Foreign language influences in English

According to one survey, the percentage of modern English words derived from each language group are as follows:
Latin (including words used only in scientific / medical / legal contexts): ~29%
French: ~29%
Germanic: ~26%
Others: ~16%

While many words enter English as slang, not all do. Some words are adopted from other languages; some are mixtures of existing words (portmanteau words), and some are new coinages made of roots from dead languages: e.g. thanatopsis. No matter the origin, though, words seldom, if ever, are immediately accepted into the English language. Here is a list of the most common foreign language influences in English, where other languages have influenced or contributed words to English.

• Celtic words are almost absent, except for dialectal words, such as the Yan Tan Tethera system of counting sheep. However, English syntax was influenced by Celtic languages, starting from the Middle English; for example, the system of continuous tenses (absent in other Germanic languages) was a cliche of similar Celtic phrasal structures.

• French legal, military, and political terminology; words for the meat of an animal; noble words; words referring to food — e.g., au gratin. Nearly 30% of English words (in an 80,000 word dictionary) may be of French origin.

• Latin scientific and technical words, medical terminology, academic and legal terminology. See also: Latin influence in English.

• Greek words: scientific and medical terminology (for instance -phobias and -ologies), Christian theological terminology.

• Scandinavian languages such as Old Norse - words such as sky and troll or, more recently, geysir.

• Norman words: castle, cauldron, kennel, catch, cater are among Norman words introduced into English. The Norman language also introduced (or reinforced) words of Norse origin such as mug.

• Dutch - words relating to sailing, e.g. skipper, keel etc., and civil engineering, such as dam, polder.

• Spanish - words relating to warfare and tactics, for instance flotilla and guerrilla; or related to science and culture, whether coined in Arabic (such as algebra), origined in Amerindian civilizations (Cariban: cannibal, hurricane; Mescalero: apache; Nahuatl: tomato, coyote, chocolate; Quechua: potato; Taíno: tobacco), or Iberian Romance languages (aficionado, albino, alligator, cargo, cigar, embargo, guitar, jade, mesa, paella, platinum, plaza, renegade, rodeo, salsa, savvy, sierra, siesta, tilde, tornado, vanilla etc). See also: List of English words of Spanish origin.

• Italian - words relating to music, piano, fortissimo. Or Italian culture, such as piazza, pizza, gondola, balcony, fascism. The English word umbrella comes from Italian ombrello.

• Indian - words relating to culture, originating from the colonial era. Many of these words are of Persian origin rather than Hindi because Persian was the official language of the Mughal courts. e.g.: pyjamas, bungalow, verandah, jungle, curry, shampoo, khaki.

• German: Main article: List of German expressions in English. Some words relating to the World War I and the World War II, e.g. blitz. And some food terms, such as wurst, hamburger and frankfurter. Also: wanderlust, schadenfreude, zeitgeist, kaputt, kindergarten, autobahn, rucksack.

• Hebrew and Yiddish - words used in religious contexts, like Sabbath, kosher, hallelujah, amen, and jubilee or words that have become slang like schmuck, shmooze, nosh, oy vey, and schmutz.

• Arabic - Trade items such as coffee, cotton, hashish, muslin; Islamic religious terms such as jihad and hadith. Also some scientific vocabulary borrowed through Iberian Romance languages in the Middle Ages (alcohol, alkali, algebra, azimuth, nadir). See also: List of English words of Arabic origin.

Counting

Counting in English is based on two different methods. The numbers from 13-19 follow the Germanic way of counting, while numbers from 20 on follow the French way of counting (with some simplifications). In Germanic languages, the numbers are read in a mixed way. So for 14 the German word is vierzehn which literally means four-ten (English: fourteen). However, in 18th century the Germanic way of counting was still used as can be found e.g. in Sing a Song of Sixpence. Nowadays, numbers of 20 and higher follow the French way, except 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 and 80-99. E.g. French: vingt-quatre, English: twenty-four. However, numbers ending with one do not follow the French way. Numbers ending with one in French are bound with "et", e.g. French vingt-et-un literally means twenty-and-one. Numbers between 80 and 99 are built by multiplication and addition (French: quatre-vingt-dix-neuf literally means four-twenty-ten-nine (4*20 + 19)).

See also

• Lists of English loanwords by country or language of origin
• Anglish - a type of linguistic purism in English

Further reading

• Pyles, T. & J. Algeo (1993). The Origins and Development of the English Language. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers.

External links

• AskOxford - What is the proportion of English words of French, Latin, or Germanic origin?
• Mathematical Words: Origins and Sources (John Aldrich, University of Southampton) The contribution of French, Latin, Greek and German are surveyed.