What are the Origins of English Words? Facts and Stats and lots of History

What are the origins of the English language? In this video we look at lots of facts and statistics and try to reach some accurate figures about English words and where they come from. We'll go back in history to look at words from Anglos-Saxon, French (and Anglo-Norman), Latin, Old Norse, Dutch and Greek as well as words of non Indo-European origin.
0:00 The stats
1:13 The controversy
4:50 The problem with the stats
6:29 How Germanic is English?
8:00 How French is English?
9:55 Etymology challenge
15:40 Non Indo-European words
16:01 Real names and words unknown
16:59 Obscure and technical words
17:34 More about words
18:43 Conclusions
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[@knightmare2593]

Let's appreciate the way you argue: - first the point of your detractors, involuntarily showing their lack of researches - then the explanation of why certain points are not relevant (the german origin) - why it is difficult to determine the origin of words and the controversy (PIE origin, composed words) - and finally why you personnally think their stats are incorrect (too much of obscure words) and besides that, you stay polite and open-minded. For all of your hard work and dedication, thank you. (and yes i tried to stick the maximum amount of french words)

[@eliottpasquier7508]

Effectivement j'ai réussi à lire très facilement même si mon anglais est du niveau collège.

[@richardsleep2045]

This really shows how complex questions like "Where did things come from?" be. Thanks Gideon, brilliant.

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

Thanks for that video I trust you to have a better opinion in the subject that I...

[@helenamcginty4920]

@@rickebuschcatherine2729 ohhhh. Thank you for the correct grammar. My mum would have loved to read that. ( except for the typo. I am a typo queen. )

[@SH-kj7co]

Look at ""Where did babies come from?"". Most people struggle even more explaining this..

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

@@SH-kj7co Everybody knows they come from the cabbage patch... 🦉

[@grawl69]

"If you try to speak without words of French origin, you'll end up talking about you and your brother going to the ale house, feeding apples to the swine, and you'll never be invited back to the party and you'll have a sad life" Brilliant :)

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Glad you liked it.

[@grawl69]

​@@LetThemTalkTV I love your channel

[@manfredneilmann4305]

PARTY is a French word, too!

[@newwonderer]

@@manfredneilmann4305 it is part of the joke damnit

[@Scottishrepublic]

Ha ha

[@loredanatagliaferri5339]

What beats me is how aggressive and impolite were the comments you mentioned. I wonder why people can't disagree in a respectful way.

[@mamymimma]

I agree with you

[@manjirabanerjee7169]

I second that

[@LetThemTalkTV]

agreed

[@andrewemery4272]

Maybe people get upset because of all the false information?

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

@@andrewemery4272 This isn't desinformation. Also, 1) people 2) false 3) information, in your short sentence comes from Old French despite the simple syntax. lmao 🤣🤣🤣

[@mariebambelle7361]

I love how languages mix during their history. The g sound from the french becomes w in English : Garantie-> warranty Guerre -> war Galles -> Wales Garderobe-> wardrobe Gages -> wages Gaufres -> wafles Guêpe-> wasp Guillaume-> William All of old french "s" have been replace by a circonflex accent on the previous vowel. But in English, the s remains : Hôpital -> hospital Guêpe -> wasp Château (old french : castel) -> castle Honnête -> honest Some English words also came to the french language : Riding coat-> redingote Some words have gone both ways: Fleureter (or "conter fleurette") -> Flirt -> flirter I love this history of words and languages !

[@gljames24]

Does that mean guerilla warfare means warfare warfare?

[@emajekral]

From what I've heard, the germanic w sound became gu in French at different times in different regions. You'll want to look up how old Frankish (Vieux-francique) influenced the French language. Norman French from the time of the Norman conquest still used Frankish forms. Later French loanwords tend to use Parisian forms. English attests several words that were borrowed before and after the shift such as: Warranty & Guarantee Warden & Guardian

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

@@gljames24 yes XD

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

@@emajekral "Norman French", I have personally read a bit of it, is exactly like French. It's just another Langue d'Oïl, langues d'Oui should I say. It's just a dialect like most regions in France had at the time. I've always seen english people make "norman" like some new language. It's just old French. Reading the tapestry of Bayeux, it's just old french as well...

[@emajekral]

​@@wertyuiopasd6281 You are correct that the modern Norman dialect uses French spelling. Historically, this was not so. The Norman French dialect had a historically separate orthography based on local pronunciation before French spelling reform in the 16th and 17th centuries. These reforms took place AFTER English was influenced by French under the Norman kings. French loanwords from that period reflect Norman pronunciation and orthography rather than that of dialects from other regions during this Old French period. English also had widely varied spelling in the Middle and Early Modern English periods. English linguists often use those variations as clues to local pronunciation.

[@ericcartier2233]

as a Frenchman passionate by the ENg language, I have to say that you are absolutely right in your analysis and your detractors are just a bunch of uneducated people with a chip on their shoulder.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Fortunately most comments are kind. Thank you for yours

[@helenamcginty4920]

Well you know the English. They still harp on about 1066 and the hundred years war, mostly knowing very little to nothing about either. I bet some of them still boil their meat. 🤭

[@remitemmos9165]

once you get all the keywords from germanic origins it is indeed quite easy for a french speaker to fill the gaps, except of course for the dreaded false friends… but hey they’re mostly from french as well, it’s just that english tendency to misuse everything we give you :D

[@marmite-land]

c'est très biaisé ça quand même

[@remitemmos9165]

@@marmite-land ou alors c'est de l'humour ? ...

[@johnwaine56]

A Polish friend once told me that she found learning English quite easy as it is so similar to French and German which she already spoke!

[@arno222444]

It’s a very basic version of french and german, both way more complex language.

[@violettrojo]

French and german languages are not similar at all. But polish is so damn specific maybe it she s able to perceive why french was called by a french linguist the most germanic latin language. But I speak both French as a native speaker and german and there are no similarities in the grammar or vocabulary between them. German is a system French is a mix of follow this rule but not then, or there, and here too but follow the damn rules!!

[@arno222444]

@@violettrojo Ce qu'il veut dire c'est que l'anglais ressemble à un mix de français et d'allemand. Je suis natif en français et j'ai appris l'allemand en second ma troisième langue est l'anglais et je l'ai trouvé vraiment très facile avec mon bagage français et allemand.

