Where do English words come from? (英語はどこからやってきた？)
現在話されている英語は「現代英語」と呼ばれています。約500年前から1,000年前まで続いた「中英語」が発展したものです。アングロサクソンの人々が話す「古英語」は約1500年前に始まり、1000年前まで続きました。アングロサクソン人とは、集団で生活していたゲルマン人のことです。そのうちの2つのグループがアングル人とサクソン人でした。英語とはEngles (アングル人) の言語なのでEngle-ish、イングランドはEnglesの土地なのでEngle-landなのです。現代英語で使われている単語のうちどれくらいがどこからやってきたのか見ていきましょう。
The Anglo-Saxon groups of people that came to England about 1,500 years ago spoke a Germanic language. Like the history of English, the German language has a history that comes from Middle German and Old German that came from the Germanic people living in the area before about 1,500 years ago. In the beginning of the English language, Old English, most of the words were Germanic. However, after Old English, most of the words that came into English were from other languages. It is interesting that the English language is mostly made up of words whose origins are not English!
Starting around the time of Middle English, many people came to England from France. These people who had a lot of power and spoke French had important positions in government. Many Christians and educated people used the Latin language. French comes from Old French, which came from Latin, so we can say that French is a Latin-based language. Hundreds of years ago many people who went to school learned Latin. Most of the words of English come from French and Latin so most of the words of English are Latin-based.Since the time of Modern English, words have come into English from many places. English got words for music from Italian: opera, sonata, solo, duet, and violin; for sailing and painting from Dutch: cruise, deck, yacht, easel, landscape, and sketch; from Hindi: bungalow, jungle, pajamas, and shampoo; from Chinese: tea, chow mein, and typhoon; from French: garage, muscle, and vogue; from Native American Indians: moose, chipmunk, persimmon, and squash; Spanish from native American and South American people: barbecue, potato, tobacco, canoe, avocado, chili, chocolate, and tomato; from Japanese: kimono, sushi, honcho meaning boss from hancho, tycoon meaning wealthy and powerful businessperson from taikun, skosh meaning little from sukoshi, karaoke from Japanese kara- meaning empty and -oke from shortening the English word orchestra.
Now, the English of today is an international language. English is used for international travel and tourism. It is used by doctors and scientists writing in international academic journals. English is used for computer and internet communication. Maybe it should not be a surprise that the English language is mostly made up of words that come from all over the world.
