>> Since Welsh uses this >>verb so frequently (unlike the Germanic languages), could this be the source of >>the English construction "get to "? > >To me, "get to..." is very much an American idiom: is there any reason to >expect Welsh origins of American phrases? > Colin Fine There are sizable Welsh (origin) populations all across the United States--for example, look at a map of Pennsylvania and compare place names. As to what this would have to do with Welsh speech patterns coming into American usage . . . well, in strictly layman linguistics I can tell you that New-Yorkese is peppered with Yiddish and Irish and Italian sentence structure; and a lot of what sounds odd to other English speakers in Amerkin English comes not from roaming the tall-grass prairie thinking of quaint terms for mules and likker, but from the influence of many different immigrant groups. . . . Carol M. Burrell just an amateur linguist out of my depth *still* working up the courage to write a post in Welsh whose accent is so confused that some Americans accuse me of concealing a scandalous upbringing in London