Greek Influence on English Language

[Mpsipos3]

I am currently learning Greek. I starting by learning the Greek Alphabet from a Greek relative. Then I used the internet. I am still learning, so I don't know a whole lot of words, but my relative is guiding me along. I am amazed at what an influence the Greek language has on the English Language. I never studied this before and don't know much about it, but why does Greek have an influence on English. Was English derived from Greek? Why does the English language incorporate so much Greek [and Latin]. Also, I am positive that the English Alphabet is derived from the Greek Alphabet. Look at the alphabets below...

[i hope you will be able to read the fonts]

 

English

A a

B b

C c

D d

E e

G g

H h

I i

J j

K k

L l

M m

N n

O o

P p

Q q

R r

S s

T t

U u

V v

W w

X x

Y y

Z z

 

Greek

Α α

Β β

Γ γ

Δ δ

Ε ε

Ζ ζ

Η η

Θ θ

Ι ι

Κ κ

Λ λ

Μ μ

Ν ν

Ξ ξ

Ο ο

Π π

Ρ ρ

Σ σ(ς)

Τ τ

Υ υ

Φ φ

Χ χ

Ψ ψ

Ω ω

 

Also, the English word "Alphabet" comes from the Greek word, "Αλφαβητα" ("Alphavita")

The word "Eucharist" (A christian ritual) comes from the greek word "Ευχαριστω" ("Efcharisto"), meaning "Give thanks [to God]"

Almost all of the Elements [in the Periodic Table Of Elements] have Greek roots - Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc.

most of the greek letters, like α,β,γ,Δ,θ (in trig: sin² θ + cos² θ = 1),λ,μ,π (pi :hihi:), Σ, σ, φ, ψ, and Ω.

There are a ton more English words with Greek Words, too numerous to list, but back to my questions:

• Is the English Language derived from Greek?
  
• Why does Greek have an Influence on the English language?
  

[Miranda]

Looks like no one wanted to take a stab at this one, so I'll give it a shot.

 

There are a ton more English words with Greek Words, too numerous to list, but back to my questions:

Is the English Language derived from Greek?

No. English is of Germanic descent, mainly West Germanic.

Why does Greek have an Influence on the English language?

English gains most of its Greek influences indirectly, and this is attributed mostly to Latin. Greek had a large influence on Latin, and Romance languages had their influence on English, so something of Greek origin may have creeped into English through other means. Latin was (and still is, in some places) viewed as a learning language, or a language of education. There are a lot of Greek and Latin roots employed in English by whatever means, and the more they are being used, the more they stick around. As for our writing system, we employ romanized characters which come from Greek indirectly again by way of Latin. Western societies that had once followed the Roman faith also adopted the writing system, with minor alterations.

Does this help?

[aaaa]

You gave a few examples of english words that originated from latin and said there were too many to list, would you mind listing 5 more?

[david_exen]

IsoMetric => Greek

Force => Latin

Velocity = >Latin

Science =>Latin

Influence => Latin

Idiocy (obviously your idiocy) => Latin

...

i could continue

[mikeisback]

IsoMetric => Greek

Force => Latin

Velocity = >Latin

Science =>Latin

Influence => Latin

Idiocy (obviously your idiocy) => Latin

...

i could continue

 

Who's idiocy? Mine? I think you are greatly mistaken. I do find it funny however that you signed up only to try and show the etymology of certain words and to call me and idiot. Right now I'm LOL because I am fluent in Modern Greek and have been studying Latin for 4 years and am beginning some Ancient Greek dialects.

Edited December 4, 2012 by mikeisback

[mikeisback]

"aaaa" signed up just to post on this thread also. Haha. Well, I'll give you 5 more LATIN and GREEK.

 

Latin:

 

Sedentary - from Latin verb "Sedet" meaning "He/she/it sits, does sit, is sitting"

Arboreal - from Latin noun "Arbore" meaning "tree"

Servant - from Latin noun "Servus/servi" meaning "slave"

Labor - from Latin verb "laborat/laborant" meaning "he/she/it works, does work, is working

 

OH WAIT! Idiocy comes from the word Idiot which comes from Latin and Greek. Latin noun "Idiota" meaning "ordinary person, layman" (Somebody like you, David_Exen) and Greek "idiotes" meaning "layman, person lacking professional skill"

 

Clamor - from Latin verb "Clamat/Clamant" meaning "They shout, do shout, are shouting"

Also Latin "Multi" meaning "many" ex. MULTIple,

also english "irritated" from Latin "Iratus" meaning "Angry",

and Latin "Solus" meaning "alone" ex. solitary

and on and on and on...

 

OH and (almost) half of English vocabulary comes from French which is a Romance language. And as most of us non-idiots know all romance languages have their roots in Latin, which is not a descendant (But borrows many words from) of Greek. Yes it is a Germanic language because it developed from the germanic cultures and their languages and includes many similarities in syntax and pronunciation and stress and with them both [English and German] originating from the western Germanic languages but you would be surprised how little English vocabulary as a whole is influenced by the GERMAN language, considering it is not a DESCENDANT of "German" per say. I now know that 5% of english vocabulary is DIRECTLY from Greek, but 25% indirectly by way of Latin, but you can still say that the words have greek origin.

 

OK NOW GREEK:

 

Like mpsipos3 said, "Αλφαβητα"-Alphabet

"Ευχαριστω"-Eucharist

Hydrogen(Greek [Hydros, water] and French [-gene, producing],

Helium (Ηλιος) meaning "Sun"

Lithium (Λιθος, Λιθου) meaning "Stone"

 

Other ones I add:

 

1. 
    
   
2. Bible from Greek "Βιβλίο" meaning "book"
   
3. Physics from Greek "φύσις" meaning "nature"
   
4. Mathematic from from Greek noun "mathematike tekhne" meaning "mathematical science," which is the female singular declension of the adjective "mathematikos" meaning "relating to mathematics, scientific," which itself is from the Greek "mathema" (gen. mathematos) which means "science, knowledge, mathematical knowledge," which is related to "manthanein" which means "to learn"
   
5. Anthropology from Greek "Ανθροπος" which means "person, human being".
   

 

Happy now?

Edited December 4, 2012 by mikeisback