English and the Germanic Language Family

Rather dead than slave

2010-12-19T08:42:00.004-06:00

There is a monument in the Netherlands that commemorates a battle between of the Frisian-Hollandic war. Upon the boulder at the monument, it reads: "Leaver dea as slaef." This is West Frisian for "Rather dead than slave." The word "slaef" is actually an archaic spelling, where today it is spellt "slaaf."

Here are various versions of the phrase in different Germanic languages:

West Frisian: Leaver dea as slaaf

East Frisian: Ljauer dood as Sklaawe

Low German: Laiwer daud äs Unfrie

Mennonite Low German: Leewa doot aus Schklow

Dutch: Liever dood dan slaaf

German: Lieber tot als Sklave

Crappy Little House

2010-07-12T17:59:00.003-05:00

A Frisian word for bathroom is literally, "little house."

West Frisian: húske

East Frisian: Hüüsken

North Frisian: hüüschen

It has cognates in other languages, such as German "Häuschen."

Interestingly, the same formation gave English "husk" by way of Dutch.

A simple yes or no?

2010-06-29T20:29:00.007-05:00

"Yes" and "no" are two of the simplest and most important words in the English language.

But their simplicity belies their true nature: they're both compound words.

"Yes" from Old English "gēse" (yes), is most likely a compound of Old English "gē/gēa" (so) and "sī," (be it).

"No" from Old English "nā" (never), is a compound of Old English "ne" (not) and "ā" (ever).

"Yeah," although considered informal today, is actually historically more appropriate than "yes" as the affirmative interjection. "Yeah" is cognate with all of the other Germanic words for yes:

Icelandic: já

Swedish: ja

Dutch: ja

German: ja

"Nay," an archaic form of "no" is actually from a Scandinavian compound! It is a compound of Old Norse "ne" (not) and "ei" (ever). It was a direct cognate with Old English "nā."

Skanks

2010-05-17T08:44:00.009-05:00

"Skank" is a derogatory term for a loose woman.

Online Etymology Dictionary has its origin listed as unknown.

But going through a Faroese dictionary today, I found something interesting.

"Skankur" means shank or leg in Faroese, which is cognate with English "shank." But there is a verb associated with this word. "Skanka" means for a woman to sit with her legs wide apart.

Are these meanings related? It seems so. Could the English noun have come from a notion of a woman who sits with her legs wide open? Possibly.

I think it warrants further investigation.

Icelandic:

Faroese: skankur (leg)

Norwegian:

Danish:

Swedish: skänkel (leg)

Frisian: skonk (leg)

Low German:

Dutch: schenkel (leg)

German: Schenkel (leg)

Germanic Cognates in English Knol

2010-05-03T06:13:00.002-05:00

I have created a Google Knol entry about the Germanic Cognates in English.

Check it out, and if you are well-versed in Germanic linguistics, you can help me build the information.

Everyone step back!

2010-04-24T09:12:00.006-05:00

Crowds are tight. In fact, the word "crowd" comes from the Old English verb "crūdan," which meant "to press." There is another term for a crowd, "throng," which comes down form Old English "geþrang," meaning "crowd." "Geþrang" is the noun form of the verb "þringan," meaning "to press." Although "crowd" doesn't have living cognates, "throng" definintely does:

Icelandic: þröngur; þrengja (tight; to tighten)

Faroese: trongur; trongd; treingja (tight; crowd; to press)

Norwegian: trang; trenge ([adj] tight, [n] urge; to need)

Danish: trang; trænge ([adj] tight, [n] urge; to need)

Swedish: trång; tränga (tight; to push)

Frisian: drang ([n] urge)

Low German: drenje (to push, to crowd)

Dutch: gedrang; dringen (crowd; to crowd)

High German: Drang; Gedränge; drängen (pressure; crowd; to crowd)

There is another word in English, "thong" that descended from Old English "þwang." This word has had a stable meaning from that period, but in other Germanic languages, it has the sense of pressure or force.

Icelandic: þvinga (to force)

Faroese: *tvongur; tvinga (shoelace; to force)

Norwegian: tvang; tvinge (force; to force)

Danish: tvang; tvinge (force; to force)

Swedish: tvång; tvinga (force; to force)

Frisian: twang; twinge (compulsion; to force)

Low German: Dwank; dwinje (force; to force)

Dutch: dwang; dwingen (force; to force)

High German: Zwang; zwängen (force; to force)

*In Faroese, the noun has a related sense to English "thong."

Cream

2010-04-24T08:32:00.005-05:00

The Old English term for "cream" was "rēam." It is just a coincidence that it looks just like "cream" without the "c."

Some cognates of the Old English term:

Icelandic: rjómi

Faroese: rómi

Norwegian: rømme

West Frisian: rjemme

East Frisian: Room

Dutch: room

High German: Rahm

Gloves vs. Hand-shoes

2010-04-24T06:29:00.006-05:00

The word "glove" in English is most likely Germanic (compare Faroese "glógvi"), but every other Germanic language uses "hand-shoe" as the word for glove.

Here's proof:

Icelandic: hanzki (hönd + skór)

Faroese: handski (hond + skógvur)

Norwegian: hanske (hånd + sko)

Danish: hanske (hånd + sko)

Swedish: handske (hand + sko)

Frisian:

Low German: Haunschtje (Haund + Schooh)

Dutch: handschoen (hand + schoen)

High German: Handschuh (Hand + Schuh)

In an even odder compound, Icelandic has a term for arm, "handleggur," which literally means hand-leg.

Hippopotami

2010-04-22T13:40:00.007-05:00

There is a brewing company out of Lambertville, NJ called Riverhorse. Their logo is a hippopotamus. The word "hippopotamus" comes through Latin from Greek, and literally translates to "riverhorse." In most of the other Germanic languages, "hippopotamus" was translated into the equivalent of "riverhorse" in the respective language. Here are some examples:

Icelandic: flóðhestur, nílhestur (river-horse, Nile-horse)

Faroese: áarhestur (river-horse)

Norwegian: flodhest (river-horse)

Danish: flodhest (river-horse)

Swedish: flodhäst (river-horse)

Frisian: nylhoars (Nile-horse)

Low German: Nielpead (Nile-horse)

Dutch: nijlpaard, rivierpaard (Nile-horse, river-horse)

High German: Nilpferd, Flusspferd (Nile-horse, river-horse)

Loafy Words

2009-10-02T18:42:00.002-05:00

It seems strange that "lady" developed from the sense of "bread kneader", and "lord" developed from "bread ward." (In Old English, "loaf" was interchangeable with "bread")

Though perhaps not so strange. We have an odd compound that we use today containing the word bread: "breadwinner."

Later Foreign borrowings from English

2008-08-27T06:07:00.007-05:00

English has much double vocabulary, but some other germanic languages have borrowed words from English fairly recently, giving them doublets that usually differ in meaning only slightly or not at all. This is reminiscent of how the European languages universally borrowed from the lingua franca of the day: Latin.

drink: Danish "drink", Norwegian "drink", Swedish "drink"

The native Scandinavian word for drink has no 'n':
Danish "drik", Norwegian "drikk", Swedish "dryck", Old Icelandic "drykkr"

Saving and Sparing

2008-08-10T10:57:00.007-05:00

to Save:

Old English "hreddan": Dutch "redden", German "retten", Icelandic "redda", Norwegian "redde"

spare: Old English "sparian", Dutch "sparen", German "sparen", Old Icelandic "spara", Norwegian "spare"

Fraus and Herrs

2008-07-14T22:31:00.009-05:00

In German, the word for woman is "Frau", this same word serves also the function of "wife" and the title of "Mrs." as well. In English we've borrowed the word in the compound "Hausfrau" (housewife). For example: "Ich kenne Frau Müller." ("I know Mrs. Müller."); "Meine Frau arbeitet spät." ("My wife works late."); "Die Frau isst sehr laut." ("The woman eats very loud.")

Also in German, the male title is "Herr", with the function of "Mr.". Also, "Herr" can be used as a noun with the meaning of "gentleman, sir". For example: "Wo ist Herr Bauermann gegangen?" ("Where did Mr. Bauermann go?"); "Dieser Herr ist zu groß." ("This gentleman is too big.")

These terms are found throughout the Germanic Language Family, though they have been lost in English.

German Herr: Old English "hearra", Dutch "heer", Old Icelandic "herra", Norwegian and Danish "herre", Swedish "herr, herre"
German Frau: Old English "frōwe", Dutch "vrouw", Old Icelandic "freyja", Norwegian and Danish "frue", Swedish "fru"

It's also interesting that the word for "virgin" in German is "Jungfrau", literally "young woman". This compound has also made its way into Norwegian with "jomfru" ("virgin"). This is odd, because the Norwegian word for "young" is "ung", which leads me to believe that it was borrowed from West Germanic. Norwegian had some influence from Low German ("Plattdüütsch") during the 1300's. This was due to Bergen being a very important trade city in the Hanseatic League.

Forgotten Past Participles

2008-07-04T09:37:00.006-05:00

Modern English "forlorn" is from the past participle of Old English "forlēosan", meaning "to lose". Therefore the original meaning of "forlorn" was "lost".
OE forlēosan: Dutch "verliezen", German "verlieren", Gothic "fraliusan"
forlorn: OE "forloren", Dutch "verloren", German "verloren"

Modern English "fraught" was the past participle of a Middle English verb: "fraughten", meaning "to load". This verb was actually borrowed from Middle Dutch "vrachten, vrechten" and is related to "freight".
freight: Middle Dutch "vracht, vrecht", Old High German "frēht"

Modern English "molten" (OE "gemolten") was the past participle of Old English "meltan" ("to melt"). The verb "to melt" is related to "to smelt", just with a more specific meaning of "to melt ore". The verb "smelt" was borrowed from Low German "smelten".
melt/smelt: OE "meltan", Dutch "smelten", German "schmelzen", Norwegian and Danish "smelte", Swedish "smälta"
molten: OE "gemolten", Dutch "gesmolten", German "geschmolzen"

Modern English "numb" (OE "genumen") was the past participle of Old English "niman" ("to take"). The original meaning of Old English "genumen" was "taken".
OE niman: Dutch "nemen", German "nehmen", Old Icelandic "nema"
numb: OE "genumen", Dutch "genomen", German "genommen"

Modern English "unkempt" was from the past participle of the Old English verb "cemban", meaning "to comb". Therefore "unkempt" literally meant "uncombed".
comb: OE "camb, comb", Dutch "kam", German "Kamm", Icelandic "kambur", Norwegian, Danish and Swedish "kam"
OE cemban: Dutch "kammen", German "kämmen", Swedish "kamma"
kempt: OE "gecembed", Dutch "gekamd", German "gekämmt", Swedish "kammat"

Modern English "wrought" (OE "geworht", showing a metathesis of the 'r') was the past participle of Old English "wyrcan" ("to work"), which was originally a strong verb rather than the weak verb it is today. The original meaning of "wrought" was "worked".
work: OE "wyrcan", German "wirken", Old Icelandic "yrkja, verka"

English Spelling Reform

2008-06-28T08:27:00.015-05:00

English spelling is seriously outdated. We have so many archaic forms that no longer represent the pronunciation of those words.

Written language is merely a tool to help us communicate our spoken language. While the spoken language is constantly changing, unfortunately the written language doesn't have to at all, which is why the written form of the English language is in the sorry state it's in today. Spelling bees are unnecessarily difficult, foreigners as well as our own children struggle to learn all of the non-rules in the orthography that must be laboriously memorized.

Spellings with "gh", "kn", "wh", "wr", etc. just exist to cause confusion. Those concerned with linguistic heritage and etymology (I count myself in this group to an extent) argue that these forms should continue in order to represent the heritage of the language, and also to distinguish homophones. I would say, that these need not be completely abandoned, but represented in different ways. "gh" could be written with just an 'h' to make somewhat more sense. Also, "kn" could be changed to "hn" (resembling the modern Icelandic convention), if youre going to have a silent letter, better an 'h' than a 'k', and should this be the case, "wh" could easily be "hw", which would be more historically accurate to Old English anyway.

