Cosmopolitan

Vocabulary
Abdurrahman Shaleh R
Citra Restu Wulandari

English

is classified as a Teutonic Language

which consists of German, Dutch, Flemish,
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. So, English
language shares similar grammatical structure
and many common words.

But, on the other hand, English have more than

half of its vocabulary derived from Latin, mainly
through French. So as a result English shares a
great number of words with those languages of
Europe which are derived from Latin like French,
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

To a lesser content, the English

vocabulary contains borrowings from
many other languages. Instead of
making new words chiefly by the
combination of existing elements,
English has shown a marked tendency
to go outside her own linguistics
resources and borrow from other
language.

Borrowings have shaped the English language

almost from its beginnings, as words were adopted
from the classical languages as well as from
successive wave of invasions. During the 16th
Century, English had already adopted words from an
estimated 50 other language and the vast majority
of English words today are actually foreign
borrowings of one sort or another.

Since the expansion of global trade, and particularly

since British colonialism opened up rich new sources,
a huge number of words have been adopted into
English from a great diversity of different languages.
In a reverse process, many English words have also
been adopted by other countries.

Examples
Native American
Chipmunk, hominy, moose, raccoon, skunk

Dutch
Measles, selvage, wagon, uproar, isinglass

Italian
Balcony, canto, duet, granite, opera

Examples
Spanish
Alligator, cargo, stampede, vanilla, mosquito

Greek
Acme, acrobat, catastrophe, magic, elastics

Indonesian
Cassowary, orangutan, satay, cajuput,
durian

Examples
Persian
Khaki, dervish, caravan, chess, paradise

Russian
Steppe, vodka, ruble

Other examples
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lists_of_English_words_o
f_foreign_origin

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