foreign language influences in English

While many words enter English as slang, not all do. Some words are adopted from other languages; some are mixtures of existing words (portmanteau words), and some are new coinages made of roots from dead languages: e.g. thanitopsis. No matter the origin, though, words seldom, if ever, are immediately accepted into the English language. Here is a list of the most common foreign language influences in English, where other languages have influenced or contributed words to English.

• French words for the meat of an animal, noble words (this comes from the influence of the Norman language), words referring to food - e.g. au gratin. Nearly 30% of English words (in an 80,000 word dictionary) may be of French origin.

• German: Main article: List of German expressions in English. Some words relating to the World War I and the World War II, e.g. blitz. And some food terms, such as wurst, hamburger and frankfurter. Also: wanderlust, schadenfreude, zeitgeist, kaputt, kindergarten, autobahn, rucksack.

• Scandinavian languages such as Old Norse - words such as sky and troll or, more recently, geysir.

• Dutch - words relating to sailing, e.g. skipper, keel etc., and civil engineering, such as dam, polder.

• Latin words, technical or biological names, medical terminology, legal terminology. See also: Latin influence in English

• Greek words - medical terminology (like for instance phobias and ologies)

• Spanish - words relating to Spanish culture - for example paella, siesta, plaza, salsa, etc.

• Italian - words relating to music, piano, fortissimo. Or Italian culture, such as piazza, pizza, gondola, balcony, fascism. The English word umbrella comes from Italian ombrello.

• Arabic - Islamic religious terms such as jihad and hadith. Also some scientific vocabulary borrowed through Latin in the Middle Ages (alcohol, azimuth, nadir).

• Nahuatl - tomato, coyote, chocolate.

• Afrikaans - apartheid, trek.

• Russian - words relating to the Cold War and the aftermath (perestroika, glasnost), and also words relating to Russian culture, such as Cossack or Babushka.

• Indian - words relating to culture, originating from the colonial era, e.g.: pyjamas, bungalow, verandah, jungle, curry, shampoo, khaki.

See also

• Lists of English words of international origin

Further reading

• Pyles, T. & J. Algeo (1993). The Origins and Development of the English Language. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers.

External links

• AskOxford - What is the proportion of English words of French, Latin, or Germanic origin?

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