[@johnwaine56]

No one said French and German were similar!@@violettrojo

[@thewafflegamer6152]

Makes sense as English derived from Germanic and was highly influenced by old Norman-french.

[@mariebambelle7361]

This is so accurate ! As a French person, it is always funny to see when people differenciate the French etymology from the latin or Greek. I mean, 90% of our language comes from greek or latin or both, sooo... I agree when you say that we must look at from whom it came -> most of the latin/greek words in English came with the invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. So, i believe we can say that they are french words.

[@schusterlehrling]

The problem is, these words were also used by Saxons, Angles, Jutes etc, as their "Germanic"languages were already influenced by Latin around 400. He mentioned complete as a French word, but it is already used in visigothic texts like the Wulfila bible. It's not so easy to claim Latin words came from French into English.

[@gljames24]

@@schusterlehrling That's why there was a Anglo-Norman parenthetical.

[@NorvelCooksey]

You French talk funny and can't fight. You're welcome that we saved your buts in WW1 and WW2 or ya would be speaking German.

[@barryhessel6078]

I heard that the French came from the Franks. And they were Germanic.

[@anothervinnie7413]

@@barryhessel6078 mais non🙄

[@rosmeartoo]

Fascinating! Whilst at school (early 1960s) our English teacher ran a small project analysing the UKs daily newspapers. We estimated the %age of surface area devoted to advertisements, the size of the headlines, number of pictures, the nature of the articles. As part of this, our teacher had obtained an anyalasis of the vocabulary required to fully understand all the articles in each paper. From memory, the baseline was set by the Sun (only just in circulation), the News of the World and I think the Mirror. These required a vocabulary of just 2000 words. Top of the list (pre Murdoch) was the Times followed closely by The (Manchester) Guardian at 20,000 words. According to the Oxford Dictionary (1989 Second Edition), 273,000 words are listed; 171,476 are in active use, 47,156 are out-of-date, and nearly 9,500 include derivatives. It is therefore clear that most of us can only correctly use and understand a small fraction of the total, acknowledging that we may know many techical/scientific words over and above the 20,000 found from the 1960s survey but that still leaves quite alot that almost none of us use!

[@Fete_Fatale]

Except the vocabulary list of the 'broadsheet' Times/Guardian is as much as subset of the language as is that of the 'tabloid' Sun/Mirror/NotW. Each paper is addressing what they believe is the likely lexicon of (e.g.) 95% of their readership. It's a bell curve thing ... and while practically all of us will know a vastly larger lexicon, it won't be the same sample for all of us, and if 'only' 90% of a readership understands a particular word then it won't make the cut.

[@joyfairclough4686]

Absolutely this! As someone with a decent English vocabulary who learnt French as an adult, I found that I could read French with ease long before I could speak it. I felt that at least 60-70% of what I was reading was intelligible to me, simply because English has incorporated that many French words. It would have been an interesting experiment to see some of the "pure anglo-saxon" sentences swapped out with words of only French origin, because it would be possible in many instances to carry it off! Everyday English would be terribly hobbled were all the French words to disappear. Many anglophones just don't realise the extent to which this is the case. Also-- I find it silly to argue that much of this vocab has come into English through Latin, therefore the percentage of Latin is inflated. Of course the French acquired these words from the Latin, but the English got them from the French!

[@paulbradbury4174]

And the Romans

[@marceloschwob3787]

You were brilliant in your argument resolving this problem and resuming this question in a very good manner... How many french words i used?

[@joyfairclough4686]

@@marceloschwob3787 7 😄

[@christophedel2642]

@@marceloschwob3787 7

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

@@marceloschwob3787 You brilliant argument resolving problem resuming question very manner French used.=10

[@wasstl2153]

Whatever the old etymology of words, what matters most is the word as it was loaned from another language, especially from a contact language, because that word, when it was loaned, had a specific morphology, typical of the language it was loaned from. What's more, the language borrowing a word will in turn change the shape of that word to a certain extent, as well as the pronounciation, just to adapt it to its linguistic system. For instance, the old French "flour" gave the English word "flower", just like "tour" gave "tower" and "po(v)eir, or poo(v)ir" gave "power". Another important thing to consider is the status of the language the words were loaned from. When it comes to French and Old norse, we see that they were "contact languages", implying some sort of bilinguism : that's why they had a real influence on the basic/common vocabulary and also on the grammar. So it comes as no surprise that French, and to a much lesser extent Old Norse, weighed more than any other languages in the making of Middle and then Modern English, and transformed Anglo-Saxon (which is the root language) in something new and original. The originality indeed stems from the role played by French. Norman-French (1066), Medieval "standard" French (until 1350), middle French, modern French and contemporary French successively influenced English, especially its vocabulary. As a contact language during the medieval period, French words and some grammatical structures were adopted (and adapted) in the English linguistic system, in such a way that many english words are new/original english creations, mingling French and OE (Anglo-saxon). For example : words like "believable" (OE verb + French ending), or beautyful (French noun + OE ending), or words with French prefix "en/em" + noun + French ending "ment" (eg. em - prison - ment; em-bank-ment). In turn, it comes as no surprise that a purely english creation like the word "comfortable" (French noun "confort" + French ending "able") passed into French without the French people realising it was actually borrowed from English. Moreover, many OFrench words adopted by English passed back into French, with a new shape, like the word "bougette" that gave English "budget", and then passed into French again as "budget" (same spelling but slightly different pronounciation). However, recognising an English word of (old) French origin is not always an easy task, either because the word has disappeared from Modern French, or because the English equivalent has taken on a new morphology making it difficult to see the connection at first sight. Nevertheless, many words of French origin have kept a similar or identical spelling, for example most English words ending with : -tion (question, definition, attention...), [vowel] +) -son (reason, season, prison...), -ment (movement, encouragement, establishment... tough later, Englsih created original words of its own with this "ment" ending, as also seen with the "able" ending), -ity or -ty (identity, beauty, liberty...), -ower or - our (hour, parlour, flower, tower, power, colour, odour... though many English words ending with 'our" do not fall into that category : eg behaviour, harbour), - age (pilgrimage, image, saussage, cage, page, language, courage, advantage...), -ure (nature, or other words of latin origin passed into English through French), -sion (Invasion, conclusion...). Et caeterae... Oops : I almost forgot to congratulate Gideon for his smart videos ! ;)

[@FirefoxisredExplorerisblueGoog]

Here's another fun one. "Dance" is from the French "Danse" which is from the Low Franconian/Old Dutch "Deins". Dutch still has this word and "deinzen" means to _make a sudden dodging or backing-off movement out of fear or being startled_ . Dutch also re-loaned the French word back into Dutch as "dans" with the modern French meaning. I do think it's appropriate for the French to turn a startled movement into an art form ;)

[@raytheron]

Afrikaans also uses "deins" in the same sense as the Dutch "deinzen" as well as "dans" for "dance".

