Foreign Language Influences In English
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.
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Famous quotes containing the words foreign, language, influences and/or english:
“So the gentle poet’s name
To foreign parts is blown by fame;
Seek him in his native town,
He is hidden and unknown.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for poetry, cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“Without looking, then, to those extraordinary social influences which are now acting in precisely this direction, but only at what is inevitably doing around us, I think we must regard the land as a commanding and increasing power on the citizen, the sanative and Americanizing influence, which promises to disclose new virtues for ages to come.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It is hard to believe that England is so near as from your letters it appears; and that this identical piece of paper has lately come all the way from there hither, begrimed with the English dust which made you hesitate to use it; from England, which is only historical fairyland to me, to America, which I have put my spade into, and about which there is no doubt.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)