Decapitation of the Union

[John Fazio]

(09-21-2015 06:17 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  John - re: "...and find it [German] to be all but devoid of Latin roots..."

??? My humble knowledge of English would comprehend "all but devoid" as to mean the same as "full of" ("alles andere als frei von" = "voll mit", or: minus minus = plus). In this case this would oppose your former statement that German has no Latin in it.

While of the non-Romance languages English certainly has the most Latin loanwords (and English has more words than German at all*, less extensive grammar instead - in a sum, all languages are equally difficult to acquire), the German language has "incorporated" plenty either. I just have to look out of the Fenster (from Latin "fenestra") to be reminded of my favorite example where the English term ("window"), unlike the German, roots in the old Scandinavian languages, i. e. in Old Norse "vindauga" ("wind eye"), as the chilly northern wind used to blow thorough the glassless holes.

As for German, I couldn't find reliable information on the exact %age of Latin derrivates, but here's a word list which I doubt to be complete:
https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_la..._Deutschen
(I've already noticed a very essential one missing: "Schule" = "school", from Latin "schola"...)
* The OED currently estimates a total of 620,000 words in the English language, the Duden (German main dictionary) between 300,000 and 500,000 words in German. The French "Grand Robert" counts 100,000 French words - maybe an effort of the Toubon Law and the executive [next word misssing in the Wiki list: "Exekutive"] Académie Française:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toubon_Law

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PS: One example for the common overall origin:

surgery = "Chirurgie" in German, = "chirurgia" in Latin.

All trace back to the Greek word "Chier" = hand [while
the Latin for "hand" = "manus"] as it describes a handicraft treatment: cutting, sewing etc.

Many medical expressions in both languages actually are Greek, and often the Latin term is used, too.

The chemical concept of chirality (German "Chiralität") has the same origin - actually a very illustrative term:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirality_(chemistry)

Eva:

Well, here I am. Sorry it has taken me so long, but after the cocktail, newspapers and dinner, I konked out.

You are quite right: my statement that "Her (Germany's) language has no Latin in it" is entirely too categorical. I should have known that that statement wouldn't make it past a linguist. Of course it has some Latin in it, but it remains true that relative to the Romance languages and English, it doesn't have much. And it is also true that that fact is attributable to Arminius's defeat of Varus's legions in the Teutoburger Forest in AD 9, a defeat that caused Augustus to pound on the walls of his domus, on the Palatine Hill, demanding "Varus! Give me back my legions! Of course, his legions were quite dead, their bones bleaching in the sun in a valley that for many years, indeed centuries, became known as "The Valley of Bones".

Also, Ich wusste nicht dass Sie waren Deutsch and dass Sie wissen so viel uber die Deutschen Sprach. I habe etwas in Schule gelernt und auch bin Ich in Deutschland gewesen einmal ungevehr drei monaten und einmal nur eine Woch wann mein Frau und Ich nehmten eine Reise auf der Rhine Fluss von Basel nach Amsterdam, vor zwei Jahre. Deutschland is sehr schoen und gefaelt uns veil und wir haben gefunden dass die Deutsche sind sehr hilflich und freundlich.

John