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From: tombre@crin.UUCP (Karl Tombre)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Easy languages (number of vowels: English vs. Esperanto)
Message-ID: <144@crin.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 13-Feb-86 10:27:36 EST
Article-I.D.: crin.144
Posted: Thu Feb 13 10:27:36 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Feb-86 05:22:34 EST
References: <77@druhi.UUCP> <3550004@csd2.UUCP>
Reply-To: tombre@crin.UUCP (Karl Tombre)
Organization: C.R.I.N., Nancy, France
Lines: 43

>>English is definitely the easiest language.  I'm surprised that this
>>isn't obvious to everyone; it's simply incontestable that English is
>>the only language which is perfectly suited to typewriter keyboards.

???? I really hope you are joking! Of course english is the only language
perfectly suited to ENGLISH typewriter keyboards!!!

>>As for spoken language, it has been proven that English is the easiest
>>language because all other languages are derived from it.

Again I wonder! This must be a joke! English is a very mixed language
derived from german, latin, french, scandinavian and saxon roots!!!

>	Also most European Languages are derived from English and have
>a large number of words from common roots.

!!!??? Well sincerely, gentlemen, tell me, am I too stupid to understand a
joke? It seems to me that both of you are serious??? OK, there are common
roots in many european languages, but those roots are not english!!!

English language has many origins. Consider those examples:

- words like "table", "observation", "principle" and so on have latin or even
  french roots.

- words like "room", "follow" ... are more typically german

- other words have specifically scandinavian origins: "husband", "town",
  "garden" ...

This is obviously due to many historical reasons (the history of England
through all centuries, also before America was (re)discovered by Columbus!

-- 
--- Karl Tombre @ CRIN (Centre de Recherche en Informatique de Nancy)
UUCP:    ...!vmucnam!crin!tombre  or    ...!inria!crin!tombre
COSAC:   crin/tombre
POST:    Karl Tombre, CRIN, B.P. 239, 54506 VANDOEUVRE CEDEX, France

Les plus desesperes sont les chants les plus beaux,
Et j'en sais d'immortels qui sont de purs sanglots.

       Alfred de Musset.