"knee" could become "hnee"
"aught" could become "auht"
"when" could become "hwen"

Some sounds that we think of as being the same sound, may not be the same at all. In the Mid-Atlantic American accent, with which I speak, there are two sounds that are considered long 'i'. The long 'i' in "time" is a different sound altogether to the long 'i' in "kite", this is due to a variation in pronunciation that occurs depending on the consonant which follows the vowel. Also, in general, Americans have two pronunciations for short 'a'. For an example, compare "cat" and "man". "man" sounds more like "ĕă", while "cat" is the quintessential example of the short 'a' taught in school. Alternatively, the British pronounce short 'a' in the same manner in both words.

If English were to undergo a reform of spelling, different populations should probably customize their own. Americans and Brits pronounce the language differently enough that variation in spelling between the two makes more sense than pretending that they are pronounced identically. An American says "bath" differently, and even in Britain there is more than one pronunciation of this word based upon the speaker's latitude. So a further division could be made between even Northern and Southern pronunciations in both Britain and America.

The biggest problem one runs into when trying to create a new usable spelling system for English is the foreign loan vocabulary. The monosyllabic native words of the Anglo-Saxons, and even the closely related Norse vocabulary that the English picked up are all easily reformed to better represent their pronunciation, but the polysyllabic vocabulary from Latin, Romance and Greek just does not work consistantly with the native Anglo-Saxon vocabulary. This is due to the fact that so many vowels are pronounced as schwas (ə) in polysyllabic words, and the many forms in Latin words would necessitate a different spelling for words with the same root.

For example:

"domicile" this 'o' is short
"domestic" this 'o' is pronounced as a schwa
"domain" this 'o' is long

"nation"; long 'a'
"national"; short 'a'

Words with "-tion" would be difficult to handle well. The Norwegians represent this suffix with "-sjon", the equivalent of which in English would be "-shon" or "-shun". This would make many words look ridiculous, and we would still need another variation for the suffix "-sion". "-zhun"?

These words look ugly and awkward:
"naishun" for "nation"
"nashunul" for "national"
"ukaizhun" for "occasion"

An option to solve the foreign loan problem is to wipe away all of these borrowed words, exhume and dust off our lost Old English vocabulary, updating these words to work properly with modern pronunciation. This solution is not only seen as Xenophobic, but also it is too much to get large populations of people to forget the words they already know, and to essentially relearn their own language. This solution is practically impossible, if it were forced upon people in the written language, they would still use those outlawed words in their speech, and so the words would most likely reintroduce themselves into the written language, as well as the fact that we have never stopped borrowing new words, as well as coining new ones from older terms that may have been borrowed themselves.

Another option would be to reform the Germanic vocabulary of English, and to hold foreign loans to a different spelling standard altogether, spelling them as they were in their source language. This would necessitate a conscious ackowledgement of a division of vocabulary in English, one would have to know the precise source of each word in order to spell them correctly. This would not even solve the problem of the difficulty of the orthography in English. One would essentially have to learn several spelling systems rather than just one hideously outmoded one as in English today.

A problem with the English language itself is that the so called "long" vowels are not actually longer counterparts of the short vowels at all, but are in fact diphthongs. Diphthongs are a combination of sounds, rather than a pure sound alone. In English, it is often the case that diphthongs will be represented by only one vowel character, thus creating a problem for a new written standard. In addition, these vowels developed from different sources originally, making things slightly more complicated.

'ă' became 'ā'
'ā' became 'ō'
'æ' became 'ă'
'ǽ' became 'ē'
'ĕ' remained 'ĕ' in most cases, yet became long in others. ex. OE "mete" developed into "meat"
'ē' remained 'ē'
'ea' became 'ă'
'ēa' became 'ē' in some cases, yet in others shifted to 'ĕ'
'eo' became 'ĕ'
'ēo' became 'ē'
'ĭ' remained 'i'
'ī' remained 'ī'
'ie' became 'ĕ'
'īe' became 'ē'
'ŏ' remained 'ŏ' or became 'ŭ'
'ō' became several sounds all represented by the same 'oo'. ex. "blood", "good", "food"
'ŭ' remained 'ŭ'
'ū' shifted to what we represent as "ou" or "ow" in English. ex. "house", "cow"

And these vowels may have developed or act differently depending on the consonants that preceed or follow them.

We could continue to lie to ourselves and our children and pretend as though these diphthongs are actually long vowels, or we have other options. A way to deal with the vowel problem could be to choose multiple vowel combinations that appropriately represent these sounds, "ea", "ie", "oa" etc. Though do we use the modern English standard to which we have become accustomed, or do we scrap that and use the greater Western European standards of these vowels? Should we spell "time" as "taim", or are we straying too far from our Anglo-Saxon roots? Praps borrowing characters from other European languages that use the Latin alphabet is the solution. We could borrow umlauts, "ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ" or accents "á, é, í, ó, ú, ý" or characters that are much more unfamiliar to us "æ, å, ø, ð, þ" (although "æ, ð, þ" were current in Old English, they are very strange to us today). The problem is that English speakers have a tendency to regard all of these characters as strange and really quite silly. English for a long time has used an alphabet of unmodified characters, and breaking that habit would cause difficulty with its speakers.

The final and greatest hurdle is that there is no official language council or office in any english speaking country potent enough to institute and enforce new spellings for words. This is contrary to many other European nations, in which governmental departments make revisions to the national language regularly, These revisions become official and must be used then on in all official capacities.

English may just be doomed to remain unwieldy and unnecessarily difficult to foreigners and natives alike.

Sound & Music

2008-06-19T20:05:00.003-05:00

clang/clank [n]: OE "clangettung", Dutch "klank", German "Klang", Norwegian "klang"

clatter [n]: Old English "clatrung", East Frisian "klatern"

clink [v]: OE "clynnan", Dutch "klinken", German "klingen"

din [n]: Old English "dyne", Old Norse "dynr"

din [v]: Old English "dynnan", Old Norse "dynja"

loud [adj]: OE "hlūd", Dutch "luid", German "laut", Old Norse "hljōð [n]", Gothic "hliuma [n]"

loud [n]: Old English "lēoþ", Dutch "lied", German "Laut, Lied", Old Norse "ljōð", Norwegian "lyd"

ring [v]: Old English "hringan", Dutch "ringen", Old Norse "hringja", Norwegian "ringe, ringje"

sing [v]: Old English "singan", Dutch "zingen", German "singen", Old Norse "syngva", Norwegian "synge", Gothic "siggwan"

song [n]: OE "sang", Dutch "gezang", German "Gesang", Old Norse "sǫngr", Norwegian "sang", Gothic "sangws"

Lost Compounds

2008-06-13T19:29:00.007-05:00

Modern English "husband" from Old English "hūsbonda" borrowed from Old Norse "hūsbōndi", a compound of "hūs" + "bōndi" ("house" + "holder")
Modern English "hussy" from an Old English compound of "hūs" + "wīf" ("house" + "woman, wife")
Modern English "icicle" from a compound of Old English "īs + gicel" ("ice" + "icicle"), a rather redundant compound first recorded in Middle English "isykle"
OE gicel: Danish "jøkel", Swedish "jökel"
Modern English "lady" from Old English "hlǽfdige", a compound of "hlāf" + "dige" ("loaf, bread" + "kneader")
Modern English "lord" from Old English "hlāford", a compound of "hlāf" + "weard" ("loaf, bread" + "ward, protector")
Modern English "nostril" from Old English "nosþyrl", a compound of "nosu" + "þyrel" ("nose" + "hole")
Modern English "walrus" from Dutch "walros", a compound of "walvis" + "ros" ("whale" + "horse")
Modern English "window" from Old Norse "vindauga", a compound of "vindr" + "auga" ("wind" + "eye")
Modern English "woman" from Old English "wimman", a compound of "wīf" + "man" ("woman, wife" + "human, man")
Modern English "world" from Old English "woruld", a compound of "wer" + "ild" ("man" + "age")

Lengthening and Shortening of Vowels

2008-06-06T12:52:00.004-05:00

The most widespread case of lengthening of a vowel is the Old English short 'a', which in almost every case became the Modern English long 'a':

"bana" lengthened to "bān" ("bane")
"namu" lengthened to "nām" ("name")
"tacan" lengthened to "tāk" ("take")

Shortening of long 'e' before 'd':

"dēad" shortened to "dĕd" ("dead")
"hēafod" shortened to "hĕd" ("head")
"lēad" shortened to "lĕd" ("lead")
"rēad" shortened to "rĕd" ("red")

Lengthening of short 'i/y' before "ld" and "nd":

"cild" lengthened to "chīld" ("child")
"mild" lengthened to "mīld" ("mild")
"wild" lengthened to "wīld" ("wild")

The vowel remained short with another syllable after: "children", "wilderness"

"findan" lengthened to "fīnd" ("find")
"gecynd" lengthened to "kīnd" ("kind")
"gemynd" lengthened to "mīnd" ("mind")
"windan" lengthened to "wīnd" ("wind")

Though the case of "wind" [n] with its short 'i' shows a deviation from this pattern.

Short 'i' also lengthened before "mb":

"climban" lengthening to "klīm" ("climb")

The 'b' in Modern English "limb" was mistakenly added later, hence its short 'i'.

Shortening of long 'o' before 'd'; an inconsistant shift:

"blōd" shortened to "bləd" ("blood")
"flōd" shortened to "fləd" ("flood")
"fōd" developed consistantly into "fūd" ("food")
"gōd" shifted to "gŭd" ("good")
"hōd" shifted to "hŭd" ("hood")
"mōd" developed consistantly into "mūd" ("mood")
"rōd" developed consistantly into "rūd" ("rood")

A short 'u' in Old English also lengthened before "nd":

"gebunden" lengthening, and eventually shifting to "băŭnd" ("bound")
"gefunden" lengthening, and eventually shifting to "făŭnd" ("found")
"grund" lengthening, and eventually shifting to "grăŭnd" ("ground")
"hund" lengthening, and eventually shifting to "hăŭnd" ("hound")
"gewunden" lengthening, and eventually shifting to "wăŭnd" ("wound")

Though the case of "wound" [n] with its long 'u' shows a deviation from this pattern.

throw & warp

2008-05-31T08:25:00.003-05:00

The word "throw" is cognate with several words in other Germanic languages, though these other words mean "to turn".

throw: Old English "þrāwan", Frisian "draaie", Dutch "draaien", German "drehen", Norwegian "dreie"

The word "warp" is also cognate with several words in other Germanic languages, though these other words mean "to throw".

warp: Old English "weorpan", Dutch "werpen", German "werfen", Old Icelandic "verpa", Gothic "waírpan"

Peace & Harmony

2008-05-27T08:30:00.004-05:00

Peace: Old English "frið", Frisian "frede", Dutch "vrede", German "Frieden", Old Icelandic "friðr", Norwegian "fred"

Tranquility: Old English "rōw", German "Ruhe", Old Icelandic "ró", Norwegian "ro"

Stillness: Old English "stillnes", Dutch "stilte", German "Stille", Norwegian "stillhet"

Head

2008-05-25T17:16:00.004-05:00

"Head" has the literal meaning of "the part of the body above the neck", but also has the abstract meaning of "main part of". This can be seen in some English examples:

"Headquarters"
"Head of State"
"Headmaster"

Other Germanic languages have this same meaning:

Frisian: "haad" (leader), "haadletter" (capital letter), "haadstêd" (capital city)
German: "Hauptstadt" (capital city), "Häuptling" (chief)
Norwegian: "hovedgate" (mainstreet), "hovedkvarter" (headquarters), "hovedstad" (capital city), "hovmester" (head-waiter)

Latin and Romance do the same with the word for head ("caput"):

Latin: "caput" (capital city), "captionum" (caption)
French: "capitaine" (captain), "chapitre" (chapter), "chef", (chief & chef)

Guilt

2008-05-18T10:40:00.005-05:00

The word "guilt" is of Old English origin, "gylt", meaning "crime, sin, fault, fine". This is not the word for "guilt" in most other Germanic languages though, another word in Old English for "guilt" was "scyld". This is the word cognate with the other Germanic languages for "guilt".

