Updates April 7, 2008
Posted by chitranshu in History, Language.6 comments
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.