[@patrickdelaye3104]

The etymology do not have relation with the geographic origin. Utopia has a greek etymology but was invented in England.

[@DemetriosKongas]

As a result of being a mixed language (Anglo-saxon and old French), English has a very rich vocabulary. Just think of it. It has pairs of words that had the same meaning but they evolved into having different shades of meaning: Freedom vs liberty, feeling vs sentiment, worth vs value, work vs labour, sleeplessness vs insomnia etc.

[@sharayahsunshine11]

This really makes a lot of sense especially in terms of geography France is the closest neighbor to GB and naturally lots of history between the two. When I was learning french I remember being struck by the frequency in which English and French cross so this makes a lot of sense.

[@OptLab]

Many english speakers ignore they speak french level 2 to 4. Because they didn't unlock french level 1 which latin based compared to germanic in english.

[@gerdwagner5342]

Simply love you, Gideon! I saw a lot of unpleasant comments heading your way when I watched your last video on this topic. All I can say is: Let them talk! There don´t seem to be many people out there endeavouring to really look INTO things instead of just staring at their surface. Too bad... BTW: I´m from Germany, so it seems to sort of fit content-wise:) Always looking forward to your next video! Keep it up! Cheers

[@ancientromewithamy]

This is my new favorite channel. That being said, I've seen such different stats on this, notably the idea that more than half come from Latin, but it's just by way of French, so yes, it's more accurate to say from French rather than directly from Latin. But it's still great, as a native English speaker, to have all these related words to help you out when learning other languages in any case!

[@christinec7892]

I learned this in high school. My German and French teacher both told us this. I remember them both citing examples of French and German words in the English language. One thing that really stuck with me was that normally the word for the animal comes the Germanic, such as swine but the meat comes from French pork. I don’t know if it’s true but they said it’s because the Norman French (upper classes) were more likely to eat animals on a regular basis so that word became used for beef, pork, etc..and the Anglo Saxons (mostly now lower classes) tended the animals so the Germanic words become the words we use for animals. 🤷🏻‍♀️ not sure if it’s completely true, but I thought it was interesting.

[@no_activity]

The animal vs meat name situation is discussed at the beginning of Ivanhoe (published 12/20/1819). This doesn't prove your theory is correct, but Sir Walter Scott came to the same conclusion, 200 years ago.

[@ancientromewithamy]

I feel like there was a different video on this channel with examples of the very same thing, maybe it was making a case for learning multiple languages at once because there were charts with various similar languages ("best book i've read on language learning" or similar title, I think) and how the Germanic words were from the farmers talking about the animals themselves, the French words were for meat, like venison.

[@christinecollins6302]

So pig must be from Latin😅

[@effyleven]

I must say this... the arguments made in this video are among the most valid, and the points made most reasonable, of ANY I have ever heard, on ANY topic. Yours was an object lesson in how to win an argument with facts, instead of fervour. Thank you. I consider myself more knowledgable, and not just about the origins of English vocabulary.

[@cavesalamander6308]

Thank you for interesting information. And when I listen to your lectures, I get the impression that my (passive) English is much better than I thought, because I understand your speech well (using subtitles to check for correct understanding).

[@janewrin1830]

There must be many little people running around in your head, desperately opening filing cabinets with different languages in. I love it. I regularly try to understand words from their etymology as it often gives a broader understanding. The first language from which we took a word gets the points, but the renting of words by other languages does make for a leasehold rather than freehold situation. I'm pleased to have found your excellent ramblings. Thank you. Oh and the subtitles are hilarious. 'They are just fairies'.

[@iannoble8626]

Hence the description, when something is contentious, as it's being merely "Fey 'eretical".

[@IftheShewfits]

Just discovered your channel this morning! (Thanks, KZbin suggested videos! A little scary how well they know me... 😨) Fascinating stuff! It reminds me of the conversations around inherited ethnicity on the DNA groups of which I'm a part. What one has always been told v. what the DNA shows can be surprising and frustrating especially since we don't like our beliefs to be challenged. It can be ground-shifting and even a little scary. If great-great-grandma emigrated from Russia but your ethnicity shows German and you always believed you were Russian, it can be jarring to learn that her ancestors had earlier relocated to Russia from Germany (taking their DNA with them). Many parallels to "inherited" language, I think. In the end, we are richer for learning the rest of the story. Peace. 🙏😊

[@samcan9953]

So well explained. You managed to explain how complex the origin of words and languages is in a very clear manner. Well done! (It reminds me of the saying "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing". The question is simple, but the answer isn't.) Your comment about how high in the tree we go will influence the results is also applicable to biology. If we go high enough, all life forms come from the same primitive cells. But that's not what we think of when we think of the origin of humans or trees. I really enjoy watching your videos. Cheers.

[@miguellemos4669]

Interesting subject and very well explained. Thank you.

[@helenfawcett9685]

Love this! What a language we use! Even more complex when dialect is added- I learnt a lot about the influence on Yorkshire dialect when living in and learning to speak Norwegian, so expand that to any other area!

[@julylafallo]

Thank you for this insightful and comprehensive explanation!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

The pleasure is mine

[@ebarros1954]

This fascinating video is a brilliant lesson in three things: the complexity of languages, the subjectivity of statistics and the assertiveness in responding to criticism.

[@billybill6604]

Very good content as usual. I like your approach very much. Thank you

[@nancimcgonagle1859]

What an excellent discussion of the need for care in using statistics! I am usually especially suspicious of pie charts and percentages. You always, as you so eloquently show, have to question definitions. That’s always the first question I ask…”what do you mean by”. I completely enjoyed this video. I’m in the midst of listening to the History of English Podcast and reading Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue so this video was right in my wheelhouse today.

