Appendix C: Language Families and Borrowing
Understanding how languages relate to each other illuminates why they share certain features and differ in others.
The Indo-European Family
All six languages in this guide belong to the Indo-European language family — the largest language family in the world, with over 3 billion native speakers.
The Family Tree
PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN
(c. 4500-2500 BC)
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┌──────────┬──────────┼──────────┬──────────┐
| | | | |
HELLENIC ITALIC GERMANIC CELTIC (others)
| | |
GREEK LATIN PROTO-GERMANIC
| | |
(Ancient) ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──────┐
| | | | |
(Modern) SPANISH FRENCH WEST NORTH
GERMANIC GERMANIC
|
┌───┴───┐
| |
ENGLISH GERMANBranch Classification
| Branch | Languages in This Guide | Related Languages |
|---|---|---|
| Hellenic | Ancient Greek | Modern Greek |
| Italic (Romance) | Latin → Spanish, French | Italian, Portuguese, Romanian |
| Germanic (West) | English, German | Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish |
Key Dates
| Event | Approximate Date |
|---|---|
| Proto-Indo-European spoken | 4500–2500 BC |
| Greek Linear B texts | c. 1400 BC |
| Homer’s epics composed | c. 750 BC |
| Classical Latin literature | 1st century BC – 2nd century AD |
| Latin fragments into Romance | 6th–9th century AD |
| Old English period | c. 450–1100 AD |
| Old High German period | c. 750–1050 AD |
How the Languages Relate
Latin’s Descendants
Latin did not “die” — it evolved into the Romance languages.
| Latin | Spanish | French | (Italian) | (Portuguese) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aqua | agua | eau | acqua | água |
| factum | hecho | fait | fatto | feito |
| noctem | noche | nuit | notte | noite |
| filium | hijo | fils | figlio | filho |
What changed: - Case system collapsed (replaced by prepositions and word order) - Neuter gender merged with masculine - New article system developed from demonstratives (ille → el/le/il) - Verb system simplified but retained core structure
Germanic Cousins
English and German share a common ancestor (Proto-Germanic) but diverged significantly.
| Proto-Germanic | Old English | Modern English | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| *watōr | wæter | water | Wasser |
| *brōþēr | brōþor | brother | Bruder |
| *grōniz | grēne | green | grün |
| *hūs | hūs | house | Haus |
What happened to English: - Lost most noun case endings (German retained them) - Lost grammatical gender (German retained it) - Became more analytic; German remained more synthetic
English: A Germanic Framework with a Mixed Vocabulary
English is classified as Germanic because its grammar and core vocabulary are Germanic — but its total vocabulary tells a different story. Modern English is a hybrid, shaped by successive waves of influence after its split from continental Germanic:
| Source | Period | Type of Influence |
|---|---|---|
| Old Norse (Viking) | c. 800–1100 | Deep integration: pronouns (they, them, their), everyday words (sky, egg, take, give, leg, window, husband, law), grammar influence |
| Norman French | 1066–c. 1400 | Government, law, culture, cuisine: court, judge, parliament, justice, beef, pork, beauty, art |
| Latin (direct) | Renaissance onward | Learned vocabulary: adjacent, curriculum, formula, habitat, specimen, status |
| Greek (via Latin or direct) | Various, especially modern | Scientific/technical: biology, philosophy, telephone, democracy, chromosome |
The result: Estimates suggest only 25–30% of English vocabulary is Germanic in origin. The majority derives from French and Latin. However, the most frequent words — pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, core nouns and verbs — remain overwhelmingly Germanic.
Why English is still Germanic:
Despite its Romance vocabulary, English is structurally Germanic: - Word order follows Germanic patterns (subject-verb-object, verb-second in questions) - Strong verb ablaut (sing-sang-sung, drive-drove-driven) — a Germanic feature - Compound formation follows Germanic rules (blackbird, household) - Core grammar words (articles, pronouns, prepositions) are Germanic - Stress patterns in native words (initial stress) differ from Romance borrowings
The hybrid effect: English speakers can often choose between a Germanic and Romance word with subtle differences:
| Germanic (everyday) | Romance (formal/technical) |
|---|---|
| ask | enquire, interrogate |
| end | terminate, conclude |
| fair | equitable, just |
| fast | rapid, expeditious |
| gut (feeling) | intuition, instinct |
| help | assist, aid |
| hide | conceal, obscure |
| time | occasion, temporal |
| understand | comprehend, apprehend |
| work | labour, employment |
The farm and the table: A famous example of social stratification through vocabulary: Saxon peasants raised the animals; Norman lords ate them at table.