Guilt: Old English "gylt"
Guilty: Old English "gyltig"

Old English "scyld": Frisian "skuld", Dutch "schuld", German "Schuld", Old and Modern Icelandic "skuld", also Modern Icelandic "skylda", Danish and Norwegian "skyld", Swedish "skuld"
Old English "scyldig": Frisian "skuldich", Dutch "schuldig", German "schuldig", Icelandic "skyldugur", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "skyldig"

The term "excuse me", or "pardon me" in Germanic makes use of this word.

Dutch "verontschuldiging"
German "entschuldigung"
Danish "undskyld"
Norwegian "unnskyld"

The prefixes, Dutch "ont-", German "ent-", Danish "und-", Norwegian "unn-", negate the meaning of these words, literally giving the meaning "antiguilt".

Colo(u)rs

2008-05-13T22:01:00.008-05:00

The word "colo(u)r" is from Latin "color" via French "colour", though most of the names of colours we use daily are Germanic in origin.

Germanic:

Black: Old English "blæc", Old Icelandic "blakkr"
Blue: Old English "blāw", Dutch "blauw", German "blau", Old Icelandic "blár", Norwegian "blå"
Brown: Old English "brūn", Dutch "bruin", German "braun", Old Icelandic "brúnn", Norwegian "brun"
Gray: Old English "grǽg", Dutch "grauw", German "grau", Old Icelandic "grár", Norwegian "grå"
Green: Old English "grēne", Dutch "groen", German "grün", Old Icelandic "grœnn", Norwegian "grønn"
Red: Old English "rēad", Dutch "rood", German "rot", Old Icelandic "rauðr", Norwegian "rød"
White: Old English "hwīt", Dutch "wit", German "weiß", Old Icelandic "hvítr", Norwegian "hvit, kvit"
Yellow: Old English "geolu, geolwe", Dutch "geel", German "gelb", Old Icelandic "gulr", Norwegian "gul"

Hue: Old English "hīw", Old Icelandic "hý", Norwegian "hy", Gothic "hiwi"
Shade: Old English "sceadu", Dutch "schaduw", German "Schatten", Gothic "skadus"

Romance/Latin:

Azure: French and Romanian "azur", Spanish and Portuguese "azul"; from Arabic originally
Rouge: Old French "rouge", Latin "rubeus, ruber", Spanish "rojo"
Purple: Old English "purpure, purpul" borrowed from Latin "purpura"
Verdant: Middle French "virdeant", Latin "viridis", Spanish "verde"

Note on "blue": "blue" is Germanic, though borrowed from French, which is in turn of Frankish origin. The Old English word "blāw", which would have become modern English "blow", was replaced by Middle English "bleu", from Old French "bleu".

Harbor/Haven

2008-05-11T19:28:00.003-05:00

"Harbor" ("herebeorg" in Old English) originally meant "lodgings or quarters for troops", developed into the modern definition according to the American Heritage Dictionary of "1. a sheltered part of a body of water deep enough to provide anchorage for ships; 2. refuge" The sense of "refuge" is close to the original meaning, while the main definition of "body of water" shows a good deviation from the Old English.

"Haven" ("hæfen" in Old English) originally meant "a port", as in seaport. This meaning has developed into the current definition of "1. refuge 2. harbor, port". The first definition is almost the exclusively used one. These two words have almost switched definitions with one another.

harbor: Old English "herebeorg", Dutch "herberg", German "Herberge", Old Icelandic "herbergi", Norwegian "herberge"
haven: Old English "hæfen", Dutch "haven", German "Hafen", Old Icelandic "hǫfn", Norwegian "havn"
Instances of "harbor" used in other modern tongues: German for "youth hostile" is "Jugendherberge" while the Dutch word is "jeugdherberg"
Instances of "haven" used in other modern tongues: German for "airport" is "Flughafen"; The Danish name for "Copenhagen" is "København"

Pronouns

2008-05-05T18:21:00.004-05:00

The pronouns in Indo-European are all very similar, but much moreso within the same language family, such as Germanic.

I: Old English "ic", Dutch "ik", German "ich", Old Icelandic "ek", Danish "jeg", Norwegian "eg/jeg", Swedish "jag", Gothic "ik"
me: Old English "mē, mec", Dutch "mij, me", German "mir, mich", Old Icelandic "mér, mik", Danish and Swedish "mig", Norwegian "meg", Gothic "mis, mik"
my: Old English "mīn", Dutch "mijn", German "mein", Old Icelandic "mínn", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "min", Gothic "meins"
thou: Old English "þū", German "du", Old Icelandic "þú", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "du", Gothic "thu"
thee: Old English "þē, þec", German "dir, dich", Danish and Swedish "dig", Norwegian "deg"
thy: Old English "þīn", German "dein", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "din"
he: Old English "hē", Dutch "hij", Old Icelandic "hann", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "han"
him: Old English "him", Dutch "hem", German "ihm", Danish and Norwegian "ham", Swedish "honom", Gothic "himma, hina"
his: Old English "his", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "hans"
she: Old English "sēo", Dutch "zij, ze", German "sie"
her: Old English "hire", Dutch "haar", German "ihr"
we: Old English "wē", Dutch "wij, we", German "wir", Old Icelandic "vér", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "vi", Gothic "weis"
us: Old English "ūs", Dutch "ons", German "uns", Old Icelandic "oss", Danish "os", Norwegian and Swedish "oss", Gothic "uns"
our: Old English "ūre", Dutch "onze", German "unser", Old Icelandic "várr", Danish "vor", Norwegian and Swedish "vår", Gothic "unsar"
ye: Old English "gē", Dutch "jij, je", German "ihr", Old Icelandic "ér", Danish "I", Gothic "jūs"
you: Old English "ēow", Dutch "u, jou", German "euch", Old Icelandic "yðr", Danish "jer", Swedish "er", Gothic "izwis"
your: Old English "ēower", Dutch "uw, jouw", German "euer", Old Icelandic "yðarr", Swedish "er", Gothic "izvar"
they: Old English "þā", Old Icelandic "þeir", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "de"
them: Old English "þām", Old Icelandic "þeim", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "dem"
their: Old English "þāra", Old Icelandic "þeirra", Danish and Norwegian "deres", Swedish "deras"

Language Suffixes

2008-04-29T07:41:00.005-05:00

The adjective suffix for language names are similar across the Germaniscape. These suffixes are:

"-ish": English
"-s": Dutch
"-(i)sch": German
"-sk": Danish, Frisian, Norwegian
"-sk/-ska" (adj./noun): Swedish
"-skur/-ska" (adj./noun): Icelandic

Danish: Danish "dansk", Dutch "deens", Frisian "deensk", German "dänisch", Icelandic "danska", Norwegian "dansk", Swedish "danska"
Dutch: Danish "hollandsk, nederlandsk", Dutch "hollands, nederlands", Frisian "hollânsk, nederlânsk", German "holländisch, niederländisch", Icelandic "hollenska, niðurlenska", Norwegian "hollandsk, nederlandsk", Swedish "holländska, nederländska"
English: Danish "engelsk", Dutch "engels", Frisian "ingelsk", German "englisch", Icelandic "enska", Norwegian "engelsk", Swedish "engelska"
Frisian: Danish "frisisk", Dutch "fries", Frisian "frysk", German "friesisch", Icelandic "frísneska", Norwegian "frisisk", Swedish "frisiska"
German: Danish "tysk", Dutch "duits", Frisian "dútsk", German "deutsch", Icelandic "þýska", Norwegian "tysk", Swedish "tyska"
Icelandic: Danish "islandsk", Dutch "ijslands", Frisian "iislânsk", German "isländisch", Icelandic "íslenska", Norwegian "islandsk", Swedish "isländska"
Norwegian: Danish "norsk", Dutch "noors", Frisian "noarsk", German "norwegisch", Icelandic "norska", Norwegian "norsk", Swedish "norska"
Swedish: Danish "svensk", Dutch "zweeds", Frisian "sweedsk", German "schwedisch", Icelandic "sænska", Norwegian "svensk", Swedish "svenska"

Note: The suffix seen in "Icelandic" originated from Latin "-icus".

English and Frisian Morphology

2008-04-21T20:29:00.003-05:00

The long 'e' sound (as in "bee") found in English, having developed from Old English 'ǽ', also became a long 'e' in Frisian, the closest living language to English.

read : riede
sheep : skiep
sleep : sliepe

In Old English, in some instances the sound of 'c' softened to become modern English "ch", which also happened in Frisian, though written with "ts/tsj"

cheese : tsiis
church : tsjerke

Cognates with Other Germanic Languages

2008-04-07T16:53:00.003-05:00

Dutch:

Alle (OE "eall", E "all") mensen (OE "mennisc") worden (OE "weorðan") vrij (OE "frēo", E "free") en (OE/E "and") gelijk (OE "gelīc", E "alike") in (OE/E "in") waardigheid (OE "weorþscipe", E "worth") en (OE/E "and") rechten (OE "riht", E "right") geboren (OE "geboren", E "born"). Zij zijn begiftigd met (OE "mid") verstand (OE "forstandan") en (OE/E "and") geweten (OE "gewiten"), en (OE/E "and") behoren zich jegens elkander (OE "ǽlc" + "ōðer", E "each other") in (OE/E "in") een (OE "ān", E "a/an") geest (OE "gāst", E "ghost") van broederschap (OE "brōðorscipe", E "brotherhood") te (OE "tō", E "to") gedragen (OE "gedragen", E "drawn").

Differing suffixes

2008-03-28T16:28:00.005-05:00

Some of the nouns we use in English have Germanic suffixes, but these suffixes vary between most of the other Germanic languages and English.

Brotherhood
Old English "brōðorscipe", Dutch "broederschap", German "Bruderschaft", Danish "broderskab", Norwegian "brorskap", Swedish "broderlighet"

Freedom
Old English "frēodōm", Dutch "vrijheid", German "Freiheit", Danish "frihed", Norwegian (Nynorsk) "fridom", Swedish "frihet"

Knighthood
Old English "cnihthād", German "Knechtschaft"

Sickness
Old English "sēocnes", Dutch "ziekte", Danish "sygdom", Norwegian "sykdom", Swedish "sjukdom"

-dom: Old English "-dōm", Dutch "-dom", German "-tum", Old Icelandic "-dōmr", Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "-dom"
-hood: Old English "-hād", Dutch "-heid", German "-heit", Danish "-hed", Norwegian and Swedish "-het"
-ing: Old English "-ing/-ung", Dutch "-ing", German "-ung", Old Icelandic "-ing/-ung", Danish, Norwegian, Swedish "-ing"
-ness: Old English "-nes", Dutch "-nis", German "-nis"
-ship: Old English "-scipe", Dutch "-schap", German "-schaft", Old Icelandic "-skapr", Danish "-skab", Norwegian and Swedish "-skap"

i-mutation

2008-03-25T15:07:00.006-05:00

The i-mutation (or "i-umlaut") is a common occurance in Germanic. Although Old English demonstrated it moreso, many examples still exist in our modern tongue.

BOOK, BEECH
book: Old English "bōc, bēc", German "Buch, Bücher", Icelandic "bók, bækur", Norwegian "bok, bøker"
Old English had a plural for "bōc" (book) which was "bēc" (the modern word would have been "beek" or "beech")

BROOK, BREECHES
breeches: Old English "brōc, brēc"
"Breeches" comes from "brēc", which was originally a plural of an Old English word, "brōc", which meant "garment for the legs".

BROTHER, BRETHREN
brother: Old English "brōðor, brēðer", German "Bruder, Brüder", Icelandic "bróðir, bræður", Norwegian "bror, brødre"

FOOT, FEET
foot: Old English "fōt, fēt", German "Fuss, Füsse", Icelandic "fótur, fætur", Norwegian "fot, føtter"

LOUSE, LICE
louse: Old English "lūs, lýs", German "Laus, Läuse", Icelandic "lús, lýs"

MAN, MEN
man: Old English "mann, menn", German "Mann, Männer", Icelandic "maður, menn", Norwegian "mann, menn"

MOUSE, MICE
mouse: Old English "mūs, mýs", German "Maus, Mäuse", Icelandic "mús, mýs"

OLD, ELDER, ELDEST
old: Old English "eald, ieldra, ieldest", German "alt, älter, ältest"

TOOTH, TEETH
tooth: Old English "tōð, tēð", German "Zahn, Zähne", Icelandic "tǫnn, tennur", Norwegian "tann, tenner"

In Middle English, there were even more examples of i-mutation, such as "strenger" and "strengest" being the comparative and superlative for "strong", though these eventually gave way to "stronger" and "strongest".

