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jackhammer · 08-31-2011, 08:12 PM

What a lot of people don't know or understand is that the English language has had so many influences from the constant invaders that we had in over 1200 years post BC that is only natural for it to be so expansive and confusing.

The fact that it has survived at all and become such a powerful language is astonishing considering the battering it has taken from other cultures.

Simple words like Pig (English) also became Pork (French) through Norman invasion but even the Normans submitted and spoke English in the end despite their domination socially and politically in the middle ages.

This is why English is a minefield of similar sounding words for many disconnected objects.

Bear - animal
Bare - naked

Rain - weather related
Reign - era of royal rule

both pronounced exactly the same but spelt differently and meaning completely different things.

08-31-2011, 08:12 PM	#4 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	What a lot of people don't know or understand is that the English language has had so many influences from the constant invaders that we had in over 1200 years post BC that is only natural for it to be so expansive and confusing. The fact that it has survived at all and become such a powerful language is astonishing considering the battering it has taken from other cultures. Simple words like Pig (English) also became Pork (French) through Norman invasion but even the Normans submitted and spoke English in the end despite their domination socially and politically in the middle ages. This is why English is a minefield of similar sounding words for many disconnected objects. Bear - animal Bare - naked Rain - weather related Reign - era of royal rule both pronounced exactly the same but spelt differently and meaning completely different things. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”