| Animal (Germanic — the farmer’s word) | Meat (French — the diner’s word) |
|---|---|
| cow (OE cū) | beef (OF boeuf) |
| pig (OE picg) | pork (OF porc) |
| sheep (OE scēap) | mutton (OF moton) |
| calf (OE cealf) | veal (OF veel) |
| deer (OE dēor) | venison (OF veneison) |
| chicken (OE cicen) | poultry (OF pouletrie) |
This dual vocabulary gives English unusual stylistic range.
Greek’s Continuity
Ancient Greek evolved into Modern Greek without the dramatic rupture Latin experienced:
| Ancient Greek | Modern Greek | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ὕδωρ (hydōr) | νερό (neró) | water |
| θάλασσα (thalassa) | θάλασσα (thálassa) | sea |
| ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) | άνθρωπος (ánthropos) | human |
What changed: - Pronunciation shifted significantly - Dative case lost (functions absorbed by genitive and accusative + prepositions) - Infinitive lost (replaced by subjunctive constructions) - Optative mood lost - Dual number lost
Borrowing and Loanwords
Languages constantly borrow from each other. Understanding borrowing explains vocabulary patterns.
Layers of Borrowing in English
English vocabulary comes from multiple sources:
| Source | Period | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Germanic (native) | before 450 AD | house, water, brother, good, come, go |
| Latin (early) | Roman Britain | street (via strata), wall (vallum), wine (vinum) |
| Old Norse | 800–1100 AD | sky, take, they, them, their, egg, leg |
| French (Norman) | 1066–1400 | government, court, judge, beef, pork, beauty |
| Latin (learned) | 1400–present | adjacent, education, formula, habitat |
| Greek (via Latin/French) | various | philosophy, democracy, biology, telephone |
The Norman Conquest Effect
After 1066, French became the language of government and culture in England. This created vocabulary doublets:
| Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) | French (Romance) | Register |
|---|---|---|
| begin | commence | everyday / formal |
| buy | purchase | everyday / formal |
| freedom | liberty | everyday / formal |
| help | aid | everyday / formal |
| kingly | royal | everyday / formal |
| wish | desire | everyday / formal |
Animal vs. Meat
A famous example of social stratification through language:
| Animal (Saxon farmers raised it) | Meat (Norman lords ate it) |
|---|---|
| cow (cū) | beef (boeuf) |
| pig (picg) | pork (porc) |
| sheep (scēap) | mutton (moton) |
| calf (cealf) | veal (veel) |
| deer (dēor) | venison (veneison) |
Latin Influence on Germanic Languages
Both English and German borrowed extensively from Latin:
| Latin | English | German | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| schola | school | Schule | school |
| vinum | wine | Wein | wine |
| mūrus | mure (obs.) | Mauer | wall |
| strata | street | Straße | street |
Greek’s Influence
Greek contributed heavily to scientific and philosophical vocabulary in all Western languages:
| Greek Root | Meaning | English Examples |
|---|---|---|
| φιλο- (philo-) | love | philosophy, philanthropy |
| λογος (logos) | word, study | biology, theology, logic |
| γραφ- (graph-) | write | geography, telegraph, graphic |
| δημο- (demo-) | people | democracy, demographic |
| κρατ- (krat-) | power | aristocracy, democracy |
Grammatical Inheritance
The languages in this guide inherited their grammatical systems from Proto-Indo-European. Understanding what they inherited — and what they changed — illuminates their structure.