[@isabelatence7035]

the second video completed the first one which was stupendous, it went deep into the analysis, it is pleasant to learn with your enthusiasm and dedication to the information. Thanks Gideon. 🥰🤩

[@taffbanjo]

Excellent stuff - keep it coming!

[@dot73]

Wonderful... A step forward towards unbiased and scientific approach.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

glad you liked it.

[@semplicementeanita6563]

I find etymology fun and useful, however you cannot rely too heavily on it. For example, English word "nice" meaning 'pleasant' comes from Latin "nescius" meaning 'ignorant' whereas in French it means 'innocent'.What I'm trying to say is that although the majority of English word roots come from Latin and French ,sometimes the meaning of the words change and they become "anglicized" (it happens with Germanic words too: English word "friend" - Danish "fraende" meaning relative). English has been constantly evolving under different influences,however its syntax and grammar prove it to be a Germanic language.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

A very interesting point thanks

[@helenamcginty4920]

I hail from Lancashire where old words are still used as in ... what's up? Owt or nowt?..

[@olelain]

nice and innocent have the same latin root but it doesnt mean nice comes from french. When linguists say that a word comes from french, it means that it actually comes from french (which word itself comes often from latin) and not because it shares the same root as the french equivalent. Now a lot of new words (i mean since the industrial revolution) built on greek roots, like for instance telephone, don't come from french even if they sound like french words.

[@semplicementeanita6563]

@@olelain @Oli Vier I was referring to the semantic changes of the word 'nice' which originates from Latin and came into English via French in 1300s. Its original meaning changed.

[@kaloarepo288]

"Silly" in English means stupid(approximately) but the cognate word in German "selig" means "happy."Perhaps silly people are usually happy!

[@user-vn2on9tz9g]

Thanks for that brilliant video, Gideon. Each such statistics in every language needs such clarification. I would like to suggest you to make a video 1) on the words with the most interesting and maybe the longest etymology, it can be really interesting 2) What was spoken English language during the days, when the written English was Old English, then French and Latin. When Middle English came out in the texts it's really surprising, how these Celtic, Old Norse and French features suddenly appeared. There's a book by John McWhorter "Our magnificent bastard tongue", probably you know it, where the author proves the influence of Celtic and Old Norse languages on spoken language and suggests, that spoken English was very different, maybe you know some recent studies, which continue thinking in that direction and which could have apparently reached several new conclusions about spoken English until Middle English era

[@michelleperez3079]

Love this! I'm studying ancient Greek, and chuckled when I heard the ire from Greek speakers. X-D Well done, friend. Love this channel.

[@BernardGreenberg]

This is an excellent example of a question whose answer is innately complex. To answer the question of "where does English vocabulary come from?", one must understand all the issues you explain beautifully with excellent examples. The idea of providing a pie graph is foolish, once one understands the nature of linguistic evolution and cross-breeding. People and whatever other cognizant creatures that share the ecosystem with us _must_ try to make the simplest models possible to be able to do necessary tasks, but for some questions, the simplest models just don't suffice. A pie graph cannot reasonably show the heritage of a mature language in a culturally complex world. Bravo, great vid.

[@rogercarl3969]

I like this video so much as it is more about epistemology, or theory of knowledge, than about language. Most of the detractors are simply quoting something but do not explain the reason for their conclusions. One thing that goes on with many people is that they have a certain view of the world, no matter how shallow, and incorporate that into their way of thinking is that it becomes hard to let go of it, lest they have to view themselves as some kind of fraud. What may be clear in someone's mind is based upon a assumption and new ways of viewing things, which may or may not be better, are dismissed. Well done. Best video I have seem in a long time.

[@TheMarilita7]

I am obsessed! Many many thanks from a Greek currently living in East London, cheers mate!

[@ibrahimabah2628]

great lesson. Thank you so much Teacher!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

great comment. thanks

[@ShSwStudios]

Loving your sense of humor! 🤓 I want to be fluent in english one day though it might be impossible without using it in everyday life as it's very unlikely to happen here in Germany. So I hope watching your videos and trying to remember and use your lessons will get me somewhat closer to my goal after all.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks, I'll be happy if I can play a part in your journey to fluency

[@ShSwStudios]

@@LetThemTalkTV Hopefully, it's a long way to go I'm afraid. I still need to wrap my head around grammar so bad 😮‍💨Everything I say feels basically german with a whiff of english 😂 But I'm pretty good at pronounciation they say so there's light at the end of the tunnel I guess😄

[@womenfrom0202]

You have the disadvantage of dubbing all the tv shows and films to German and not putting subtitles at the bottom of the screen. I’m convinced that reading Dutch and listening to English in TV shows at the same time, at least helped me a lot.

[@ShSwStudios]

@@womenfrom0202 I never understood the fact that dubbing is such a thing in Germany. Subtitles work just fine in most of Europe though. But then there is a potent solution to that mess: Watch OV 😅

[@dandare1001]

@udios I expect it is purely for financial reasons that things are dubbed into German. There are many interesting programs from different countries, but few people are fluent enough in a foreign language to enjoy them. Native German speakers are probably the largest single group in Europe by numbers, therefore it is financially viable to pay for dubbing of foreign programmes to get larger viewing audiences. It's all about the money. Sweden, for example is a small country, so dubbing into Swedish costs more. This is why Swedes often speak excellent English, and Germans don't. The same applies to a lot of the smaller European countries. ETA: and this is why we native English-speakers are quite bad at foreign languages. :)

[@sidstevens9035]

I've learnt so much from your posts. I am a Cockney born in London but have lived in Australia now for nearly 50 years and am learning French. There are so many words still used in Australia that went obsolete in England hundreds of years ago. It would be interesting for you to do a post on this how languages evolve and stagnate.

[@OkieDokie294]

Fascinating video as always. I’m always interested in where words come from but it seems that language groups have exchanged works for so long it’s not always easy to know where it really started. Not to mention that the same sounding word can have completely different meanings.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Exactly, it gets complicated

[@patrickbenthamradley5429]

Loved your quote about statistics ! Highly entertaining and educational video thanks !

