latinate vs. germanic words

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Are these words originally Latinate (romance) or Germanic?
Why you think these are Germanic or Latinate words?

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Type: Question • Score: 7 • Views: 1,058 • Replies: 19

[+3] - Walter Hinteler - 09/16/2015[quote="Foofie"]Let's not call the Germanic tribes barbarians. Let's call them Goths, Visigoths, Gauls, etc. [/quote]The Visigoths were one branch of the Goths. The Gauls weren't a...

Look up these words in TheFreeDictionary.com and look at their etymologies.

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My simple rule of thumb, if the masses usually use the word, it comes from the German, if it sounds hifalutin, it comes from Latin. For example, "chew" is from German; "masticate" is from Latin. Remember, the barbarians would not learn Latin (or had problems with it?).

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@Foofie,

Now that you mention it. . . .

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@Foofie,

Foofie wrote:

My simple rule of thumb, if the masses usually use the word, it comes from
the German, if it sounds hifalutin, it comes from Latin. For example, "chew"
is from German; "masticate" is from Latin. Remember, the barbarians would
not learn Latin (or had problems with it?).

The barbarians in the areas of Europe conquered by Rome could and did
learn Latin. Hence, the term "Romance" languages.

Apply your ROT to England and substitute Anglo-Saxons and Norman French,
then you and Walter Scott are on the same page. Read Ivanhoe.

1 Reply

@Foofie,

There were no barbarians in Europe. There were more Germans who learned Latin then there were Romans who learned the Germanic tongue.

1 Reply

@George,

George wrote:

Foofie wrote:
My simple rule of thumb, if the masses usually use the word, it comes from
the German, if it sounds hifalutin, it comes from Latin. For example, "chew"
is from German; "masticate" is from Latin. Remember, the barbarians would
not learn Latin (or had problems with it?).
The barbarians in the areas of Europe conquered by Rome could and did
learn Latin. Hence, the term "Romance" languages.

Apply your ROT to England and substitute Anglo-Saxons and Norman French,
then you and Walter Scott are on the same page. Read Ivanhoe.

I was under the impression that Romance languages are just the bastardized version of Latin, due to the inability of truly learning Latin, by the new folks in Europe.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

There were no barbarians in Europe. There were more Germans who learned Latin then there were Romans who learned the Germanic tongue.

Let's not call the Germanic tribes barbarians. Let's call them Goths, Visigoths, Gauls, etc. However, they were not going to learn the Latin of the Vatican.

1 Reply

@Foofie,

How do you explain Italian?

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@Foofie,

Quote:

I was under the impression that Romance languages are just the bastardized version of Latin, due to the inability of truly learning Latin, by the new folks in Europe.

Languages evolve over time and each language changes from predecessor language. This isn't bastardization.

Or would you say English is a bastardization of Anglo-Frisian, or that Latin itself is a bastardization of Etruscan? I don't think the word "bastardization" is appropriate in this context.

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@George,

George wrote:

How do you explain Italian?

It would have been Latin, but the barbarians wouldn't hear of it.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

Quote:
I was under the impression that Romance languages are just the bastardized version of Latin, due to the inability of truly learning Latin, by the new folks in Europe.

Languages evolve over time and each language changes from predecessor language. This isn't bastardization.

Or would you say English is a bastardization of Anglo-Frisian, or that Latin itself is a bastardization of Etruscan? I don't think the word "bastardization" is appropriate in this context.

"Evolve" is just a euphemism for "bastardization." Bastardization implies that new arrivals would not maintain the purity of a prior language in an area. It became bastardized. A less euphemistic world than hybridization, but then again, hell with euphemism. In my opinion, bastardization also implies the desire of new arrivals to leave their mark on a language. Sort of like the Yiddishisms in NYC. ; however, many Gentiles use Yiddishisms in NYC to imply that they might have acquired some of the intellectual ways of NYC Jews, in my opinion. Sort of like Jews at a Christmas party, perhaps.

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@Foofie,

Foofie wrote:

George wrote:
How do you explain Italian?
It would have been Latin, but the barbarians wouldn't hear of it.

OK. I can't argue with that.

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@Foofie,

Foofie wrote:

Let's not call the Germanic tribes barbarians. Let's call them Goths, Visigoths, Gauls, etc.

The Visigoths were one branch of the Goths. The Gauls weren't a Germanic but a Celtic tribe.

2 Replies

@Walter Hinteler,

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Foofie wrote:
Let's not call the Germanic tribes barbarians. Let's call them Goths, Visigoths, Gauls, etc.
The Visigoths were one branch of the Goths. The Gauls weren't a Germanic but a Celtic tribe.

I must have been absent that day in school. To this day I find it hard to tell one tribe member from another, just by looks alone.

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

This all reminds me of a book I read quite a while ago, say, twenty years; I don't remember it well now, but I'll dig it out and reread it.
Barbarian in the Garden, by Zbigniew Herbert
http://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Garden-Zbigniew-Herbert/dp/0156106817/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442426008&sr=1-1&keywords=Herbert%2C+Barbarian

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Intelligence, wisdom, beauty
By Piotr Szymczak on March 5, 1999

Format: Paperback
Zbigniew Herbert (died 1998) is counted among the finest poets of 20th century Poland, on a par with Szymborska and Milosz, world-famous Nobel Prize winners. This book of essays is a record of his journeys in France, Italy and the Netherlands: from the rock-paintings of Lascaux, through the medieval architecture of the great cathedrals, to the quiet consummate perfection of the Flemmish Masters. The rich meditation on art and life is your reward for joining the eccentric and humane poet with his 19th century Baedekker guide.

(Slightly but not entirely off subject, by me; I'm just remembering that I liked it.)

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@Foofie,

Well, school systems differ. And perhaps people still living in those regions where these tribes once lived, have to know such, even when absent at school while it was taught ... if they want to pass the exams.

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Well, school systems differ. And perhaps people still living in those regions where these tribes once lived, have to know such, even when absent at school while it was taught ... if they want to pass the exams.

Many Europeans I have met were able to discern facial differences between inhabitants of countries. I cannot. All Europeans look alike to me, regardless of dress. I can only make guesses, based on big boned people, and smaller boned people. Or, possibly height.

1 Reply

@Foofie,

You've met Goths and Gauls? That must have been centuries ago, many centuries.

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

Walter Hinteler wrote:

You've met Goths and Gauls? That must have been centuries ago, many centuries.

Yes. I look younger than my centuries.

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latinate vs. germanic words

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