It's all of the above and then some. A good read on the subject is John McWhorter's "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue." It's intended for a non-technical/popular audience and doesn't get too deep into the weeds so you don't need a degree in linguistics to follow it.
It's all of the above and then some. A good read on the subject is John McWhorter's "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue." It's intended for a non-technical/popular audience and doesn't get too deep into the weeds so you don't need a degree in linguistics to follow it.