English is a Linguistic Melting Pot: A Word-Lover’s Guide to Borrowed Beauty

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

When we write in English, we’re borrowing from a vast world of languages. English is a hybrid, shaped over centuries by conquests, trade, exploration, and cultural exchange. This gives writers a palette of amazing and descriptive choices from an array of loanwords. 

English evolved from Old English or Anglo-Saxon roots, but many other words came from French, Latin, Norse, and the other countries that influenced the English language. Fascinating!

I picture an English person hearing a new word, liking what it means, enjoying the way it rolls off his tongue, and adopting it as his own. His meaning may not be exactly what was intended by the mother language, but he adopted it and added his personal touch. My friends, that is exactly how our language developed.

A List of Some Words We’ve Pulled From Other Languages 

French: From this source come many refined or formal words.

• Attorney, ballet, bureau, bureaucracy, cuisine, façade, genre, government, rendezvous. 

Latin: These root words are used in many academic, legal, and scientific terms.

• Agenda, auditorium, authority, data, mortal, precise, status, transmit, versus, verbatim.

Germanic or Anglo-Saxon also called Old English.

• Bread, earthiness, fight, home, house, king, love, simplicity, strong, water

Norse or Old Norse from the Vikings. 

• Awkward, egg, knife, sky, them, they, thrift, window

Greek: Many of these words are used in science and technology.

• Antique, democracy, dialogue, echo, economy, grammar, geography philosophy, psychology 

Arabic: Words from Arabic often relate to science, math, and trade.

• Alcohol, algebra, cotton, elixir, sugar, tariff, zenith

Hindi or Persian: These words appear in administration, trade, and culture.

• Shampoo, bungalow, pajamas, guru, juggernaut, karma, veranda

Indigenous and Other World Sources: The English language also borrowed many of these words to show specific cultural distinction.

• Canoe (Arawakan), chocolate (Nahuatl), hammock (Taíno), kayak (Inuit), kangaroo (Guugu Yimithirr), tobacco (Arawakan)

When we use English, we are word travelers. Our choices take us on an adventure. We can enjoy an exploration of different cultures, people, and various root derivatives and meanings from the original language. The search helps us deepen our understanding of words and adds credibility to our writing. Oh, the places we can go when we grasp the English language.

I find the study of semantics—the study of language perfect for a word nerd like me. How about you?

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English is a Linguistic Melting Pot: A Word-Lover’s Guide to Borrowed Beauty from @DiAnnMills on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. 

She is the former director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Retreat, and Mountainside Novelist Retreat with social media specialist Edie Melson. Connect here: DIANNMILLS.COM