What Proto-Indo-European Had
| Feature | PIE | Retained In | Lost/Changed In |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 cases | ✓ | Sanskrit (8); Latin (6-7); Greek (5); German (4) | English (0), Spanish/French (0) |
| 3 genders | ✓ | Latin, Greek, German | English (lost); Spanish/French (reduced to 2) |
| 3 numbers (sg, dual, pl) | ✓ | Greek (archaic dual) | All others lost dual |
| Extensive verb inflection | ✓ | Latin, Greek | English (minimal), Spanish/French (moderate) |
| Free word order | ✓ | Latin, Greek | German (V2 rule), English (SVO fixed) |
| No articles | ✓ | Latin | All others developed them |
| Aspect system | ✓ | Greek (strong), Spanish/French (moderate) | German, English (weak) |
Inherited Grammatical Patterns
The Case System
Proto-Indo-European marked grammatical relationships through case endings. This system is preserved at different levels:
| Level | Languages | Example: “I give the book to the soldier” |
|---|---|---|
| Rich case system | Latin, Greek | Word order free; endings show function |
| Moderate case | German | Articles show case; word order semi-free |
| Pronoun-only case | English | I/me/my; nouns rely on word order |
| No case | Spanish, French | Word order + prepositions |
The trade-off: Languages that lost case gained stricter word order to compensate.
Verb Agreement
All six languages inherited the principle that verbs agree with their subjects:
| Language | Agreement Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Full (person, number) | ambulō, ambulās, ambulat |
| Greek | Full (person, number) | γράφω, γράφεις, γράφει |
| German | Full (person, number) | ich gehe, du gehst, er geht |
| Spanish | Full (person, number) | hablo, hablas, habla |
| French | Partial (often silent) | je parle, tu parles, il parle (sound identical) |
| English | Vestigial (3sg only) | I walk, you walk, he walks |
Adjective Agreement
| Language | Adjectives Agree In | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Case, number, gender | bonus vir, bona fēmina, bonum bellum |
| Greek | Case, number, gender | ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἀνήρ, ἡ ἀγαθὴ γυνή |
| German | Case, number, gender | der gute Mann, die gute Frau |
| Spanish | Number, gender | el libro rojo, la casa roja |
| French | Number, gender (often silent) | le livre vert, la maison verte |
| English | None | the good man, the good woman |
Relative Pronouns
All six languages inherited the system of introducing relative clauses with a pronoun that refers back to an antecedent:
| Language | Relative Pronoun | Agrees With | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latin | quī, quae, quod | Antecedent (gender, number); own clause (case) | vir quem vīdī |
| Greek | ὅς, ἥ, ὅ | Same pattern | ὁ ἀνὴρ ὃν εἶδον |
| German | der, die, das | Same pattern | der Mann, den ich sah |
| Spanish | que, quien, cual | Limited agreement | el hombre que vi |
| French | qui, que, lequel | Limited agreement | l’homme que j’ai vu |
| English | who, which, that | None (but whom survives) | the man whom I saw |
Grammatical Innovations
The Article
Proto-Indo-European had no articles. Each branch developed them independently from demonstratives:
| Language | Demonstrative Source | Resulting Article |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | ὁ, ἡ, τό (orig. demonstrative) | ὁ, ἡ, τό |
| Latin | (none) | — |
| Spanish | ille, illa, illud | el, la, lo |
| French | ille, illa | le, la |
| German | der, die, das (demonstrative) | der, die, das |
| English | þæt (that) | the |
Grammatical consequence: Articles took over some case-marking functions as case endings eroded.
The Auxiliary Verb System
Latin expressed tense and voice synthetically (with endings). Its descendants developed compound tenses:
| Function | Latin | Spanish | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect | amāvī (synthetic) | he amado | j’ai aimé | I have loved |
| Passive | amātur (synthetic) | es amado | il est aimé | is loved |
| Future | amābit (synthetic) | amará | aimera | will love |
Note: The Spanish and French futures derive from Latin infinitive + habēre (amar + he → amaré; aimer + ai → aimerai).
Do-Support (English Innovation)
English uniquely developed “do” as a grammatical auxiliary:
| Function | English | Other Languages |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | Did you see? | Inversion: Sahst du? / As-tu vu? |
| Negation | I did not see | Simple negation: Ich sah nicht / Je n’ai pas vu |
| Emphasis | I DID see | Particles or stress |
This is a purely English innovation with no Indo-European precedent.
Grammatical Evolution
Languages change not just vocabulary but grammar over time.