Other examples: "blood, bleed", "brood, breed", "food, feed"

There are many more examples of the i-umlaut with the strong verbs in English as well.

"er" to "ar"

2008-03-18T23:06:00.007-05:00

In English, the sound of "er" found in Old and Middle English shifted to that of "ar" today, thus causing these words to look different from many of their Germanic cognates. In German and Dutch, many of these words maintained the "er".

OE. "beorcan", ME. "berken", E. "bark"
OE. "beorg", ME. "bergh", E. "barrow"; G. "Berg"
OE. "berern", ME. "bern", E. "barn"
OE. "ceorfan", ME. "kerven", E. "carve"
OE. "deorc", ME. "derk", E. "dark"
OE. "feorr", ME. "ferr" E. "far"; G. "fern"
OE. "fēorðung", ME. "ferthing", E. "farthing"
OE. "*herebeorg", ME. "herbyrge", E. "harbor"; G. "Herberge"
OE. "heort", ME. "hert", E. "hart"; D. "hert"
OE. "heorte", ME. "hert", E. "heart" (with the pronunciation of "ar"); G. "Herz"
OE. "hergian", ME. "herien", E. "harry"; G. "verheeren"
OE. "merg", ME. "mergh", E. "marrow"; D. "merg"
OE. "merran", ME. "merren", E. "mar"
OE. "mersc", ME. "mersh", E. "marsh"
OE. "smeortan", ME. "smerten", E. "smart"; G. "schmerzen"
OE. "steorra", ME. "sterre", E. "star"; G. "Stern"
OE. "steorfan", ME. "sterven", E. "starve"; G. "sterben"
OE. "*steortian", ME. "sterten", E. "start"
OE. "*stercan", ME. "sterchen", E. "starch"; D. "sterken"
OE. "teoru", ME. "ter", E. "tar"; G. "Teer"
OE. "weorpan", ME. "warpen", E. "warp"; D. "werpen"
OE. "gerd", ME. "yerd", E. "yard"; G. "Gerte"

OE. = Old English
ME. = Middle English
E. = Modern English
D. = Dutch
G. = German

Dental Fricative

2008-03-14T22:05:00.003-05:00

In some cases, a "d" in the middle of an Old English word softened to a dental fricative ("th") at some point in Middle English.

"fæder" became "father"
"gædrian" became "gather" and "tōgædere" became "together"
"mōdor" became "mother"
"weder" became "weather"

In some cases, a dental fricative hardened to a "d".

"geforðian" became "afford"

Clock

2008-03-13T14:39:00.001-05:00

The word "clock" comes from Latin and meant "bell", but has been borrowed widely in Germanic. The word is related to "cluck" and is cognate with Germanic "laugh" (Old English "hliehhan, hlæhhan").

clock: Middle English "clocke", Dutch "klok", German "Glocke", Old Icelandic "klocka", Danish "klokke"; from Medieval Latin "clocca"

dawn: Old English "dagung", Old Icelandic "dagan"; Latin "aurora"
morning: Old English "morgen", Dutch "morgen", German "Morgen", Old Icelandic "morginn", Danish "morgen", Gothic "maúrgins"; Latin "mane"
day: Old English "dæg", Dutch "dag", German "Tag", Old Icelandic "døgr", Danish "dag", Gothic "dags"; Latin "dies" (unrelated to the Germanic)
midday: Old English "middæg", Dutch "middag", German "Mittag", Old Icelandic "miðdagr", Danish "middag"; Latin "meridies"
noon: Old English "nōn", Dutch "noen", Old Icelandic "nón"; from Latin "nōna hōra"
evening: Old English "ǽfen, ǽfnung", Dutch "avond", German "Abend", Old Icelandic "aptann", Danish "aften"; Latin "vesper"
dusk: Old English "dox"; Latin "crepusculum"
night: Old English "neaht, næht, niht", Dutch "nacht", German "Nacht", Old Icelandic "nátt", Danish "nat", Gothic "nahts"; Latin "nox"
midnight: Old English "mid-niht, midde neaht", Dutch "middernacht", German "Mitternacht", Icelandic "miðnætti", Danish "midnat"; Latin "media nox"

Prepositions and Adverbs

2008-03-09T10:59:00.001-05:00

about: Old English "abūtan, onbūtan (on on + bī by + ūtan outside)", Dutch "buiten"; compare Latin "circa"
above: Old English "abufan, onbufan (on on + bī by + ufan over)", Dutch "boven", German "oben", Old Icelandic "ofan", Swedish "ovan"; Latin "supra"
after: Old English "æfter", Old Icelandic "aptr, eptir", Swedish "efter", Gothic "aftarō"; Latin "post"
against: Old English "ongegn + -s", German "entgegen", Old Icelandic "gegn"; Latin "contra"
along: Old English "andlang", Dutch "langs", German "entlang", Swedish "längs"; Latin "per"
amid: Old English "on middan", Dutch "midden", German "mitten", Swedish "medan"; Latin "inter"
among: Old English "onmang, ongemang"; Latin "inter"
anent: Old English "on efn, on emn", German "neben"; Latin "de"
as: Old English "ealswā, allswā (eal all + swā so)", Dutch "als", German "als"; Latin "ut"
at: Old English "æt", Old Icelandic "at", Swedish "åt", Gothic "at"; cognate with Latin "ad"
behind: Old English "behindan", German "hinten", Gothic "hindana"; Latin "post"
beneath: Old English "beneoðan", Old Icelandic "neðan", Swedish "nedan"; Latin "sub"
beside: Old English "bī sīdan", Swedish "sidan"; Latin "ad"
between: Old English "betwēonum", Gothic "tweihnáim"; Latin "inter"
betwixt: Old English "betweox(um)", Dutch "tussen", German "zwischen"; Latin "inter"
beyond: Old English "begeondan", Dutch "ginds", Gothic "jaind, jainar"; Latin "ultra"
but: Old English "būtan", Dutch "buiten"; Latin "sed"
by: Old English "bī", Dutch "bij", German "bei", Gothic "bi"; Latin "apud"
for: Old English "for", Dutch "voor", German "für", Old Icelandic "fyr", Swedish "för", Gothic "faúr"; cognate with Latin "pro"
fore: Old English "fore", Dutch "voor", German "vor", Old Icelandic "fyrir", Gothic "faúra"; Latin "prior"
from: Old English "fram, from", Old Icelandic "frá, fram", Swedish "från", Gothic "fram"; Latin "ab"
in: Old English "in", Dutch "in", German "in", Old Icelandic "í", Swedish "i", Gothic "in"; cognate with Latin "in"
near: Old English "nēar", German "näher", Old Icelandic "nǽr", Swedish "nära", Gothic "nēhwis"; Latin "prope"
next: Old English "nīehsta, nýhsta, nēhst-, nēsta", Dutch "naast", German "nächst", Old Icelandic "nǽstr", Swedish "nästa"; Latin "proximus"
nigh: Old English "nēah, nēh", Dutch "na", German "nah, nach", Old Icelandic "ná-", Gothic "nēhw, nēhwa"; Latin "propinquus"
of: Old English "æf, of", Dutch "af", German "ab", Old Icelandic "af", Swedish "av", Gothic "af"; cognate with Latin "ab"
off: Old English "æf, of", Dutch "af", German "ab", Old Icelandic "af", Swedish "av", Gothic "af"; cognate with Latin "ab"
on: Old English "an, on", Dutch "aan", German "an", Old Icelandic "á", Gothic "ana"; cognate with Latin "in"
out: Old English "ūt", Dutch "uit", German "aus", Old Icelandic "út", Swedish "ut", Gothic "ūt"; Latin "ex"
over: Old English "ofer", Dutch "over", German "über", Old Icelandic "yfir", Swedish "över", Gothic "ufar"; Latin "super"
since: Old English "siððan (sīð + þan) + -es", Dutch "sinds", German "seit", Old Icelandic "síðr", Swedish "sedan", Gothic "seithus"; Latin "ex"
than: Old English "þan", Dutch "dan"; Latin "quam"
through: Old English "þurh", Dutch "door", German "durch"; Latin "per"
thwart: Old English "þweorh", Dutch "dwars", German "zwerch-", Old Icelandic "þvert", Gothic "þwaírhs"; Latin "trans"
to: Old English "tō", Dutch "toe", German "zu"; Latin "ad"
under: Old English "under", Dutch "onder", German "unter", Old Icelandic "undir", Swedish "under", Gothic "undar"; Latin "sub"
until: Old English "til", Old Icelandic "til", Swedish "till"; Latin "usque ad"
up: Old English "ūp, upp", Dutch "op", German "auf", Old Icelandic "upp", Swedish "upp"; Latin "sursum"
with: Old English "wið", Dutch "weder", German "wider", Old Icelandic "við", Swedish "vid", Gothic "withra"; Latin "cum"

Infinitives

2008-03-08T07:50:00.002-06:00

The infinitive form of English verbs has no ending, but this was not always the case. The infinitive in Old English was formed with the ending "-an", which developed into Middle English "-en", and also "-e". Although English has dropped this ending, other Germanic languages have retained it.

English: "-"; "find"
Old English: "-an"; "findan"
Middle English: "-en"; "finden"
Dutch: "-en"; "vinden"
German: "-en"; "finden"
Danish: "-e"; "finde"
Norwegian: "-e"; "finne"
Swedish: "-a"; "finna"
Icelandic: "-a"; "finna"
Gothic: "-an"; "finthan"

The prefix "ge-"

2008-03-03T23:20:00.001-06:00

The prefix "ge-" (pronounced "ye-"), is one seen often in West Germanic, and was current in Old English as well. In Middle English this prefix became "i-" before disappearing altogether in most cases.

This prefix was used with the past participle of verbs, as it is still used in Dutch and German today, and with other parts of speech as well. The prefix was not used regularly in Scandinavian.

