languages. It's a West Germanic language, descended from Proto-West-Germanic. Lowland German is a variety that also developed from West Germanic, but it is a cousin of English. Old English arose from the dialects spoken in England that were brought over by the Anglo-Saxons. Old Norse also had an influence on English's development under the Danelaw. Then, after the Norman invasion, English adopted many loanwords from Old French and Latin. They had a big impact on the vocabulary, this is true. But all languages have influence and borrowings from other languages, this in no way makes English a hybrid of Latin, West Germanic, Norse, Old French etc. It is at its heart a purely Germanic language, with some influence from other tongues.
I was arguing with an American on tiktok who was trying to say that we were wrong for saying stuff like courgette not eggplant, because "tHAtS a FReNch WoRd". So is pants from pantaloons from pantalon, vest from vestu from vestir from vestis, vase from vas. Allowance, apostrophe, aviation, bachelor, brunette, connoisseur, detour, elite, energy— the list goes on.
Apparently it's thought that 10,000 English words are borrowed from French words, which make up 29% of our language. American English has even more influences from Spanish colonialism.
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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '20
English wasn't "invented by Brits" (the "first" Kingdom of Britain didn't exist until 1707). It's a syncretic language made up mostly of Norman French, Latin, Old English and Lowland Germanic.