What is the base language for English? Latin or german?
i no english originates from many languages but what language has more to do with english?
Latin or german?
2007-11-17 05:13:42 · 9 answers · asked by asian.wannabee 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Neither. The story is more complicated
English is a Germanic language; it's from the same family as German. The 'base' language for both is a reconstructed language called Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic and Latin are both have another reconstructed language, called Indo-European, as their bases.
From about 500 AD on, English was influenced by Latin, as Latin was the language of culture and education.
The Norman invasion in 1066 AD brought French speakers into the country, and French is derived from Latin. These Norman French speakers also brought more Latin words with them.
The most basic words in our language are still the ones from our Germanic heritage. Pronouns, names of body parts, animals, people, simple active verbs, are all typically Germanic in origin.
French words often occupy a 'politer' or 'higher-class' register, for example the word 'cordial' (French coeur, 'heart') as opposed to the English 'hearty'. Which one sounds like a curtsy and which one sounds like a clap on the back?
Latin (and Greek, another big word-supplier) give technical terms, whether they are medical (cardiac, from Greek kardis, 'heart') religious, or technological.
Another example of this threefold division is the words for 'cow'. English 'cow' describes the animal itself (German Kuh, 'cow'), French 'boeuf' gives us the word beef, for the animal's meat, and Latin 'bos' gives us the name of the genus the animal belongs to.
2007-11-17 05:35:21 · answer #1 · answered by Doc Occam 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
The base of much of English is actually the Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) side, which has been overlaid by Latin, Old French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic (alcohol etc). As with most languages it's a mixture. Prior to Greek and Latin, most language scholars consider that the root of most European languages came from India in the form of Sanskrit.
2016-05-23 23:48:07 · answer #2 · answered by liliana 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
English is a West Germanic language originating in England
2007-11-17 05:22:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
What Is The Base
2016-10-05 10:43:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Latin is the base language for English.
2007-11-17 05:28:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 7⤋
Latin
2007-11-17 05:18:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 7⤋
german
2015-07-13 07:59:04 · answer #7 · answered by Diva 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lower Germanic to be more precise.
2007-11-17 05:21:58 · answer #8 · answered by Arsan Lupin 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
mostly latin.
2007-11-17 05:20:59 · answer #9 · answered by crazyrocker621 3 · 0⤊ 7⤋