BRING
Old English: bringan, brōhte, gebrōht
English: bring, braught, braught
Dutch: brengen, bracht, gebracht
German: bringen, brachte, gebracht

Norwegian: bringe, brakte, brakt

COME
Old English: cuman, cwōm, gecumen
English: come, came, come
Dutch: komen, kwam, gekomen
German: kommen, kam, gekommen

Norwegian: komme, kom, kommet

DRAW
Old English: dragan, drōg, gedragen
English: draw, drew, drawn
Dutch: dragen, droeg, gedragen
German: tragen, trug, getragen

Norwegian: dra, dro, dratt

EAT
Old English: etan, ǽt, geeten
English: eat, ate, eaten
Dutch: eten, at, gegeten
German: essen, ass, gegessen

Norwegian: ete, åt, ett

SING
Old English: singan, sang, gesungen
English: sing, sang, sung
Dutch: zingen, zong, gezongen
German: singen, sang, gesungen

Norwegian: synge, sang, sunget

In Modern English, this prefix has completely disappeared from the past particple, and changed to "a-" or "e-" in isolated cases.

afford: Old English "geforðian"
alike: Old English "gelīc", Dutch "gelijk", German "gleich", Old Icelandic "glíkr", Gothic "galeiks"
aware: Old English "gewær", German "gewahr"
enough: Old English "genōg", Dutch "genoeg", German "genug", Old Icelandic "gnógr", Gothic "ganōhs"

In some cases, the "ge-" prefix was replaced by "be-".

belief: Old English "gelēafa", Dutch "geloof", German "Glaube", Gothic "galaubeins"
believe: Old English "gelēfan, gelýfan", Dutch "geloven", German "glauben", Gothic "galaubjan"
belong: Old English "gelang"

Food & Drink

2008-02-11T22:42:00.001-06:00

ale: Old English "ealu, alu", Old Saxon "alo", Old Icelandic "ǫl"; compare Latin "cerevisia"
apple: Old English "æppel", Dutch "appel", German "Apfel", Old Icelandic "epli", Crimean Gothic "apel"; Latin "malum"
bake: Old English "bacan", Dutch "bakken", German "backen", Old Icelandic "baka"; Latin "coquere"
barley: Old English "bere, bærlīc", Old Icelandic "barr", Gothic "barizeins"; Latin "hordeum"
batch: Old English "gebæc, *bæcce"; Dutch "gebak", German "Gebäck", Latin "massa"
beer: Old English "bēor", Dutch "bier", German "Bier", Old Icelandic "bjórr"; Latin "cerevisia"
berry: Old English "berie", Dutch "bes", German "Beere", Old Icelandic "ber", Gothic "-basi"; Latin "baca"
bitter: Old English "biter", Dutch "bitter", German "bitter", Old Icelandic "bitr", Gothic "baitrs"; Latin "amarus"
bread: Old English "brēad", Dutch "brood", German "Brot", Old Icelandic "brauð"; Latin "panis"
butter: Old English "butere", Dutch "boter", German "Butter"; all from Latin "būtýrum"
cake: Old English "cēcel"; Dutch "koek", German "Kuchen", Old Icelandic "kaka"; Latin "placenta"
cheese: Old English "cēse, cýse", Dutch "kaas", German "Käse"; from Latin "cāseus"
cherry: Old English "ciris, cirse", Dutch "kers", German "Kirsche"; from Latin "cerasum"
chew: Old English "cēowan", Dutch "kauwen", German "kauen", Old Icelandic "tyggva"; Latin "manducare"
chicken: Old English "cīcen", Dutch "kuiken", German "Küken"; Latin "pullus"
cook: Old English "cōc", Dutch "kok", German "Koch"; from Latin "cocus, coquus"
cookie: Dutch "koekje"
corn: Old English "corn", Dutch "koren", German "Korn", Old Icelandic "korn", Gothic "kaúrn"; Latin "zea"
crab: Old English "crabba", Dutch "krab", German "Krabbe", Old Icelandic "krabbi"; Latin "cancer"
dough: Old English "dāg", Dutch "deeg", German "Teig", Old Icelandic "deig", Gothic "daigs"; Latin "farina"
drink: Old English "drincan", Dutch "drinken", German "trinken", Old Icelandic "drekka", Gothic "drinkan"; Latin "bibere"
eat: Old English "etan", Dutch "eten", German "essen", Old Icelanidc "eta", Gothic "itan"; Latin "ēsse, edere"
egg: Old English "ǽg", Dutch "ei", German "Ei", Old Icelandic "egg", Crimean Gothic "ada"; Latin "ōvum"
fat: Old English "fǽtt", Dutch "vet", German "fett, feist", Old Icelandic "feitr"; Latin "opīmus"
fish: Old English "fisc", Dutch "vis", German "Fisch", Old Icelandic "fiskr", Gothic "fisks"; Latin "piscis"
garlic: Old English "gārlēac, gārlēc"; Latin "alium"
kitchen: Old English "cycene", Dutch "keuken", German "Küche"; from Latin "coquīna"
lamb: Old English "lamb", Dutch "lam", German "Lamm", Old Icelandic "lamb", Gothic "lamb"; Latin "agnus"
lobster: Old English "lopystre", Old Icelandic "lubba"; Latin "astacus"
meat: Old English "mete", Old Icelandic "matr", Gothic "mats"; Latin "caro"
milk: Old English "meoluc, milc", Dutch "melk", German "Milch", Old Icelandic "mjólkr", Gothic "miluks"; Latin "lactis"
nut: Old English "hnutu", Dutch "noot", German "Nuss", Old Icelandic "hnot"; Latin "nux"
oat: Old English "āte"; Latin "avena"
oven: Old English "ofen", Dutch "oven", German "Ofen", Old Icelandic "ofn", Gothic "*aúhns"; Latin "furnus"
pepper: Old English "pipor", Dutch "peper", German "Pfeffer", Old Icelandic "piparr"; Latin "piper"
rare: Old English "hrēr", Dutch "roeren", German "rühren", Old Icelandic "hröra"; Latin "semicoctus"
salt: Old English "salt, sealt", Dutch "zout", German "Salz", Old Icelandic "salt", Gothic "salt"; Latin "sāl"
sear: Old English "sēarian"; Latin "adurere"
shrimp: Middle English "shrimpe", German "schrumpfen", Old Icelandic "skreppa", Danish "skrimpe", Norwegian "skrumpa"; Latin "cancer"
soup: Middle Dutch "sop", Dutch "soep", German "Suppe"; Latin "suppa"
sour: Old English "sūr", Dutch "zuur", German "sauer", Old Icelandic "sūrr"; Latin "acidus"
steak: Dutch "biefstuk", German "Steak", Old Icelandic "steik"; Latin "offa"
steam: Old English "stēman, stýman"; Latin "intr vaporare"
stove: Old English "stofa", Dutch "stoof", German "Stube", Old Icelandic "stofa"; Latin "focus"
strawberry: Old Icelandic "strēawberige"; Latin "fragum"
sweet: Old English "swēte", Dutch "zoet", German "süss", Old Icelandic "sötr"; Latin "suāvis"
water: Old English "wæter", Dutch "water", German "Wasser", Old Icelandic "vatn", Gothic "watō"; Latin "aqua"
wheat: Old English "hwǽte", Dutch "weit", German "Weizen", Old Icelandic "hveiti", Gothic "hwaiteis"; Latin "triticum"
wine: Old English "wīn", Dutch "wijn", German "Wein", Old Icelandic "vīn", Gothic "wein"; from Latin "vīnum"

Percentage of Germanic Vocabulary in Modern English

2008-02-10T13:47:00.001-06:00

"Holmes had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing a particularly malodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast, and he looked from my point of view like a strange, lank bird, with dull gray plumage and a black top-knot.
"So, Watson," said he, suddenly, "you do not propose to invest in South African securities?"
I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I was to Holmes's curious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly inexplicable. "How on earth do you know that?" I asked.
He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand, and a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes. "Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback," said he.
"I am."
"I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect."
"Why?"
"Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so absurdly simple."
"I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind."
"You see, my dear Watson"—he propped his test-tube in the rack, and began to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class—"it is not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, each dependent upon its predecessor and each simple in itself. If, after doing so, one simply knocks out all the central inferences and presents one's audience with the starting-point and the conclusion, one may produce a startling, though possibly a meretricious, effect. Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did NOT propose to invest your small capital in the gold fields."
"I see no connection."
"Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection. Here are the missing links of the very simple chain: 1. You had chalk between your left finger and thumb when you returned from the club last night. 2. You put chalk there when you play billiards, to steady the cue. 3. You never play billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me, four weeks ago, that Thurston had an option on some South African property which would expire in a month, and which he desired you to share with him. 5. Your check book is locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for the key. 6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner."
"How absurdly simple!" I cried.
"Quite so!" said he, a little nettled. "Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you. Here is an unexplained one. See what you can make of that, friend Watson." He tossed a sheet of paper upon the table, and turned once more to his chemical analysis.
I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper.
"Why, Holmes, it is a child's drawing," I cried.
"Oh, that's your idea!"
"What else should it be?"
"That is what Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Riding Thorpe Manor, Norfolk, is very anxious to know. This little conundrum came by the first post, and he was to follow by the next train. There's a ring at the bell, Watson. I should not be very much surprised if this were he."
A heavy step was heard upon the stairs, and an instant later there entered a tall, ruddy, clean-shaven gentleman, whose clear eyes and florid cheeks told of a life led far from the fogs of Baker Street. He seemed to bring a whiff of his strong, fresh, bracing, east-coast air with him as he entered. Having shaken hands with each of us, he was about to sit down, when his eye rested upon the paper with the curious markings, which I had just examined and left upon the table. "Well, Mr. Holmes, what do you make of these?" he cried. "They told me that you were fond of queer mysteries, and I don't think you can find a queerer one than that. I sent the paper on ahead, so that you might have time to study it before I came."
"It is certainly rather a curious production," said Holmes. "At first sight it would appear to be some childish prank. It consists of a number of absurd little figures dancing across the paper upon which they are drawn. Why should you attribute any importance to so grotesque an object?"
"I never should, Mr. Holmes. But my wife does. It is frightening her to death. She says nothing, but I can see terror in her eyes. That's why I want to sift the matter to the bottom."
Holmes held up the paper so that the sunlight shone full upon it. It was a page torn from a notebook."

from The Adventure of the Dancing Men
by Arthur Conan Doyle

Bold indicates Germanic origin.
Italic indicates a proper name not composed of ordinary words, a numeral or word of uncertain origin.

Words of Germanic origin: 616
Words of foreign origin: 162
79% of this selection is germanic.
This percentage increases in colloquial, casual language as opposed to the literary selection above.

Notes:

Contractions such as "isn't", although technically composed of two words, were counted as one.

Compounds composed of two words of seperate origin such as "notebook" were counted individually, while compounds such as "sunlight", being composed of two Germanic words was only counted as one.

Any word in italic was not figured into the final counts or percentage.

Words borrowed in Old English, but from a Latin borrowing were of course counted as foreign.

