A look at the etymology of the English language
The English language owes it’s origins to the language of the Anglo-Saxons. Today, it has a vocabulary that includes words from many languages. Here’s a look at how the English language came to have such a variety in it’s vocabulary.When the Normans conquered England in 1066, they brought the influence of the Norman language into English. The ruling class spoke Anglo-Norman and the peasants spoke English. This influence paved way for the assimilation of a lot of French words into the English language. For example the word beef comes from the French word boeuf, which meant cow. English words of which have more than two syllables are mostly word of French origin. For example, the words, terminations and modified are from the French words terminaisons and modifié. English has borrowed a lot of scientific words from Greek and Latin. Take the word thermostat. It is derived from the Greek city “Therma”, known for its hot springs. The word leukemia is from the Greek word “leuco” meaning white and “-emia’ which is a suffix denoting blood in a diseased condition. The word Asthma is from the Latin word “asthma" meaning oppression. The word bulimia is from the Greek words “bous” meaning “ox” and “minos” meaning hunger, may be because a person affected with Bulimia has the appetite of an ox.Spanish has also left it’s influence on the English language. Word like Bukaroo comes from the Spanish word “vaquero” and the word Alligator is from Spainsh word “el lagarto” meaning “the lizard". Words such as cigar, sombrero, tornado, crimson and dengue are all of Spanish origin. Words such as honcho, sushi, and tsunami come from the Japanese language and the words taiga, sable and sputnik were taken from the Russian language. You will find that most languages in the word have made an impact on the English language and therefore the origin of most words in the English language can be traced to languages around the world. The English language is universal in nature and has the capacity to absorb words from different languages into it’s vocabulary. This has been done over time with apparent ease, as the language came to be spoken across the globe.
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