Is English German or French in Origin?

Dear A___:

You wrote:

>>Would you write something about the origin of English language?
>>Did it come from French or German?

The English language has a long history, but basically English is one of the Germanic languages. The Angles were a tribe in what is today Northern Germany who settled on the island of Great Britain. Their country the name England comes from the Angles (“Angle-land”).

Even today 39 of the 40 most common words in English come from the language of the Angles and the Saxons.

However, it is very different from modern German even though it shares many roots with German. This is partly because of pronunciation, but mainly because in 1066 England was conquered by the French-speaking Normans. The Normans brought many French words to English and English became distinctly different from the other Germanic languages. Today about 40% of the words in English have a French origin. It was not until nearly 1400, for example, that the English Parliament government quit using French in its deliberations.

English is a Germanic language historically, but it has been largely influenced by French as well.

I hope this helps.

2 thoughts on “Is English German or French in Origin?”

  1. I love this forum, I am now in Bonn, Germany. I am a little nervous to be present for a final interview next Friday for an English teachng position. This is going to be a first and I hope not last interview upon graduation. Do wish me success. And by the way, I hope someone has stumbled upon a site that is just like this, learnenglishwriting.com writing lesson site. I am not paying for anything, so let me in on any such free sites. Hope to hear from you.

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