Nature

2008-02-02T00:02:00.001-06:00

acorn: Old English "æcern", Old Icelandic "akarn", Gothic "akran"; compare Latin "glans"
apple: Old English "æppel", Dutch "appel", German "Apfel", Old Icelandic "epli", Crimean Gothic "apel"; Latin "malum"
ash: Old English "æsc", Dutch "es", German "Esche", Old Icelandic "askr"; Latin "fraxinus"
aspen: Old English "æspe, æpse", Dutch "esp", German "Espe", Old Icelandic "ǫsp"; Latin "populus"
bark: Middle English "bark", Old Icelandic "bǫrkr"; Latin "cortex"
barley: Old English "bere, bærlīc", Old Icelandic "barr", Gothic "barizeins"; Latin "hordeum"
barrow: Old English "beorg, berg", Dutch "berg", German "Berg", Old Icelandic "bjarg, berg", Swedish "berg", Gothic "baírgahei"; Latin "mons"
beach: Old English "bece, bæc", Old Icelandic "bekkr"; Latin "acta"
bean: Old English "bēan", German "Bohne", Old Icelandic "baun"; Latin "faba"
beech: Old English "bēce", German "Buche", Old Icelandic "bók"; Latin "fagus"
birch: Old English "birce", Dutch "berk", German "Birke", Old Icelandic "bjǫrk"; Latin "betula"
bloom: Middle English "blom, blome", Dutch "bloem", German "Blume", Old Icelandic "blóm", Gothic "blōma"; Latin "flos"
blossom: Old English "blōstm, blōstma", Dutch "bloesem", Old Icelandic "blómstr"; Latin "flos"
bough: Old English "boog, bōg", German "Bug", Old Icelandic "bógr"; Latin "ramus"
brook: Old English "brōc", Dutch "broek", German "Bruch"; Latin "rivulus"
cliff: Old English "clif", Dutch "klip", Old Icelandic "klif"; Latin "rupes"
cloud: Old English "clūd"; Latin "nubes"
corn: Old English "corn", Dutch "koren", German "Korn", Old Icelandic "korn", Gothic "kaúrn"; Latin "zea"
creek: Old Icelandic "krikr"; Latin "rivus"
dale: Old English "dæl", Dutch "dal", German "Tal", Old Icelandic "dalr", Gothic "dal"; Latin "vallis"
dell: Old English "dell", German "Delle"; Latin "vallis"
dew: Old English "dēaw", Dutch "dauw", German "Tau", Old Icelandic "dǫgg"; Latin "ros"
dirt: Middle English "drit, drytt", Old Icelandic "drit"; Latin "sordes"
ditch: Old English "dīc", Old Frisian, Old Saxon "dīk", Old Icelandic "díki"; Latin "fossa"
dung: Old English "dung", Old Frisian "dung", German "Dung", Icelandic "dyngja", Swedish "dynga"; Latin "stercus"
earth: Old English "eorðe", Dutch "aarde", German "Erde", Old Icelandic "jǫrð", Gothic "aírtha"; Latin "terra"
elm: Old English "elm"; Dutch "olm", German "Ulme", Old Icelandic "almr"; Latin "ulmus"
field: Old English "feld", Dutch "veld", German "Feld"; Latin "ager"
fir: Old English "furh-, fyrh-", Old Saxon "furie", German "Föhre", Old Icelandic "fýri, fura"; Latin "pinus"
fire: Old English "fýr", Dutch "vuur", German "Feuer", Old Icelandic "fýri, fúrr", Gothic "fón"; Latin "ignis"
firth: Old Icelandic "fjǫrðr, firði"
fjord: Old Icelandic "fjǫrðr"
flood: Old English "flōd", Dutch "vloed", German "Flut", Old Icelandic "flóð", Gothic "flōdus"; Latin "diluvium"
fog: Middle English "fogge?", possible Scandinavian: Old Icelandic "fok, fjúk", Danish "fog"; Latin "nebula"
ford: Old English "ford", Low German "ford", German "Furt", Old Icelandic "fjǫrðr"; Latin "vadum"
frost: Old English "forst, frost", Dutch "vorst", German "Frost", Old Icelandic "frost"; Latin "pruina"
furrow: Old English "furh", Dutch "voor", German "Furche", Old Icelandic "for"; Latin "sulcus"
garlic: Old English "gārlēac, gārlēc"; Latin "alium"
geyser: Icelandic "Geysir, geysa"
grass: Old English "græs, gærs", Dutch "gras", German "Gras", Old Icelandic "gras", Gothic "gras"; Latin "gramen"
ground: Old English "grund", Dutch "grond", German "Grund", Old Icelandic "grunnr", Gothic "grundu-"; Latin "solum"
hill: Old English "hyll", Frisian "hel", Low German "hull", Old Icelandic "holmr"; Latin "collis"
ice: Old English "īs", Dutch "ijs", German "Eis", Old Icelandic "íss"; Latin "glacies"
lake: Old English "lagu, lacu", Old Saxon "lagu", Old Icelandic "lǫgr"; Latin "lacus"
land: Old English "land, lond", Dutch "land", German "Land", Old Icelandic "land", Gothic "land"; Latin "terra"
leaf: Old English "lēaf", Dutch "loof", German "Laub", Old Icelandic "lauf", Gothic "laufs"; Latin "folium"
maple: Old English "mapul-", Old Saxon "mapul", Middle Low German "mapel-"; Latin "acer"
meadow: Old English "mǽd, mǽdwe", Old Frisian "mēde", German "Matte"; Latin "pratum"
moon: Old English "mōna", Dutch "maan", German "Mond", Old Icelandic "máni", Gothic "mena"; Latin "luna"
moss: Old English "mos", Dutch "mos", German "Moos", Old Icelandic "mosi"; Latin "muscus"
oak: Old English "āc", Dutch "eik", German "Eiche", Old Icelandic "eik"; Latin "quercus"
rain: Old English "regn", Dutch "regen", German "Regen", Old Icelandic "regn", Gothic "rign"; Latin "pluvia"
reed: Old English "hrēod", Old Saxon "hriod", Dutch "riet", German "Ried"; Latin "harundo"
reef: Old Icelandic "rif"; Latin "scopulus"
ridge: Old English "hrycg", Dutch "rug", German "Rücken", Old Icelandic "hryggr"; Latin "jugum"
root: Old English "wyrt, rōt", Old Icelandic "rót"; Latin "radix"
sand: Old English "sand", Dutch "zand", German "Sand", Old Icelandic "sandr"; Latin "harena"
sea: Old English "sǽ", Dutch "zee", German "See", Old Icelandic "sær, sjór, sjár", Gothic "sáiws"; Latin "mare"
sedge: Old English "secg", Middle Low German "segge"; Latin "ulva"
seed: Old English "sǽd, sēd", Dutch "zaad", German "Saat", Old Icelandic "sáð", Gothic "-sēths"; Latin "semen"
shore: Old English "scoren clif", Frisian "skoarre", Dutch "schor"; Latin "litus"
sky: Old English "scēo", Old Saxon "skion", Old Icelandic "ský"; Latin "caelum"
snow: Old English "snāw", Dutch "sneeuw", German "Schnee", Old Icelandic "snær, snjór", Gothic "snaiws"; Latin "nix"
sod: Old Frisian "sātha", Dutch "zode", Middle Low German "sode, sade"; Latin "caespes"
sprout: Old English "-sprūtan", Dutch ""spruiten", German "spriessen", Gothic "sprautō"; Latin "pullus"
star: Old English "steorra", Dutch "ster", German "Stern", Old Icelandic "stjarna", Gothic "staírnō"; Latin "stella"
stem: Old English "stemn, stefn", Dutch "steven", German "Stamm", Old Icelandic "stafn"; Latin "stirps"
stick: Old English "sticca", Dutch "stek", German "Stecken", Old Icelandic "stik, stika"; Latin "fustis"
stone: Old English "stān", Dutch "steen", German "Stein", Old Icelandic "steinn", Gothic "stains"; Latin "lapis"
storm: Old English "storm", Dutch "storm", German "Sturm", Old Icelandic "stormr"; Latin "tempestas"
strand: Old English "strand", Dutch "strand", German "Strand", Old Icelandic "strǫnd"; Latin "floccus"
straw: Old English "strēaw", Dutch "stroo", German "Stroh", Old Icelandic "strá"; Latin "stramentum"
stream: Old English "strēam", Dutch "stroom", German "Strom", Old Icelandic "straumr"; Latin "flumen"
sun: Old English "sunne", Dutch "zon", German "Sonne", Old Icelandic "sunna", Gothic "sunnō"; Latin "sol"
thunder: Old English "þuner, þunor", Dutch "donder", German "Donner", Old Icelandic "Þórr"; Latin "tonitrus"
tide: Old English "tīd", Dutch "tijd", German "Zeit", Old Icelandic "tíð"; Latin "aestus"
tree: Old English "trēo, trēow", Old Frisian "trē", Old Icelandic "tré", Gothic "triu"; Latin "arbor"
turf: Old English "turf", Dutch "turf", German "Torf", Old Icelandic "torf"; Latin "caespes"
twig: Old English "twigge, twig" Dutch "twijg", German "Zweig"; Latin "ramulus"
water: Old English "wæter", Dutch "water", German "Wasser", Old Icelandic "vatn", Gothic "watō"; Latin "aqua"
weather: Old English "weder", Dutch "weder", German "Wetter", Old Icelandic "veðr"; Latin "tempestas"
weed: Old English "wēod", Old Saxon "wiod", Middle Dutch "wied", Old High German "wiota"; Latin "herba"
wheat: Old English "hwǽte", Dutch "weit", German "Weizen", Old Icelandic "hveiti", Gothic "hwaiteis"; Latin "triticum"
willow: Old English: "welig", Old Frisian "wilig", Old Saxon "wilgia", Dutch "wilg"
wind: Old English "wind", Dutch "wind", German "Wind", Old Icelandic "vindr", Gothic "winds"; Latin "ventus"
withy: Old English "wīðig", German "Weide", Old Icelandic "víðir", Gothic "wida"
wold: Old English "wald, weald", German "Wald", Old Icelandic "völlr"
wood: Old English "wudu", Old Icelandic "viðr"; Latin "lignum"
world: Old English "woruld, worold", Dutch "wereld", German "Welt", Old Icelandic "verǫld"; Latin "mundus"

Pray

2008-02-01T23:47:00.001-06:00

"Pray" is a word borrowed from Old French "preier", descending from Latin "precari", and is cognatge with several Germanic words.
pray: Old English "frignan", Old Frisian "fregia", Old Saxon "fragon", German "fragen", Old Icelandic "fregna", Swedish "fråga", Gothic fraíhnan

Shifts in Meaning

2008-01-29T10:45:00.002-06:00

Many words in English have changed meaning drastically since Old English. Here are a few examples:

"Bead" meant "prayer" in Old English. The shift in meaning to "a small ball" came from each bead of the rosary representing a prayer said to complete it. This word shares the same root as "bid", (to ask for).
bead: Old English "gebed, bed", Old Saxon "gibed", German "Gebet", Gothic "bida"

"Cheap" was a noun in Old English, and meant "purchase". The current meaning and part of speech came from the phrase "gōd cēap", (good deal), and therefore came to be an adjective sharing its meaning with the phrase.
cheap: Old English "cēap", Dutch "koop", German "Kauf", Old Icelandic "kaup"

"Cloud" has come from the meaning of "rock face" to that of "a mass of water vapor in the sky", one can see how it changed in meaning, but taken at face value it is a rather large shift.
cloud: Old English "clūd", Middle English "clude"; also cognate with Greek "gloutós" meaning "buttock"
It is interesting to note that the word "sky" (Middle English "skie") also meant "cloud" before displacing "heaven" (Old English "heofon", Middle English "heven") with its current meaning. "Sky" was borrowed from Scandinavian and first appeared in Middle English. The Old English term for "cloud" was "wolcen".
sky: Old English "scēo", Old Saxon "skion", Old Icelandic "ský", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "sky"

"Clue" meant "ball" or "skein" in Old English, but due to the Greek myth of Theseus using a skein to trace his way through the labyrinth, this word's meaning changed to "guide to solve a problem".
clue: Old English "clīewen", Middle English "clew"

"Deal" in Old English meant "part". Therefore the phrase, "to get a good deal" meant "to get a good-sized piece", and now almost strictly refers to monitary transactions. The verb "to deal" meant "to divide" and still does in reference to card playing.
deal (n).: Old English "dǽl", Dutch "deel", German "Teil", Old Icelandic "deild", Gothic "dails"
deal (v).: Old English "dǽlan", Dutch "delen", German "teilen", Old Icelanidc "deila", Gothic "dailjan"

"Deer" in Old English meant "animal". The word became known as a specific animal due to the popularity of deer hunting in England.
deer: Old English "dēor", Dutch "dier", German "Tier", Old Icelandic "dyr", Gothic "*dius"

"Numb" was the past partciple of the verb "niman" (to take), therefore meaning "taken".
numb: Old English "genumen", Dutch "genomen", German "genommen", Icelandic "numið", Gothic "numans"
niman: Dutch "nemen", German "nehmen", Old Icelandic "nema", Gothic "niman"

"Tide" meant "time" in Old English, and changed to "season of the year" (still seen today in "Yule tide"), in Middle English before shifting to the "wax and wane of the sea" in Modern English. In Scandinavian, this meaning is represented as well, for example Norwegian "tidevann", with "vann" (water) appended to it. Also in Dutch, "sea-tide" is "getij".
tide: Old English "tīd", Dutch "tijd", German "Zeit", Old Icelandic "tíð"

*attested form

Secret Comparatives and Superlatives

2008-01-27T17:19:00.002-06:00

A comparative is an adjective showing a quality that is more than and is formed with -er. A superlative is an adjective showing a quality that is the most and is formed with -est. We are can easily spot them when they are "big", "bigger", "biggest", or even irregular such as "much", "more", "most" or "bad", "worse", "worst", but some have become completely disassociated with their root.

"fore", "-", "first"
"forth", "further", "furthest"
"late", "latter", "last"
"little", "less", "least"
"nigh", "near", "next"

fore: Old English "fore", Dutch "voor", German "vor", Old Icelandic "fyrir", Gothic "faúra"
first: Old English "fyrst", Dutch "vorst" (monarch), German "Fürst" (prince), Old Icelandic "fyrstr"
forth: Old English "forð", Dutch "voort", German "fort"
further: Old English "furðor", German "*fürder"
nigh: Old English "nēah, nēh", Dutch "na", German "nah, nach", Old Icelandic "ná-", Gothic "nēhw, nēhwa"
near: Old English "nēar", German "näher", Old Icelandic "nǽr", Gothic "nēhwis"
next: Old English "nīehsta, nýhsta, nēhst-, nēsta", Dutch "naast", German "nächst", Old Icelandic "nǽstr"
much: Old English "micel", Old Icelandic "mikill", Gothic "mikils"
more: Old English "mara", Dutch "meer", German "mehr", Old Icelandic "meiri", Gothic "maiza, mais"
most: Old English "mǽst, māst", Dutch "meest", German "meist", Old Icelandic "mestr", Gothic "maists"
worse: Old English "wiersa, wyrsa", Old Icelandic "verri", Gothic "waírs"
worst: Old English "wyrresta", Old Icelandic "verstr"

It is interesting to note that the words "further" and "furthest" are more historically correct than the forms "farther" and "farthest" which were mistakenly formed as comparative and superlative respectively of "far".

