Liberal Arts Blog: Is English a Germanic Language? If not, What Is It?
Liberal Arts Blog: Tuesday is the Joy of Literature, Language, Culture, and Religion Day
Today’s Topic: is English a Germanic language? If not, what is it?
Until earlier this week, I assumed that English is a Germanic language. French, Italian, Spanish are romance languages. Russian, Polish, and Bulgarian are Slavic. And English, Swedish, Dutch, and German, are well, Germanic. Right? Then I came across a pie chart showing the origins of modern English vocabulary: only 26% Germanic!!! 29% French and 29% Latin for a total of 58% Romance!!! Wow!
Technically, English is a Germanic language because linguists classify languages by their genetic relationship, not by their current vocabulary or mutual intelligibility. Juxtapose a page of French, a page of German, and a page of English. Much, much easier for an English speaker to recognize words on the French than on the German page. Conclusion: English is a hybrid.
Or should I say mutt? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
WORDS FOR ANIMALS ARE FROM GERMAN, FOR FOODS FROM THE FRENCH
1. Cow (German), beef (French),
2. Pig (German), pork (French).
3. Sheep (German), mutton (French)
NB: “Mutt” is short for “muttonhead.” Mutton is from the french but “head” is from old German. Check out the 9-minute Youtube video (second link below).
TECHNICAL, SCIENTIFIC WORDS 90% ROMANCE, DAILY SPEECH MORE GERMANIC
1. Latin came from Roman occupation and Christian missionaries.
2. French came from Norman conquest — English rulers spoke French for 300 years.
3. The Renaissance (1400–1600) and French hegemony (1600–1815) drove further dilution of the old Germanic stock.
NB: Nine US state capitals are of French origin. Only one of German.
THE WAR TO PURGE ENGLISH OF FOREIGN INVADERS — are Germanic words more poetic?
1. William Barnes (above) was one of the original apostles of just using words with Germanic roots. Today’s champions include Paul Jennings. Should we replace “ornithology” with “birdlore”?
2. George Orwell: “Bad writers — especially scientific, political, and sociological writers — are nearly always haunted by the notion that Latin or Greek words are grander than Saxon ones.”
3. Gerard Manley Hopkins: “It makes one weep to think what English might have been; for in spite of all that Shakespeare and Milton have done … no beauty in a language can make up for want of purity”
NB: Do words of Germanic origin tend to have more bite? more edge? pithier? better? more poetic?
Foreign language influences in English
Is English Really a Germanic Language?
What Percentage Of English Words Are Derived From Latin? — Everything After Z by Dictionary.com
