Why did English survive?

[Siege]

I know what the last name Cohen and Kagan and whatnot means, but it's been a thousand years since the name was much other than a name. The only Cohen I know is a twink hipster who works at Penguin Publishing.

Perhaps. Many people did choose Kohen as a last name without having the background, expecting benefits.
However I know of at least 4 families that claim to descend from the kohen gadol mishpacha, the unbroken line from aaron ben amram, the first kohen gadol or high priest.

[alfred russel]

Aren't Castilian patronymics a Goth thing? The Goths ruled effectively for 400 years, longer in Castile and Asturias, would be surprised of they just left.....the way people construct their names. That seems pretty intimate.

What dates are you using for Gothic rule? 400 years seems too long...

But my extremely amateur opinion was that the language of the visigoths in spain was something like the romans in the eastern part of the empire...The educated visigoths spoke latin to begin with, the gothic language never supplanted latin for daily use, and even the ruling class transitioned to latin/romance languages relatively quickly.

[Warspite]

Croatian: Krava je preskočila veliku rijeku.

Unless I am mistaken. :grammarustasa:

[Razgovory]

Aren't Castilian patronymics a Goth thing? The Goths ruled effectively for 400 years, longer in Castile and Asturias, would be surprised of they just left.....the way people construct their names. That seems pretty intimate.

What dates are you using for Gothic rule? 400 years seems too long...

But my extremely amateur opinion was that the language of the visigoths in spain was something like the romans in the eastern part of the empire...The educated visigoths spoke latin to begin with, the gothic language never supplanted latin for daily use, and even the ruling class transitioned to latin/romance languages relatively quickly.

I think the Franks and the Lombards were like that.  I wonder if the Roman ruler ship of Britain was less latin then that of Spain and France.  For all the talk of Romanized Britons, they factionalized into petty kingdoms and tribes fairly quickly.

[Malthus]

Aren't Castilian patronymics a Goth thing? The Goths ruled effectively for 400 years, longer in Castile and Asturias, would be surprised of they just left.....the way people construct their names. That seems pretty intimate.

What dates are you using for Gothic rule? 400 years seems too long...

But my extremely amateur opinion was that the language of the visigoths in spain was something like the romans in the eastern part of the empire...The educated visigoths spoke latin to begin with, the gothic language never supplanted latin for daily use, and even the ruling class transitioned to latin/romance languages relatively quickly.

I think the Franks and the Lombards were like that.  I wonder if the Roman ruler ship of Britain was less latin then that of Spain and France.  For all the talk of Romanized Britons, they factionalized into petty kingdoms and tribes fairly quickly.

Perhaps, but how much relationship did the tribes and kingdoms that developed after the legions left have to those that existed before they came?

[Razgovory]

I don't know.  My guess is they were mostly client kingdoms and tribes giving tribute to Rome, rather then people who considered themselves Romans first.

[Queequeg]

Anyone know any good books on this subject. Listening to Melvyn Bragg's book; I love In Our Time but this seems a little light, and I enjoyed Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue but the whole Phonenician substratum in Proto-Germanic made me think the entire thing was bullshit.

[Valmy]

I think the Franks and the Lombards were like that.  I wonder if the Roman ruler ship of Britain was less latin then that of Spain and France.  For all the talk of Romanized Britons, they factionalized into petty kingdoms and tribes fairly quickly.

Not really.  It took a few generations.  But a century in the Dark Ages is nothing.  Romanization was much more enduring in Wales where they did not have all the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles moving in Germanizing everything.

[Valmy]

I don't know.  My guess is they were mostly client kingdoms and tribes giving tribute to Rome, rather then people who considered themselves Romans first.

I don't think that is true.  Britain considered itself so Roman it once had its own Roman Empire. 

[Queequeg]

I thought Latin influence on Cornish, Breton and Welsh wasn't that great. Heck, the Bretons moved out of England and assimilated a whole lot of Romance speakers.

[Valmy]

I thought Latin influence on Cornish, Breton and Welsh wasn't that great. Heck, the Bretons moved out of England and assimilated a whole lot of Romance speakers.

The significance was mainly on vocabulary which was pretty significant.  Also remember speaking Latin was not necessarily a requirement for strong Roman identity, Egyptians certainly considered themselves very Roman but spoke Coptic.

[Queequeg]

Fair enough, but I don't think anyone would argue that the Roman state was as invested in Britan and Amoricum as Egypt, Syria or even some of the western European provinces. Egypt kept the Empire running, Britain was a vanity project with a tin mine.

[Admiral Yi]

Always back to Tommy Wiseau. 

[Razgovory]

I don't know.  My guess is they were mostly client kingdoms and tribes giving tribute to Rome, rather then people who considered themselves Romans first.

I don't think that is true.  Britain considered itself so Roman it once had its own Roman Empire.

It did?  Oh and Italic and Celtic languages are fairly closely related.  It's not surprising to find quite bit of linguistic overlap.

[Admiral Yi]

Hey Squeelus, how much Punic do you know?