*obsolete

-n

2008-01-25T08:20:00.001-06:00

Some words have changed in odd ways. Some words look and sound differently due to the loss of an "n" in the initial position. This change is due to the confusion caused by the difficulty distinguishing between "a nadder" and "an adder" when spoken.

adder: Old English "nǽdre", German "Natter", Old Icelandic "naðr", Gothic "nadrs"
apron: Middle English "napron", Old French "naperon"
auger: Old English "nafogār, nabogār", Middle Dutch "navegheer", Dutch "avegaar", Old Icelandic "nafarr"

The Dutch form of "auger" actually shows the same initial loss of "n" due to the same influence as in English.

Numerals

2008-01-23T08:44:00.001-06:00

one: Old English "ān", Dutch "een", German "ein", Old Icelandic "einn", Swedish "en", Gothic "ains"; compare Latin "unus"
two: Old English "twā", Dutch "twee", German "zwei", Old Icelandic "tvǽr", Swedish "två", Gothic "twa"; Latin "duo"
three: Old English "þrēo", Dutch "drie", German "drei", Old Icelandic "þrīr", Swedish "tre", Gothic "thrija"; Latin "tres"
four: Old English "fēower", Dutch "vier", German "vier", Old Icelandic "fjórir", Swedish "fyra", Gothic "fidwōr"; Latin "quattuor"
five: Old English "fīf", Dutch "vijf", German "fünf", Old Icelandic "fimm", Swedish "fem", Gothic "fimf"; Latin "quinque"
six: Old English "sex, six", Dutch "zes", German "sechs", Old Icelandic "sex", Swedish "sex", Gothic "saíhs"; Latin "sex"
seven: Old English "seofon", Dutch "zeven", German "sieben", Old Icelandic "sjau", Swedish "sju", Gothic "sibun"; Latin "septem"
eight: Old English "eahta, æhta", Dutch "acht", German "acht", Old Icelandic "átta", Swedish "åtta", Gothic "ahtau"; Latin "octo"
nine: Old English "nigen", Dutch "negen", German "neun", Old Icelandic "níu", Swedish "nio", Gothic "niun"; Latin "novem"
ten: Old English "tēn, tīen", Dutch "tien", German "zehn", Old Icelandic "tiú", Swedish "tio", Gothic "taíhun"; Latin "decem"
eleven: Old English "endleofan", Dutch "elf", German "elf", Old Icelandic "ellifu", Swedish "elva", Gothic "ainlif"
twelve: Old English "twelf", Dutch "twaalf", German "zwolf", Old Icelandic "tólf", Swedish "tolv", Gothic "twalif"
twenty: Old English "twēntig", Dutch "twintig", German "zwanzig"; Latin "viginti"
hundred: Old English "hundred", Dutch "honderd", German "Hundert", Old Icelandic "hundrað", Swedish "hundra", Gothic "hunda"; Latin "centum"
thousand: Old English "þūsend", Dutch "duizend", German "Tausend", Old Icelandic "þúsund", Swedish "tusen", Gothic "þūsundi"; Latin "mille"

In Old English, the word for "number" was "tæl". Old English "tæl" is cognate with Dutch "getal", German "Zahl", Old Icelandic "tala", Swedish "tal"

knowledge

2008-01-21T10:09:00.001-06:00

can: to be able to; Old English "cunnan", "can"
could: past tense of can; Old English "cūðe", Middle English "coud, coude, could"
couth: well-mannered, originally the past participle of can and meaning knowledgeable, skillful; Old English "cūð"
cunning: skillful, clever; Old English "cunnand", Middle English "konnyng"
keen: sharp, acute; Old English "cēne", Middle English "kene"
ken: perception, understanding; Old English "cennan", Middle English "kennen"
kenning: knowledge; Middle English "kenning"
kin: family; Old English "cyn", Middle English "kinn, kin"
kind: sort, variety; Old English "gecynd, cynd", Middle English "kinde"
kindred: family; Middle English "kinrede, kinreden"
king: male monarch; Old English "cyning, cyng", Middle English "king"
kith: friends and relatives; Old English "cýðð, cýððu", Middle English "cuththe"
know: to wit; Old English "cnāwan", Middle English "cnowen, knowen"

All of these words share the same Germanic root, which is cognate with Latin "genus", meaning "race, decent, lineage, breed".

The Rasping Guttural

2008-01-19T18:39:00.001-06:00

English no longer makes use of a rasping guttural, though the language has still retained the "gh" that used to represent this sound. In some cases though, this sound shifted to "f", such as in "enough". Some words' spelling changed to reflect this, such as "dwarf" (Old English "dweorh", Middle English "dwergh"). In the case of "furlough", the opposite occurred (from Middle Dutch "verlof", Earlier Modern English "vorloffe", later giving way to the "gh" spelling).

German is well known for its rasping guttural, represented by "ch" after a back vowel, such as in "Bach".

In Old English this sound was represented by an "h" only, for example "næht" (night).

In Scandinavian, Old Norse had already lost the rasping guttural before it was recorded, hence "nótt" (night).

daughter: Old English "dohtor ", German "Tochter", Old Icelandic "dóttir"
eight: Old English "æhta", German "acht", Old Icelandic "átta"
laugh: Old English "hlæhhan", German "lachen", Old Icelandic "hlǽja"
might: Old English "mæht", German "Macht", Old Icelandic "máttr"
night: Old English "næht", German "Nacht", Old Icelandic "nótt"
right: Old English "riht", German "recht", Old Icelandic "réttr"
though: Old English "þēah, þāh", German "doch", Old Icelandic "þó"

window

2008-01-16T09:38:00.001-06:00

The word "window" is a loan from Scandinavian. This can be seen in the Old Icelandic term "vindauga", a compound of "vindr" (wind) + "auga" (eye). The native Old English word for "window" was "ēagþyrl", a compound of "ēage" (eye) + "þyrl" (hole; this word can still be seen in Modern English "nostril" (nosehole), and the verb "thrill", originally meaning "to pierce") or "ēagduru" (eye + door). There is another term for "window" in use in many Germanic languages, seen in German "Fenster", but this word was a borrowing from Medieval Latin "fenester".

window: Old Icelandic "vindauga", Norwegian "vindu", Danish "vindue"

fenester: Dutch "venster", German "Fenster", Swedish "fönster"

with

2008-01-16T09:24:00.001-06:00

If you wanted to say "with" in AngloSaxon England, you'd have to check your Old English dictionary, because the word "with" meant "against, opposite" in 700CE. This can still be seen in the words such as "withstand" (to stand against) and "withdraw" (to draw back or opposite). In Old English, the word "with" was expressed by "mid", which is the normal word in Germanic for "with".

mid: Old English "mid", Dutch "met", German "mit", Old Icelandic "með", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "med"
with: Old English "wið", Dutch "weder", German "wider", Old Icelandic "við", Norwegian, Danish "ved", Swedish "vid", Gothic "withra"

each, much, such, which

2008-01-15T08:24:00.001-06:00

Each

Middle English: elch, æche, euch, ech
Old English: ǽlc; from the Germanic compound of "ā" (ever) + "gelīc" (alike)

Cognates: Old Frisian "ellik, elk", Dutch "elk"

Much

Middle English: muche, miche, muchel, michel
Old English: micel

Cognates: Old Saxon "mikil", Old Icelandic "mikill", Norwegian "mye", Danish "meget", Swedish "mycken", Gothic "mikils"

Such

Middle English: swich, swuch
Old English: swylc, swilc, swelc; from a Germanic compound of "swā" (so) + "*līkan" (form)

Cognates: Dutch "zulk", German "solch", Old Icelandic "slíkr", Norwegian, Swedish "slik", Danish "slig", Gothic "swaleiks"

Which

Middle English: hwich, whilch, whiche, *hwelch, hwülch, hwech, hwüch
Old English: hwilc, hwelc, hwylc; from a Germanic compound of "*hwi" (who) + "*līkan" (form)

Cognates: Dutch "welk", German "welch", Old Icelandic "hvílíkr", Norwegian, Danish "hvilken", Swedish "vilken", Gothic "hwileiks"

*Proto-form

Dental Fricative

2008-01-13T22:41:00.001-06:00

The dental fricative comes in two forms in English. Voiced, found in "that", and unvoiced, found in "thing". The voiced dental fricative is traditionally written with "ð" (eth), and the unvoiced with "þ" (thorn). Thorn was a holdover from the runic Futhark, used in Germanic before the introduction of the Latin alphabet to the Germanic world.

In Old English, the only dental fricative in the initial position of a word was the unvoiced. This parallels Old Norse and Modern Icelandic. In Modern English, however some of the dental fricatives became voiced in the initial position of some words, "that", "there", "this", "thou" ("þæt", "þǽr", "þis-", "þū").

The unvoiced dental fricative was also used in a terminal position of a word, hence modern pronunciations of such words as "couth", "tooth" and "with". ("cūð", "tōð", "wið")

The voiced dental fricative was reserved for the middle of a word in Old English. This can be seen today, where the pronunciation of "bath" ("bæð") with the unvoiced dental fricative in its terminal position contrasts "bathe" ("baðian") with its voiced dental fricative, because in Old and Middle English the dental fricative in this word was followed by another syllable, thereby making it voiced. Several more examples can be seen with "nether", "other", "rather" ("neoðra", "ōðer", "hraðor").

Garlic

2008-01-10T08:35:00.001-06:00

Although garlic is most associated with mediterranean cooking, the word itself is of 100% English origin.

"garlic" from Old English "gārlēac" is actually a compound of two elements: "gār", spear and "lēac", leek.

gar: Old English "gār", German "Ger", Old Icelandic "geirr"
leek: Old English "lēac, lǽc", Dutch "look", German "Lauch", Old Icelandic "laukr"

Questions

2008-01-03T19:35:00.001-06:00

how: Old English "hū", Dutch "hoe", German "*wie", Gothic "*hwaiwa"; compare Latin "quomodo"
what: Old English "hwæt", Dutch "wat", German "was", Old Icelandic "hvat", Norwegian "hva", Danish "hvad", Swedish "vad", Gothic "hwa"; Latin "qui"
when: Old English "hwænne", Dutch "wanneer", German "wann", Gothic "hwan"; Latin "quando"
where: Old English "hwǽr", Dutch "waar", German "wo", Old Icelandic "hvar", Norwegian, Danish "hvor", Swedish "var", Gothic "hwar"; Latin "quā"
who: Old English "hwā", Dutch "wie", German "wer", Old Icelandic "hverr", Danish "hvo", Gothic "hwas, hwō"; Latin "quis"
why: Old English "hwī, hwý", Old Icelandic "hví", Norwegian, Danish "hvi"; Latin "quare"

* Parallel formation

Verbs

2008-01-03T14:30:00.001-06:00

The most used verbs in English are also the most used verbs in most other Germanic languages.

can: Old English "can", Dutch "kon", German "kann", Old Icelandic "kan", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "kan", Gothic "kann"; compare Latin "posse"
do: Old English "dōn", Dutch "doen", German "tun"; Latin "agere, facere"
get: Old Icelandic "geta"; Latin "nancisci"
give: Old English "giefan", Dutch "geven", German "geben", Old Icelandic "gefa", Norwegian "gi", Danish "give", Swedish "ge"; Latin "dare, donare"
go: Old English "gān", Dutch "gaan", German "gehen", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "gå", Crimean Gothic "geen"; Latin "ire"
have: Old English "habban", Dutch "hebben", German "haben", Old Icelandic "hafa", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "ha", Gothic "haban"; Latin "habēre"
is: Old English "is", Dutch "is", German "ist", Old Icelandic "es, er", Norwegian, Danish "er", Swedish "är", Gothic "ist"; Latin "est"
may: Old English "mæg", Dutch "mag", German "mag", Old Icelandic "má", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "må", Gothic "mag"; Latin "posse"
shall: Old English "sceal", Dutch "zal", German "soll", Old Icelandic "skal", Norwegian, Danish "skal", Swedish "skall", Gothic "skal"
take: Old English "tacan", Old Icelandic "taka", Norwegian, Swedish "ta", Danish "tage"
was: Old English "wæs", Dutch "was", German "war", Old Icelandic "var", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "var", Gothic "was"
will: Old English "willan", Dutch "willen", German "wollen", Old Icelandic "vilja", Norwegian, Danish "ville", Swedish "vilja", Gothic "wiljan"

Germanic Morphology

2007-12-28T12:17:00.003-06:00

The ability to learn language can be greatly enhanced with a knowledge of morphology between related languages. This can help you memorise vocabulary, and even anticipate the meaning and forms of words you don't yet know in the strange language. This is especially helpful when reading signs in foreign lands, or impressing people you know by being able to comprehend written words in a foreign tongue, though you may not know how to pronounce it at all.