[@ashisheady8841]

Mate, you are brilliant and so is your content.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

No, you are the the brilliant one.

[@sharonsnail2954]

Bravo. This video is as much about debunking the general use of statistics as it is about the origins of English words P.S. Love your avuncular style.

[@fyabun]

Well done Gideon, you really broke it down well with do much substance behind everything you said. No hot air blowing. No grabbing at straws to bolster "national pride". Just well researched, studied and lived in details. Neither are you being braggadocious and claiming that you know it all. I love it. Coupled of words you might not know the origins of are Banjo - Yoruba word for dance. Ok - Ewe or Wolof word for good Dig (as in can you dig it) - Wolof word for understand. There might be others too. You might also be aware of Alexandre Dumas, who wanted to publish his books in English, hence set about learning the language. After studying a little he exclaimed. "But this English is only French spelt very badly" Keep up the good work Gideon

[@causilvestrini7000]

Excellent video! Thank you Gideon.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

my pleasure

[@markbrown2749]

Brilliant! Fascinating! Illuminating! 👏👏👏😁

[@soundscape26]

Interesting video as always Gideon. My numbers were those from the Joseph M, Williams chart... it's a relatively well-known chart and Wikipedia should use that one instead. I can't understand why some people have the need to make off-handed comments or even insulting ones when disagreeing with a given point made in a video. Good thing you are a good sport regarding that.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, you are right. It's not life and death though I think it's possible to disagree without being rude about it.

[@marcelroberto2270]

Wikipedia is such a rubbish for making researches . I'm flattered to be part of your channel professor Gideon . I've been learning a lot with you sir.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Wikipedia is a fantastic resource (from one who remembers what it was like before it existed). However, we need to be careful as it's full of errors.

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

Yes. It's good for a general start, but when you have to dig deeper, reading books from specialists, and then seeing their ideologies can lead you to your own thinking and search for the truth.

[@user-qq5hd9wo9t]

Thanks. It was quite interesting to watch.

[@lorenasmartevents5354]

Interesting to know. Ty for sharing. 👍🏻

[@LetThemTalkTV]

you're welcome

[@ursulastaempfli759]

When you're learning English as a German you're getting the French experience, in particular verbs and many nouns of the more formal speech register. So why these comments foaming with nationalist rage? Sometimes people from this little island in the North Sea are so out of touch with their history and reality. They like to colonize all sorts of countries, but if they get reminded of the one big invasion that changed England for the rest of history, they pull out their nationalist attitudes. You've been colonized by Norwegian vikings and your Royal Family is from Germany, Denmark and Oldenburg for more than 300 years now. And the second family name of your Royal Family stems from that daughter of a German-Polish general, little Julia Hauke who became Countess Battenberg when she married Prince Alexander von Hessen. The wedding was morganatic because she wasn't "good enough" socially, and the children needed a title. Not too glamorous. So having quite a number of words with French origin isn't as offensive as quite a number of other facts. Hannover Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha Battenberg. You couldn't make that up.

[@thomasharter8161]

The English deny their Celtic origin. According to the DNA, only a quarter of the English population would have Germanic origins. And that does not mean that this quarter of the population is 100% Germanic. In short it is a Celtic people who speak a pseudo Germanic language. They dream of being Germanic because they consider it to be the superior race. I lived a bit in England and I was able to see the complexes they have towards the Germans.

[@manfredneilmann4305]

Being German I couldn't agree more!

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

Yes. However they can still be proud and nationalist for their country england, but here it's petty nationalism I agree. It's just annoying that they have to lie or stay in blissful ignorance in order to make it happen. I am far-right politically and a european nationalist but when something is wrong, you have to tell the truth. Petty nationalism that just gets stuck in its own borders can be annoying, instead of having more of a european, broader view of our continent and different languages, cultures.

[@manjirabanerjee7169]

Enormously helpful lesson Sir

[@LetThemTalkTV]

you're welcome

[@sonixcocadventures8791]

We get a lot of English speakers denigrating Welsh for having words of English origin…. how little they know. Great video

[@user-bf1yq6oj8z]

« Mistress of all the accomplishments, natural and acquired, that adorn the Sex », - Richardson, « Clarissa ». Perfect French calque.

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

correct. (french word too) Mistress, accomplishments, natural, acquired, adorn, sex all come from Old French xD.

[@meansoftolerance]

Gramma = γράμμα = letter . Greek was earlier than Latin and heavily influenced the latter through the city states in south and middle Italy. As for “the” that probably came from “das” has more in common with Greek “το” than Latin “el”.The misunderstanding regarding the Greek origin of words is that Wikipedia and most specialized sites don’t cover the early forms and roots of these words. Therefore we have words as intense or poet etc that may not be directly associated with Greek (as words like history or fantasy etc) Also the structure of German grammar is adopted by Greek but it must have been through the Italians. I am a native Greek, teacher of English, fluent in Spanish, Catalan and German. With all the respect Gideon, I’ ve still a lot to learn and I do so through your channel as well. Keep up the good work.

[@MrLandsp]

Yes, the word glamour does originate from γραμματική. Not a Latin word. In the next example the word vision, which is Latin (via French), is attributed to Greek. So, the score is even.

[@meansoftolerance]

@@MrLandsp υπερφίαλος = superficial ( meaning has been altered through time) , άκρη = acre, εξαίρετος = excellent, τέχνη = techno, σκηνή = scene, σχήμα = scheme, words that finish in “ ic” or start with “ph” etc, “hyper” is also presented as having a Latin root although it is coming from “υπέρ” like “super”. Lastly, “pro” and “meta” (Facebook’s new name) and many many others that are maybe not conceived as having a Greek root. Let us not forget names like Christofer, Timothy etc that have Greek roots but rarely used in Greek ( unlike Helen, Alex etc that are quite popular in Greece too) and names like Konstantinos ( Κώστας) that are mistakenly considered to be Greek and commonly used by Greeks.

[@alba9761]

"superficial" from "super" and "facio", is latin

[@meansoftolerance]

@@alba9761 thanks, I stand corrected.

[@xeji4348]

So did you completely forget the Proto Indo European roots all languages you've mentioned stem from? And did you forget that some words are actually cognates and NOT decendents from one of the languages to the other?

