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A History of The English Language Task I, Cosmopolitan Vocabulary

English is classified as a Teutonic language but has incorporated vocabulary from many other languages throughout its development. Over half of English words are derived from Latin, mainly through Norman French. English has also borrowed words from Greek, Spanish, Dutch, indigenous American languages, and many others. Since the 16th century, English has adopted words from over 50 languages. Today, the vast majority of English words are foreign borrowings from a wide diversity of languages due to global trade and British colonial expansion.

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Abdurrahman Shaleh Reliubun
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939 views10 pages

A History of The English Language Task I, Cosmopolitan Vocabulary

English is classified as a Teutonic language but has incorporated vocabulary from many other languages throughout its development. Over half of English words are derived from Latin, mainly through Norman French. English has also borrowed words from Greek, Spanish, Dutch, indigenous American languages, and many others. Since the 16th century, English has adopted words from over 50 languages. Today, the vast majority of English words are foreign borrowings from a wide diversity of languages due to global trade and British colonial expansion.

Uploaded by

Abdurrahman Shaleh Reliubun
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Cosmopolitan

Vocabulary
Abdurrahman Shaleh R
Citra Restu Wulandari

English

is classified as a Teutonic Language


which consists of German, Dutch, Flemish,
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. So, English
language shares similar grammatical structure
and many common words.

But, on the other hand, English have more than


half of its vocabulary derived from Latin, mainly
through French. So as a result English shares a
great number of words with those languages of
Europe which are derived from Latin like French,
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

To a lesser content, the English


vocabulary contains borrowings from
many other languages. Instead of
making new words chiefly by the
combination of existing elements,
English has shown a marked tendency
to go outside her own linguistics
resources and borrow from other
language.

Borrowings have shaped the English language


almost from its beginnings, as words were adopted
from the classical languages as well as from
successive wave of invasions. During the 16th
Century, English had already adopted words from an
estimated 50 other language and the vast majority
of English words today are actually foreign
borrowings of one sort or another.

Since the expansion of global trade, and particularly


since British colonialism opened up rich new sources,
a huge number of words have been adopted into
English from a great diversity of different languages.
In a reverse process, many English words have also
been adopted by other countries.

Examples
Native American
Chipmunk, hominy, moose, raccoon, skunk

Dutch
Measles, selvage, wagon, uproar, isinglass

Italian
Balcony, canto, duet, granite, opera

Examples
Spanish
Alligator, cargo, stampede, vanilla, mosquito

Greek
Acme, acrobat, catastrophe, magic, elastics

Indonesian
Cassowary, orangutan, satay, cajuput,
durian

Examples
Persian
Khaki, dervish, caravan, chess, paradise

Russian
Steppe, vodka, ruble

Other examples
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lists_of_English_words_o
f_foreign_origin

-End-

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