[Z]

This chart shows the lexical distance — that is, the degree of overall vocabulary divergence — among the major languages of Europe.

The size of each circle represents the number of speakers for that language. Circles of the same color belong to the same language group. All the groups except for Finno-Ugric (in yellow) are in turn members of the Indo-European language family.

English is a member of the Germanic group (blue) within the Indo-European family. But thanks to 1066, William of Normandy, and all that, about 75% of the modern English vocabulary comes from French and Latin (ie the Romance languages, in orange) rather than Germanic sources. As a result, English (a Germanic language) and French (a Romance language) are actually closer to each other in lexical terms than Romanian (a Romance language) and French.

So why is English still considered a Germanic language? Two reasons. First, the most frequently used 80% of English words come from Germanic sources, not Latinate sources. Those famous Anglo-Saxon monosyllables live on! Second, the syntax of English, although much simplified from its Old English origins, remains recognizably Germanic. The Norman conquest added French vocabulary to the language, and through pidginization it arguably stripped out some Germanic grammar, but it did not ADD French grammar.

The original research data for the chart comes from K. Tyshchenko (1999), Metatheory of Linguistics. (Published in Russian.)

http://elms.wordpress.com/2008/03/04...ges-of-europe/

[Z]

Well I think this is interesting

[Shaun]

what does BOK stand for?

I remember observing this when watching The Bridge, Danish and Swedish are so similar it's odd

[Z]

Originally Posted by Shaun

what does BOK stand for?

I remember observing this when watching The Bridge, Danish and Swedish are so similar it's odd

Not sure, could it maybe be this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokm%C3%A5l

Hmm... there are a few on the image that are languages of groups within a country (Fri is Frisian and GLC is Galician I believe, for example)

[Z]

In fact yeah I think it must be Bokmal because NN would presumably be Nynorsk; as there is no Norwegian circle on the map

[Benjamin]

Bok is Norwegian (Bokmal)

[Benjamin]

I love stuff like this btw. It was a big part of my degree.

[Chuck]

This is very interesting. I remember seeing something similar to this that sort of explained why the Slavs find it easier to learn other languages.

[Jessica.]

That is fascinating!

[Z]

Originally Posted by Chuck

This is very interesting. I remember seeing something similar to this that sort of explained why the Slavs find it easier to learn other languages.

I'm studying a Russian course and the number of Slavic students who are doing it for easy credit is unreal