[meteorite-list] OT: Searching for the correct terminology

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:04:37 -0500
Message-ID: <C4933A5DB46043B4B506F00241307E3E_at_ATARIENGINE2>

Hi, Bernd, List,

The linguists pin-point the origin of the
people who brought the Old English
(Anglo-Saxon) to England as the western
half of the base of the penisula that is
now Denmark and the Continental coast
to the west of that peninsula. They seem
to have been a coastal people unwilling to
settle anywhere without the immediate
use of their warships. Not settling-down
kind of people at all...

As England is without any doubt the most
invaded country in history (with the possible
exception of parts of the Middle East), its
language contains remnants and relics of
words from over 60 languages. Some of them
are more or less inexplicable -- English has
a few Sumerian words. No one has any idea
how that happened.

Calculating how much of English comes from
what language is a messy business and estimates
vary widely. The French always comes out on top
because they were the most recent invaders!

There are delicate issues here. Do you count
Scots words as a dialect of English? Think twice
before you open your mouth!

Based on the 80,000 most common words in
English (out of 600,000), the word origins are:
French and Old Norman --- 28.3%
Latin --- 28.2%
All the Germanic languages together --- 25%
Greek --- 5.3%
Mysterious, no origin known -- 4%
Derived from proper names -- 3.3%
All other languages --- 5.9%

Or, based on the 10,000 most common words:
French (langue d'o?l): 41%
"Native" English: 33%
Latin: 15%
Old Norse: 2%
Dutch: 1%
Other: 10%

But, never forget the basic rule of English: if you
don't like the word you've got, make one up or
better still, just go steal a word you like better!
English has more "constructed" words than most
languages -- we've made up or stolen about a third
of the language!

Yes, this is Off Topic! The word METEOR and the
word COMET are both Greek! (That's the best
on-topic remark I could manage...)


Sterling K. Webb
------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: <bernd.pauli at paulinet.de>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 5:40 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] OT: Searching for the correct terminology


> Sterling wrote:
>
> "Oddly enough in earlier English...I have seen several instances
> of "to-torn" used to mean not just "torn" but "ripped to shreds."
>
> Here's an excerpt from the 5th century writer Paulus Orosius
> concerning
> the sack of Rome by the Goths in 410. The translator may even have
> been
> King Alfred: "...ond ealda ceastra ond ealde byrig *towurpon*, ..."
>
> .. and they *completely* destroyed old castles (fortresses) and old
> cities (towns), ...
>
> "weorpan" is the German word "werfen" (= throw). The prefix "to"
> intensifies
> the meaning of the word (see Sterling's comment above!). They did not
> only
> "overthrow" the fortresses and towns, they left complete devestation!
>
> As both English and German are Germanic or Teutonic languages, you
> find lots
> of these "phrasal verbs" in both languages! Maybe some of the "older"
> List members
> remember my post: The Aweful German Language (by Mark Twain!).
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Bernd
>
>
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Received on Fri 11 Sep 2009 08:04:37 PM PDT