Timeline for Would questions seeking native Anglo-Saxon equivalents to English terms borrowed from foreign languages be on-topic?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 3, 2023 at 4:07 | comment | added | lly | @hippietrail Your thread shows a very strong consensus that Old and Middle English questions are on topic. Unless that's changed more recently, this answer is simply wrong and should be downvoted. | |
| Mar 16, 2012 at 12:26 | comment | added | Tim Lymington | @hippie: Actually, I'm trying to find common ground. Of course native can be foreign: as I said, at one time, the language of England was Latin/Celtic, which would be trivially off-topic. Unless your position is that The English Language began with the Anglo-Saxon invasions and continued in a single line ever since apart from some illegitimate borrowings (which I don't believe it is), we're just disagreeing about precise boundaries, which is fairly unremarkable. | |
| Mar 16, 2012 at 12:07 | comment | added | hippietrail | Hmm so either English used to be foreign before it evolved past the Old and Middle stages, "foreign" can sometimes be a synonym for "native", or the FAQ needs to be reworded. Your assumption of my hostility and your interpretation of the word "foreign" makes my hair stand on end. | |
| Mar 16, 2012 at 11:59 | comment | added | Tim Lymington | @hippietrail: And here: meta.english.stackexchange.com/q/1042/8019. I think there's a consensus that tracing the roots of a current English word is on-topic, no matter what strange byways it goes down. Asking about a foreign word is always off-topic; so it comes down to 'Is Middle English/OE/Anglo-Saxon "English" within the meaning of the act?' I'd say no in this context, precisely because of the way meanings change over time. Your apparent assumption ('borrowed from French') that modern gloire means the same as the root you are talking about makes my hair stand on end. | |
| Mar 14, 2012 at 11:55 | comment | added | hippietrail | In fact its already been asked though apparently not resolved: Are Old and Middle English questions really on-topic? | |
| Mar 14, 2012 at 11:50 | comment | added | hippietrail | You have an interesting hard line on Old English being a foreign language as far as the FAQ is concerned. It would seem to conflict with matters of etymology too. I think you've inspired me to ask a new meta question. | |
| Mar 14, 2012 at 11:46 | comment | added | hippietrail | There's very little Celtic influence in English by the way other than some loanwords (and maybe some influence on phonology?). English is a Germanic language on the branch where Dutch is, closest to Frisian in fact. Celtic, Latin, and English are all on different branches of Indo European. | |
| Mar 14, 2012 at 11:42 | comment | added | Tim Lymington | @hippietrail: Not sure what your second sentence means, but 'the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of a Modern English word' is asking for a translation, which is off-topic (according to the FAQ) no matter what your motive. | |
| Mar 14, 2012 at 11:37 | comment | added | hippietrail | There's many reasons for wanting to know the Old English / Anglo-Saxon equivalent of a Modern English word. Assuming everybody with curiosity in this field would be bad faith. | |
| Mar 14, 2012 at 10:53 | history | answered | Tim Lymington | CC BY-SA 3.0 |