Foreign-language influences in English

According to one study,[clarification needed] the percentage of modern English words derived from each of various language groups are as follows:
* Latin (including scientific/medical/legal terms), ~29%;
* French or Anglo-Norman, ~29%;
* Germanic, ~26%; and
* Others, ~16%.[citation needed]

The English language descends from Old English, the West Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons. Most of its grammar, its core vocabulary and the most common words are Germanic.[1] However, the percentage of loans in everyday conversation varies by dialect and idiolect, even if English vocabulary at large has a greater Romance influence.[2][page needed][3]

Many loanwords have entered into English from other languages. [not verified in body][4][page range too broad] English borrowed many words from Old Norse, the North Germanic language of the Vikings,[5] and later from Norman French, the Romance language of the Normans, which descends from Latin. Estimates of native words derived from Old English range up to 33%,[6] with the rest made up of outside borrowings.[not verified in body] These are mostly from Norman/French,[not verified in body] but many others were later borrowed directly from Latin or Greek.[not verified in body] Some of the Romance words borrowed into English were themselves loanwords from other languages, such as the Germanic Frankish language.[7]

  1. ^ Denning, Keith M.; Kessler, Brett; Leben, William Ronald (2007). English Vocabulary Elements. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-19-803753-8. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Fennell, Barbara (1998). A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach. Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-631-20073-4. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  3. ^ Durkin, Philip (2014). Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English. OUP Oxford. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-19-957499-5. Percentages are often quoted for the proportions of the vocabulary of modern English that are borrowed from French, Latin, Scandinavian languages, etc. As discussed in chapter 1, such percentages must be approached with extreme caution. Firstly, we have to bear in mind that such figures can only refer to a particular period: the proportions in contemporary English will not at all be the same as those in sixteenth- or seventeenth-century English, for example. Secondly, we must consider whose English we are talking about, as discussed in section 1.5. Thirdly, once we have decided which registers, varieties, etc. we want to take into account, we have the practical problem of arriving at a wordlist. Fourthly, once we have our wordlist, we have the problem of assessing and classifying etymologies, i.e. deciding which words are borrowed and which are not. This last problem is a major concern of this book.
  4. ^ McWhorter, John H. (2008). Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue. New York: Gotham Books. pp. 89–136. ISBN 9781592403950.
  5. ^ Friðriksdóttir 1989-, Sandra Dögg (January 2014). Old Norse Influence in Modern English: The Effect of the Viking Invasion (Thesis thesis).{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Williams1975 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Miller, D. Gary (August 2, 2012). External Influences on English: From Its Beginnings to the Renaissance. OUP Oxford. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-19-965426-0.