[@sergeheute7938]

Thank you , it is amazing how words travel the World, proportions and percentages are not so importants.Serge from France.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It's fascinating

[@philippedombinou8589]

"Démonstration magistrale", french is easy to understand for english native speakers 👍😉 As a French native speaker, how to recognize french vocabulary in english has been the most important and effective way to improve my english👍👌 English natives speakers, you can do the same to learn French, it's so easy : thousands "everyday's words" in both languages😅

[@womenfrom0202]

At my Dutch high school, my English teacher informed us that almost half of the English words originated from French. Did not make me understand French grammar better, but was easier to learn French words.

[@silverfletcher2560]

100% French comes from Latin then plus the normal Latin words we have almost 60% words from Latin.

[@zorglub6466]

@@silverfletcher2560 Do you even know French? How can you say that 100% of french is from latin? French has celtic/gaulish and frankish/germanic roots as well as latin integration. Furthermore, modern French has also adopted English words!

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

@@silverfletcher2560 I am a latinist. And this isn't how it works. Old French isn't latin despite 90% of its words being of latin origins.

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

@@silverfletcher2560 French does not come 100% from Latin...

[@lilybeth71dld57]

your channel is my favorite, ever.. thank you, ever so much " )

[@LetThemTalkTV]

You're very kind. I'm glad you like the videos

[@teardrop720]

Love this! Let them talk indeed!

[@maggiesheehan3532]

Dude, this is so spicy! Who would have believed that your videos are so provocative & saucy 😮

[@donfzic7471]

Thanks a lot, you are a very open-minded and informative teacher. Are you also a professor of history ? Merci beaucoup, vous êtes ouvert d’esprit. Vous êtes un excellent professeur de langues. Êtes vous aussi un professeur d’histoire ? 👏👍🤩

[@aprilmeowmeow]

i love this topic. thank you for the videos, from a french American ❤

[@marcveronneau8750]

Gideon, I endorse your methodology which takes into account the percentage of common words used on a daily basis by speakers of a given language. On a daily basis, magistrates of the courts of justice do not use the same vocabulary as that of other speakers of the same language. If we dissect the roots of the words contained in the Napoleonic Civil Code, well obviously roots of his words are Greek and Latin at 98%. The same goes for University Professors, and so on. This is the cornerstone of the discussion. What exactly are we talking about when it comes to analyzing the origins/roots of a language's lexicon. I really like your approach. Today you edified me, thank you.

[@playgu1814]

Great video! You should do a video on Uncleftish Beholding which is a paper written entirely with germanic words and adaptions.

[@tba64402007]

Thank you, just brilliant¨

[@blackrosenuk]

I whole-heartedly agree with your "first language we got it from" view. I mean, when someone asks where a person is from, they are usually asking about where one was born or grew up, not about their bloodline origin. As a native-English speaker fluent in French (and Japanese and Latin) since a young age, I have always been a bit confused when I hear some focus so much on Greek and Latin with regards to English & skip the French. (By the way, I knew all but one of those odd words; I would think most people who have medical/science backgrounds would know them, too. But I'm surprised you don't know xylitol! It is such a common ingredient in gum!)

[@Lemoncatsf]

I am so happy that I found your channel! I consider myself to have a decent command of the English language and studied Italian for six plus years with some French and Latin in high school. Also living in California (my entire life) I’m surrounded by Spanish. My understanding was that many of our "Latin origin" words were introduced by the Norman invasion and rule in England. My husband is a native Tunisian Arabic/French and MS Arabic speaker. He speaks English fluently but doubts his English fluency constantly 😟 I receive a constant barrage of English vocabulary and grammar questions which often cause me to question my own knowledge. There are so many uncommon and rarely used words in the language. I’m going to suggest that he follow your channel and hopefully you will be able to help him 🙏🏽 I have to explain over and over that his English is fine. Even as a native speaker I do not know every single word 😹

[@ancientromewithamy]

True of any language though! I work as a German-->English translator, and even after 10+ years, I'm coming across the odd obscure scientific or medical term in English that I haven't heard of, and new words get introduced to the language all the time. And there are social media accounts that only exist to post definitions of obscure words (usually aimed at writers), which is also fun! My 6th grade teacher had a "word of the day" all year, where we learned words like "tintinnabulation" and then were tested on them.

[@grantofat6438]

My native language is Other. I am glad to see it represented.

[@a1b3do]

Fascinating

[@uncafeconrubi-viviendoenEuropa]

😲😲😲 Thank you for the percentages!

[@SylvainBOSSON-og8fi]

Fantastic composition for me English is incredible. Patchwork We anderstand his flexibility it is a bridgeons Norse and old English are terrific.

[@stephaneberthaud9991]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Brillant and hilarious as usual. Can’t say the same about some comments….

[@pedrosmotaj1897]

Hats off, Sir!

[@jbmbryant]

I absolutely love this channel! Believe it or not, I do use the word fluocinolone often; it's a topical steroid that I use twice daily. (Even my doctor can't pronounce it).

[@lesfreresdelaquote1176]

I wanted to give my own two cents about this topic. I'm linguist by training, and one of the most interesting researchers in the domain of the French influence on English is Rothwell (see

[@lucycarrington3559]

Bravo! Brilliant!!

[@Aragorn.Strider]

There are actually also several words where the Old-Greek got it from Old-Persian, and some of them they might have gotten them Old-Sanskrit. 12:47 And about "sister", this looks similar to (modern) Frisian "suster" Dutch "zuster" (actually modern Dutch has squeezed that into "zus") or modern German "schwester' (sounds a lot like Old-English "sweostor") or old norse "systir" indeed. But they are all germanic languages, so thats where I would put the point. Let's not forget that standardisation of languages started around 19th century, before that it was a mess. And even today in each country we have dialects, and we can kinda understand it anyways, if you are willing and have a flexible mind. Basically the origin of many words are a mess, and that's all fine... until people start to politicise

[@annagfcgjhn]

Brilliant!

[@russellsantana]

Excellent post.

