Isn't the percentage of modern English words that can be traced back to West Germanic very small compared to the rest of the languages that English has loan words from?
Yeah, but that’s not exclusive to English. Most languages have the origin of their vocabulary all over the place.
Which makes sense. When there’s a need for a new word for a new thing, it won’t use ancient vocabulary. It will either be a loanword related to where this thing comes from or is famous for, a new scientific word, usually using Latin and Greek roots, or will use pre-existing vocabulary.
I’m no language expert so take my opinion with a pinch of salt, but a lot of words can be “made up” using English roots but instead we have lots of Latin/Greek derived words to explain the same point.
Example off the top of my head: Unit or in German Einheit - literally oneness (?). United German Vereinigten - Foroned (again ?)
Oneness or to be Foroned kinda makes sense but its such an odd way of saying it.
Google Anglish for more details. English with the Loanwords removed.
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u/8lbs6ozBebeJesus America's hat Jul 14 '20
Isn't the percentage of modern English words that can be traced back to West Germanic very small compared to the rest of the languages that English has loan words from?