I was usually interested how this will be you to a great deal might be lent from French when the English possess 1 million words and you will French provides, what, perhaps a hundred,000 passes?

Really, we have been straying away from French stuff right here since the we will discuss the English vocabulary primarily, but as it’s a subject which i love, happen with me.

To that particular is additional to 9,five-hundred by-product conditions incorporated because the subentries

Let us start by having your quantity correct. Anyone who told you you to definitely English has one million words was certainly delusional (or too biased?). While it is tough to amount exactly how many terms and conditions in any code, particularly with dialects for example English that can perform the latest terminology effortlessly from the hooking up two conditions (was “hot-dog” one-word or two?), some tips about what the new Oxford Dictionary has to say about any of it:

Rome invaded England prior to France did, there were also the Danish, Norwegian, Greek and you can Dutch has an effect on, and get English is good Germanic code itself, closest for the threatened language Frisian

A few outlines afterwards, shortly after which have additional a few sort of words (technology conditions and you may such as for example) it finish by “one fourth out of a million distinctive line of English terminology”. Personally i think that the is actually a sensible count. Of course, I’m sure one can will 1 million when adding concatenated terms and conditions (which is “hot-dog”), terms and conditions from languages (that are certainly perhaps not English as the they might be languages), conditions out of old English and you may whatnot, one could get to a million, but why don’t we stay practical here and you may let’s adhere English (no languages) and you may contemporary English (no obsolete conditions), and you can can you imagine 250,100 terms and conditions.

Among those terms and conditions, a conservative imagine on the number of conditions off French origins means 50% (whilst facts are closer to sixty% or even 70%, but let us stay traditional on this subject situation). Without, I don’t separate French terminology and you will Latin terminology because the some statistics perform, for a couple of grounds:

• Latin conditions stumbled on the newest English language using French and France when you look at the Dark ages. French was simply the relaxed words while Latin was new scholarly language, however they was spoken from the exact same people (that is the of these have been experienced) and those are exactly the same individuals who brought each other so you can England.
• It breakup naturally comes from the reality that there clearly was a could to diminish the significance of French (as well as France) in the English vocabulary and also the often while making English nearer to Latin. Funny just how Ages later on, Latin continues to have this mood from superiority and whatnot.

In terms of French is worried, it seems harder to track down an exact amount. Ab muscles net 1.0 French Academy’s website stays because obscure as you can and you can states what amount of terms used in dictionaries (a number with nothing in connection with the genuine matter of established terminology), other other sites occasionally promote quantity ranging from 30,000 to help you one hundred,000. Which huge difference comes most likely regarding the simple fact that French language Talibans would rather blow by themselves right up than just take on conditions instance “parking” once the French words. Nevertheless, it goes without saying one to French enjoys a lot fewer terms than just English, and yes it is true one English could be the language with the large quantity of terms around the world.

Aren’t getting also assertive in the event, it doesn’t mean anything when it comes to richness regarding a language and you may why don’t we not contemplate moving in the fresh assistance of “superiority”.

Just what it tells us is title loan repossession laws Kansas something and another issue only: English was an effective “mutt language” selecting their root regarding a great many other languages; therefore is just one of the dialects you to definitely allows many without difficulty foreign conditions and you can the brand new conditions in its lexicon.