[@georgiosa.9893]

The Speeches of Professor Xenofon Zolotas In 1957 and 1959, the Greek economist Professor Xenofon Zolotas, Governor of the bank of Greece and Governor of the Funds for Greece, delivered two speeches in English using Greek words only. As Prof. Zolotas said: "`I always wished to address this Assembly in Greek, but I realized that it would have been indeed Greek to all present in this room. I found out, however, that I could make my address in Greek which would still be English to everybody. With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I shall do it now, using with the exception of articles and prepositions only Greek words". First speech - September 26, 1957 " Kyrie, I eulogize the archons of the Panethnic Numismatic Thesaurus and the Ecumenical Trapeza for the orthodoxy of their axioms, methods and policies, although there is an episode of cacophony of the Trapeza with Hellas. With enthusiasm we dialogue and synagonize at the synods of our didymous Organizations in which polymorphous economic ideas and dogmas are analyzed and synthesized. Our critical problems such as the numismatic plethora generate some agony and melancholy. This phenomenon is characteristic of our epoch. But, to my thesis, we have the dynamism to program therapeutic practices as a prophylaxis from chaos and catastrophe. In parallel, a panethnic unhypocritical economic synergy and harmonization in a democratic climate is basic. I apologize for my eccentric monologue. I emphasize my eucharistia to you Kyrie, to the eugenic and generous American Ethnos and to the organizers and protagonists of this Amphictyony and the gastronomic symposia.'' Prof. Xenofon Zolotas Second speech - October 2, 1959 " Kyrie, It is Zeus' anathema on our epoch for the dynamism of our economies and the heresy of our economic methods and policies that we should agonise between the Scylla of numismatic plethora and the Charybdis of economic anaemia. It is not my idiosyncrasy to be ironic or sarcastic but my diagnosis would be that politicians are rather cryptoplethorists. Although they emphatically stigmatize numismatic plethora, energize it through their tactics and practices. Our policies have to be based more on economic and less on political criteria. Our gnomon has to be a metron between political, strategic and philanthropic scopes. Political magic has always been antieconomic. In an epoch characterised by monopolies, oligopolies, menopsonies, monopolistic antagonism and polymorphous inelasticities, our policies have to be more orthological. But this should not be metamorphosed into plethorophobia which is endemic among academic economists. Numismatic symmetry should not antagonize economic acme. A greater harmonization between the practices of the economic and numismatic archons is basic. Parallel to this, we have to synchronize and harmonize more and more our economic and numismatic policies panethnically. These scopes are more practical now, when the prognostics of the political and economic barometer are halcyonic. The history of our didymous organisations in this sphere has been didactic and their gnostic practices will always be a tonic to the polyonymous and idiomorphous ethnical economics. The genesis of the programmed organisations will dynamize these policies. I sympathise, therefore, with the aposties and the hierarchy of our organisations in their zeal to programme orthodox economic and numismatic policies, although I have some logomachy with them. I apologize for having tyrannized you with my hellenic phraseology. In my epilogue, I emphasize my eulogy to the philoxenous autochthons of this cosmopolitan metropolis and my encomium to you, Kyrie, and the stenographers." Prof. Xenofon Zolotas

[@pag93]

Τους έστειλες αδιάβαστους 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@nordia1976]

The other Anglo-Saxon language English shares most with is Frisian. Will you make a video about this? We still have a lot of words in common: green-grien, luck-lok, sheep-skiep, water-wetter, have-hawwe, cheese-tsiis, bread-brea, butter-bûter etcetera.

[@tivonutdc]

This was fun. I learned French and Latin together at about 60% in linguistics class, looking at the Wikipedia and the book, "Origins of English" that you quote, it is what I would say 'close enough' and they are even closer to each other at 56 vs 58%,... and as you point out many of the Latin words come from Greek or elsewhere.

[@Alex.Recchia]

I'd love to have and Italian channel like this! Where somebody explains my language with such passion! Thanks G.

[@MarcioSilva-ssiillvvaa]

Fantastic, Gideon! Team Gideon rocks!

[@dovbarleib3256]

Yes, I remember trying to read Beowulf in high school, and I remember only recognizing 1 out of every 3 words in that Old English poem as somewhat familiar.

[@henryblunt8503]

You read it in High School? Now that's what I call a classical education 😂 You must have a very flexible mind to spot even 1/3 of the words. There are a lot of easier Old English works that you could have looked at.

[@dovbarleib3256]

@@henryblunt8503 Believe it or not, at West Ladue Jr High in S. Louis County, MO, Freshman (9th grade) English Lit class, Beowulf or at least attempting to read it was a requirement!! From there we went on to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Middle English lit. Very classical.

[@henryblunt8503]

@@dovbarleib3256 Brilliant. Most UK degrees in "English Studies" don't require that these days (mine did - 50 years ago). Some of them barely require literature pre 21st Century.

[@StuffMadeOnDreams]

Great video. The fact is that people become very sensitive when it comes to analyzing the origin of their own language, and this for identity reasons.

[@Dionysos640]

This is a beautifully clear, reasonable and persuasive presentation. It must have taken plenty of preparation?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, indeed it did. Thanks for your comment

[@Dionysos640]

@@LetThemTalkTV There is something I want to ask though. I'm an avid reader and a keen amateur historian but sadly this does not extend to me having any knowledge of etymology or languages worth mentioning. So, my question is: "What about words that were invented in England by the English in the last 1,000 years or so?" For example, I have read that William Shakespeare is credited with the invention or introduction of over 1,700 words. I also know that the word 'computer' was first used in the English language although it's etymology suggests French from Latin - Which is ironic because the French then replaced the 'English' word with 'Ordinateur' as part of their longstanding political campaign to 'protect' the French language. Anyway, what is your take on the subject of words that were literally invented by English people in England? Is it a thing? Thanks.

