Updates April 7, 2008
Posted by chitranshu in History, Language.trackback
I have just created a new page called ‘Stuff‘. Do check it out.
The IIM interviews are all done, so my blog will be changing track now. Of course, those interview posts are always open for comments. 
The final results of those interviews are still a few days away, and I am not really in the mood to write a long post till then. But I have got a new idea. I have been learning French at Alliance Française since February, so I shall keep putting up small tidbits about the language and its relation with other languages.
The first one is actually a question I heard in a quiz a long time back. The words beef, mutton and pork have originated from the French boeuf, mouton and porc respectively, while the words cow, sheep and swine seem to be related to the German Kuh, Schaf and Schwein respectively. Why is it so?
The answer is, that after the Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the Anglo-Saxons in England in 1066, they formed the upper (ruling) class while the Anglo-Saxons were the lower (ruled) class. So, the words for different types of meat came from those on whose table that meat was decorated, while the words for the animals came from those who actually tended to those animals.
Also, in general, you can see a pattern in English that old, short words expressing simple ideas are similar to their German counterparts, while newer, longer words expressing complex ideas are similar to (or directly taken from) their French counterparts. The reason for this lies in the history of England.
Of course, the English we know today has also borrowed from many other languages.
cool trivia fact… never knew abt this…
)
but sounds too good to be true…
do we have sources on this? (yeah i know this is consultant ishtyle
@ Vikrant
These are well-known theories. However, this does not mean that any of these three languages – English, French or German – is in any way inferior.
It just shows how and at what time one language influenced another, and specifically, why do we have so many similar words in French and English when they belong to different families (Romance and Germanic respectively).
Rock Solid…..A little too Rock solid
never made any comments on the superiority / inferiority of languages…
however on tht note i have a very strong belief that the language is shaped by the society tht uses it and the primary use of language is for communication… hence a language / society tht uses tht language is better if it is more open to additions to the word base rather than being restrictive
@ Vikrant
No you didn’t, but I just felt I should ‘clarify’ that.
As for the ‘openness’ thing, I think it’s a bit complicated. If a particular language is dominant around the world, its native speakers don’t feel insecure in accepting words from new languages, and that in turn makes that language easier to accept for other people. On the other hand, if they are insecure, they feel more strongly about preserving the ‘purity’ of their language, and their culture and all the baggage that comes along with it.
For example, English has accepted several Hindi or ‘Indian English’ words, but hardcore Hindi speakers will always make the distinction between ‘pure Hindi’ and ‘Hinglish’ and so on.
No take on the reservations yet, something i find surprising. Dont you think you would be inspired to change something rather than leave it for others to mess up?