The Loss of Case
Proto-Indo-European had eight cases. Most descendants lost some:
| Language | Cases | Lost From PIE |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | 6 (+ vestigial locative) | Instrumental merged with ablative |
| Ancient Greek | 5 | Ablative, locative, instrumental merged |
| German | 4 | Ablative, locative, instrumental, vocative |
| Old English | 4 | Same as German |
| Modern English | 0 (pronouns: 3) | All noun cases |
| Spanish/French | 0 | All cases |
How functions were replaced:
| Original Case | Replacement |
|---|---|
| Accusative (direct object) | Word order (SVO) |
| Dative (indirect object) | Prepositions (to, à, a) |
| Genitive (possession) | Prepositions (of, de) or -’s |
| Ablative (means, manner) | Prepositions (with, by, avec, con) |
The Rise of Articles
Proto-Indo-European had no articles. They developed independently:
| Language | Definite Article | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | ὁ, ἡ, τό | From demonstrative |
| Latin | — | None |
| Spanish | el, la | From Latin ille, illa |
| French | le, la | From Latin ille, illa |
| German | der, die, das | From demonstrative |
| English | the | From demonstrative þæt |
Verb System Simplification
| Language | Synthetic Verb Forms | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Latin | Present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, future perfect (all synthetic) | Baseline |
| Spanish | Present, imperfect, preterite, future, conditional (synthetic); compound perfect, pluperfect | Partial shift to compound |
| French | Present, imperfect (synthetic); passé composé replaces passé simple in speech | Strong shift to compound |
| English | Present, past (synthetic); all others compound | Near-total shift |
Sound Changes
Regular sound changes help explain word relationships.
Grimm’s Law
A systematic sound shift that separated Germanic from other Indo-European branches (c. 500 BC):
| PIE | Latin | Greek | Germanic | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | p | π | f | pater / πατήρ / father |
| t | t | τ | þ/th | trēs / τρεῖς / three |
| k | c | κ | h | centum / ἑκατόν / hundred |
| d | d | δ | t | duo / δύο / two |
| g | g | γ | k | genus / γένος / kin |
The Great Vowel Shift
English vowels shifted dramatically (c. 1400–1700), explaining spelling-pronunciation mismatches:
| Middle English | Vowel | Modern English | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| bītan | /iː/ | bite | /aɪ/ |
| hūs | /uː/ | house | /aʊ/ |
| mēte | /eː/ | meat | /iː/ |
| bōne | /oː/ | bone | /oʊ/ |
This is why English spelling seems illogical — it largely reflects pre-shift pronunciation.
Practical Implications
Recognising Cognates
Words that descend from a common ancestor are cognates. Recognising them aids vocabulary learning:
| English | Spanish | French | Latin | German | Greek |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mother | madre | mère | māter | Mutter | μήτηρ |
| father | padre | père | pater | Vater | πατήρ |
| new | nuevo | nouveau | novus | neu | νέος |
| two | dos | deux | duo | zwei | δύο |
| three | tres | trois | trēs | drei | τρεῖς |
False Friends
Some words look similar but have different meanings:
| English | Other Language | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| actual | German aktuell | (G) = current, topical |
| library | French librairie | (F) = bookshop |
| embarrassed | Spanish embarazada | (S) = pregnant |
| gift | German Gift | (G) = poison |
Grammatical Transfer
Some grammatical features help when learning related languages:
| If You Know… | …It Helps With |
|---|---|
| Latin cases | German cases, Greek cases |
| Spanish/French verb conjugation | Latin verb conjugation |
| German word order (V2, verb-final) | Understanding both stricter than English |
| English tense/aspect | Explaining to speakers of aspect-weak languages |
| Any case language | Understanding how word order ≠ grammatical function |
Summary
| Relationship | Languages | Key Shared Features |
|---|---|---|
| Same branch (Hellenic) | Ancient Greek ↔︎ Modern Greek | Core vocabulary, verb system structure |
| Same branch (Romance) | Latin → Spanish, French | Vocabulary, verb conjugation patterns |
| Same branch (Germanic) | English ↔︎ German | Core vocabulary, strong/weak verb distinction |
| Same family (Indo-European) | All six languages | Number 1-10, family terms, basic verbs |
| Borrowing | English ← Latin/French | Formal/learned vocabulary |
| Borrowing | All ← Greek | Scientific/philosophical vocabulary |
Understanding these relationships helps explain: - Why some words look similar across languages - Why grammar works differently despite shared roots - Why English vocabulary has Germanic and Romance layers - Why learning one language in a branch helps with others
Previous: Appendix B: Language Summaries