[@rb-ex]

thanks for the provocative claim and for explaining your methodology. in essence the full dictionary of 'english' words consists largely of technical terms not in common use, and these are heavily weighted toward latin and greek. you either exclude these or give them less weight, and your methodology attributes a word to its most recent ancestor. you make good arguments and your discussion is illuminating

[@briquetaverne]

I was born in the U.S. of an American G.I and a French war bride. I was given a French first name and paid heavily for it throughout my early schooling. Needles to say I spoke French since birth and after 10 years of age when my father passed, French language and culture was even more heavily influential on my character. My mother never remarried, though remained in the U.S. as a naturalized Citizen. I further increased the effect of using French influenced English vocabulary, by my marrying a French, French language and Grammar School teacher. I have been ridiculed or been called a snob for using "Ten Gallon words" in my word choices, syntax and in my writing throughout my life. You wanted to see an example of a heavily French influenced phrase in English? Here's one: Declaring the family's most profound joy for the excellent soirée and ball, Leroy and his spouse Marie, offered their adieu's, then pushed their children gently (still dancing) in the direction of their host's front entrance. This is what it looks like in French (one can see the identical word roots with ever other word): "*Déclarant la *joie la plus *profonde de la *famille pour *l'excellente *soirée et le *bal, *Leroy et son *épouse *Marie, firent leurs *adieux, puis *poussèrent doucement leurs enfants (toujours *dansant) en *direction de la porte *d'entrée de leur *hôte".

[@yiannisroubos8846]

I'm a Greek speaker. Greeks rave on about how the whole world uses our language. But as for someone whose learnt a few languages, Greek is used quite a lot but only with very specific words. Psychology, physics, church, angel etc. Usually scientific or religious words. I don't think speaking Greek helps you learn any other language though.

[@giapata]

Of course it does.

[@yiannisroubos8846]

@@giapata do you speak Greek?

[@j.s.c.4355]

Here’s a thing I love to think about. Most words for animals are Anglo-Saxon in origin but the words for meats are French. And that is because it was Anglo-Saxons who raised the cows but it was Normans who ate the beef.

[@takeiteasy76]

Glad to have caught your channel. I have a question about a trend I've been hearing from people in the UK regarding verb tense, as in, "I was sat there for hours," or "I was stood on the side of the road...." Is this going to show up as "normal" usage in a few years? Also, have you noticed (at least here in the States), people pronouncing words that begin with "st" as "sht"? Instead of saying "strength" many now say "shtrength," (or even worse - "shtrenth" - not pronouncing the "g"). Would like to hear comments.

[@BuzzardlyThings]

No need to squabble about exact percentages due to the examples you covered. Thanks for the video. And boo to those calling you names

[@simianessence]

A good video. I agree that using Indo-European as "the first language we got it from" for the purposes of "giving the point" is not a good one. Latin and Greek lose out as you say. That shows the weakness and inadequacy of the Williams chart. Who speaks - or spoke - Indo-European? Where did they speak it? What culture, what empire, what tribe or tribes, what land did they inhabit distinct from all the other languages you mentioned? "Indo-European" is something derived from the analysis that linguists do. Perhaps there was a culture that spoke it...but we don't know anything about it other than the traces left in the wide variety of Indo-European languages. So I agree that we should give the point to the first language we got the current English word from (15:06) - excluding Indo-European. The much more reasonable thing to do is to go to the 2nd or 3rd tiers from the top. And that's exactly what you did, starting at the 5:40 minute mark. You started with the "basics" by saying that English was a Germanic language (in terms of its grammatical structure). You put up the chart at 5:53 which shows "Germanic" at the top of "the tree of languages". Because Indo-European is not a language that we know anything about in and of itself, we should consider some compromise between 2nd and 3rd tier derivatives (German, French, Dutch, Old Norse Latin, Greek, etc.) as comprising the "first" language we trace English back to. That group would then constitute the set of origin languages out of which English sprang. That criteria (whatever the compromises chosen), combined with your common sense (though far from bullet-proof) argument for counting higher-frequency words, would yield a different chart from the Williams one that you are partial to. As for "common" words, you chose "business". Business is important but is it the best proxy for everyday language? Couldn't we do better than limiting ourselves to just that one area? And though I think it's important to put more weight on higher-frequency words, the lower-frequency ones should not be ignored statistically. They are legitimate English words, and they ARE used by their respective (and diverse!) specialist communities. They should be given a weight greater than zero, that's for sure and be balanced out with "business". But which weight? What number? Answer: Let the debate begin! Bottom Line: I'm sympathetic to the problematic nature of "where to put the point" but I'd definitely include Greek in my chart and give more weight to low-frequency, technical words than the Williams chart seems to do. It's time to drop the Joseph M. Williams pie-chart, and it's time for "LetThemTalk" to make its own (branded!?) chart. Then defend that chart by making a justifying methodology video about it. THAT would be both interesting and valuable.

[@armandemsha1976]

Great videos respect for your work I see that you have a lot of knowledge in European languages I am Albanian and I am curious about some words that we have in Albanian examples Irish-Alb-Eng Uiske-Ujë-Water Old Norsk-Alb-Eng Yakules-Akull-Glasier Odin pagan God the word O Din or Dijn in Albanian means Knower We have as well Semetic words of pagan gods that have a meaning in Albanian Geg dialect Ra-son god Ra in Albanian means fall or fallen (sunfall) Thoth-Thot he the that speaks or explains or reveals Syrius star - Syri means eye is And many more examples

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

I’m a scientist and our specialized science vocabulary is mostly derived from Greek, and to a lesser extent, Latin. Or maybe I should say Neo Greek and Neo Latin, because many of these words weren’t actually spoken in those ancient languages, but are neologisms coined in the last 500 years or so. My branch of science, geology, is wonderful because it’s terminology includes words from all over the world, but mostly Europe, where the discipline of geology took off (we Americans consider the British Isles part of Europe). Early British geologists created much of the time/stratigraphic vocabulary. I love how they used Celtic British tribal names for the different geologic times and strata they identified.

[@thesparebox9511]

There's a way to find out if a word is from French, it demands some knowledge in French but can be experienced by English speaking people. When you think that a word may not be english, try to find other words, verbs or adjectives that are said in both languages. Eg: train, it comes from French trainer, traîneau, entraînement, entraîneur etc(to pull something behind most of those words are not used in english for that purpose). I like the word journey, in French, jour (day) journée (during the day or lasting one day or daily) journaux, journaliste, journalier, etc. How come did it become a trip? You see the number of words already used in french but not used in english without an explanation. Tennis comes from Tenez, hold. It was the way to say ready to play the ball at the palm game. Now french words are transformed by the way english language is spoken locally. Most of the sounds are pronounced differently. Sound U french way or Re doesn't exist in English, many ends of words have a silent end in french (Paris (paree) etc. etc.

[@garywatson5617]

Terrific video.