Old English: "ă"; "lama", "nama", "sacu"
Modern English: "ā"; "lame", "name", "sake"
Dutch: "a(a)"; "lam", "naam", "zaak"
German: "a(h)"; "lahm", "Name", "Sache"
Old Icelandic: "a/ǫ"; "lami", "nafn", "sǫk"
Swedish: "a"; "namn", "sak"
Gothic: "a"; "namō", "sakjō"

Old English: "ā"; "an", "brad", "stan"
Modern English: "o(a)"; "one", "broad", "stone"
Dutch: "ee"; "een", "breed", "steen"
German: "ei"; "ein", "Breit", "Stein"
Old Icelandic: "ei"; "einn", "breiðr", "steinn"
Swedish: "e"; "en", "ben", "sten"
Gothic: "ai"; "ains", "braiths", "stains"

Old English: "ē"; "fedan", "grene", "secan"
English: "ee"; "feed", "green", "seek"
Dutch: "oe"; "voeden", "groen", "zoeken"
German: "u/ü"; "füttern", "grün", "suchen"
Old Icelandic: "œ"; "fœda", "grœnn", "sœkja"
Swedish: "ö"; "föda", "grön", "söka"
Gothic: "ō"; "fodjan", "sokjan"

Old English: "ī"; "min", "scinan", "swin"
English: "ī"; "mine", "shine", "swine"
Dutch: "ij"; "mijn", "schijnen", "zwijn"
German: "ei"; "mein", "scheinen", "Schwein"
Old Icelandic: "í", "mínn", "skína", "svín"
Swedish: "ī"; "min", "skina", "svin"
Gothic: "ei"; "meins", "skeinan", "swein"

Old English: "ō"; "boc", "god", "mod"
Modern English: "oo"; "book", "good", "mood"
Dutch: "oe"; "boek", "goed", "moed"
German: "u"; "Buch", "gut", "Mut"
Old Icelandic: "ó"; "bók", "góðr", "móðr"
Swedish: "ō"; "bok", "god", "mod"
Gothic: "ō"; "boka", "goths, gods", "moths"

Old English: "ū"; "hus", "ut", "þusend"
Modern English: "ou/ow"; "house", "out", "thousand"
Dutch: "ui"; "huis", "uit", "duizend"
German: "au"; "Haus", "aus", "Tausend"
Old Icelandic: "ú"; "hús", "út", "þúsund"
Swedish: "ū"; "hus", "ut", "tusen"
Gothic: "ū"; "hus", "ut", "thusundi"

Old English: "æ"; "bæð", "fæder", "sæd"
English: "ă"; "bath", "father", "sad"
Dutch: "a"; "bad", "vader", "zat"
German: "a"; "Bad", "Vater", "satt"
Old Icelandic: "a"; "bað", "faðir", "saðr"
Swedish: "a"; "bad", "far"
Gothic: ""; "fadar", "sads"

Old English: "ǽ"; "dæd", "æl", "rædan"
English: "ea/ee"; "deed", "eel", "read"
Dutch: "a(a)"; "daad", "aal", "raden"
German: "a(a)"; "Tat", "Aal", "raten"
Old Icelandic: "á"; "dáð", "áll", "ráða"
Swedish: "å"; "ål", "råda"
Gothic: "ē"; "gadeths", "garedan"

Old English: "ēa"; "deaf", "eage", "leaf"
Modern English: "e/ea"; "deaf", "eye", "leaf"
Dutch: "oo"; "doof", "oog", "loof"
German: "au"; "taub", "Auge", "Laub"
Old Icelandic: "au"; "daufr", "auga", "lauf"
Swedish: "ö"; "döv", "öga", "löv"
Gothic: "au"; " daufs", "augo", "laufs"

Old English: "ēo"; "ceosan", "deor", "deop"
Modern English: "ee/oo"; "choose", "deer", "deep"
Dutch: "ie"; "kiezen", "dier", "diep"
German: "ie"; "kiesen", "Tier", "tief"
Old Icelandic: "y/ju/jo"; "kjosa", "dyr", "djupr"
Swedish: "ju"; "djur", "djup"
Gothic: "iu"; "kiusan", "*dius", "diups"

Old English: "cg"; "ecg", "hrycg", "wecg"
English: "dg"; "edge", "ridge", "wedge"
Dutch: "g(g)"; "eg", "rug", "wegge"
German: "ck"; "Ecke", "Rücken", "Weck"
Old Icelandic: "egg"; "hryggr", "veggr"
Swedish: "gg"; "rygg", "vägg"

Old English: "ht"; "æhta", "næht", "riht"
English: "ght"; "eight", "night", "right"
Dutch: "cht"; "acht", "nacht", "recht"
German: "cht"; "acht", "Nacht", "recht"
Old Icelandic: "tt"; "átta", "nátt", "réttr"
Swedish: "t(t)"; "åtta", "natt", "rät"
Gothic: "ht"; "ahtau", "nahts", "raíhts"

Changes took place from the parent Germanic tongue, and even in the West Germanic group before they were recorded in English. Pronunciation by people in different regions led to morphological variations in many languages.

The Proto-Germanic combination of the nasal and dental fricative (nð) has developed differently in different Germanic languages. Gothic still retained it, while later in history, English dropped the nasal keeping only the dental fricative. In Scandinavian, the opposite occurred, keeping only the nasal sound. And different still, in German and Dutch the combination became the nasal and "d", which is the normal morphological development of the dental fricative in these languages.

mouth: Gothic "munths", Old English "mūð", German "Mund", Old Icelandic "munnr"
other: Gothic "anthar", Old English "ōðer", German "ander", Old Icelandic "annarr"

The nasal is treated the same way in the word "five" as well.

five: Gothic "fimf", Old English "fīf", German "fünf", Old Icelandic "fimm"

Only Scandinavian lost the nasal in the "nk", replacing it with "kk" combination.

drink: Gothic "drinkan", Old English "drincan", German "trinken", Old Icelandic "drekka"
think: Gothic "thankjan", Old English "þencan", German "denken", Old Icelandic "þekkja"

The dental fricative has been lost in almost every Germanic language. In English and Icelandic, we have kept both the unvoiced (thick, (þ)) and voiced (that, (ð)) dental fricatives, otherwise these have hardened to different sounds depending on which alternate language one looks at. In German and Dutch, both voiced and unvoiced dental fricatives became "d". This is contrary to Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, where the unvoiced dental fricative became "t", while the voiced dental fricative either became "d", or dropped out of the word altogether.

bath: Old Icelandic "bað", German "Bad", Norwegian "bad"
brother: Old Icelandic "brōðir", German "Bruder", Norwegian "bror"
thing: Old Icelandic "þing", German "Ding", Norwegian "ting"

High German Morphology

High German, which is represented by modern German, developed in the southern highlands of Germany. This variant of Germanic includes several consonant shifts differing from the Low German of the North Sea coast, of which English is a descendent. These consonant shifts are only partial, and do not occur in all positions or combinations.

"d" becomes "t"; English "day", "god" compared with German "Tag", "Gott"
"f" becomes "b"; English "life", "half" compared with German "Leib", "halb"
"k" becomes "ch"; English "make", "sake" compared with German "machen", "Sache"
"p" becomes "pf" or "f(f)"; English "pepper", "deep" compared with German "Pfeffer", "tief"
"t" becomes "z", "tz" or "ss"; English "tongue", "cat", "nut" compared with German "Zunge", "Katze", "Nuss"

Dual Vocabulary

2007-12-25T09:43:00.002-06:00

Old English, being a West Germanic tongue, shares much of its terms with other West Germanic languages such as Dutch and German. Old English was not free from influence though. When the Angles and Saxons settled in England, they entered into the sphere of the North Germanic tongues. As a result, English borrowed quite a bit, and was susceptible to much influence. This can be seen with many words that we think of as being natively English.

When the English borrowed words, they didn't necessarily forsake the word that was replaced. Instead many words took on a different meaning, or more specialised meaning than its original one. One excellent example is Old English "steorfan" (German "sterben"), meaning "to die". This word exists today as "starve", but it took on the specialised meaning of "to die of hunger". The verb "die" was borrowed from Scandinavian, as seen in Old Icelandic "deyja", "to die".

The word "take" is essential in modern English, and like "die" was borrowed from Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic "taka", "to take"). The native AngloSaxon verb for "take" was "niman" (German "nehmen"), which has survived into modern English through its past participle, "numb", and also "nimble".

Scandinavian had greater influence than just new vocabulary, it also influenced the pronunciation and spelling of the English lanuage. The verb "give", spelled "giefan" in Old English, developed naturally in English to beginning with a "y", seen in early Middle English "yiven" or "yeven". Through Scandinavian influence in Northern England, this native AngloSaxon verb took a hard "g" instead.

Modern English has much more dual vocabulary from other sources as well. After the Norman Conquest, English was flooded with French and Latin words from the new Norman overlords. Some exmples of dual vocabulary due to French or Latin influence can be seen with "often" and "frequently", "worth" and "value", "gift" and "present", "to deem" and "to judge", as well as "to own" and "to possess". It must be said that all of these words borrowed into English have been throughly anglicised. Most of the accents have moved to the initial syllable as is customary with the Germanic language group, and speakers of romance do not easily recognise these words because of the way they're pronounced by english speakers.

The amount of dual vocabulary from Latin/romance actually far outnumbers that from any Germanic source.

Calendar

2007-12-25T09:14:00.002-06:00

One would think that the pagan origins of our past have been wiped from everyday life, but that's not true at all. In fact, literally everyday of the week we're reminded of this heathen past.

Sunday: day of the sun; from Old English "Sunnandæg"
Monday: day of the moon; from Old English "Monandæg"
Tuesday: Tiu's day, ancient Germanic god of war; from Old English "Tīwesdæg"
Wednesday: Woden's day, english variant of "Odinn" (Óðinn); from Old English "Wōdnesdæg"
Thursday: Thor's day; from Old English "Þunresdæg" and "Þurresdæg"
Friday: Frigga's day, Germanic goddess of love; from Old English "Frīgedæg"
Saturday: Saturn's day (borrowed from Latin); from Old English "Sæterdæg" and "Sæternesdæg"

Many words dealing with the calendar originate from our Germanic past.

Day: Old English "dæg", Dutch "dag", German "Tag", Old Icelandic "døgr" and Gothic "dags".
Week: Old English "wice", Dutch "week", German "Woche", Old Icelandic "vika" and Gothic "wiko".
Month: Old English "mōnað", Dutch "maand", German "Monat", Old Icelandic "mánaðr" and Gothic "mēnōths".
Year: Old English "gēar", Dutch "jaar", German "Jahr", Old Icelandic "ár" and Gothic "jēr".

"Tide" meant "time" or a period of time in Old English and continues to mean that in all of the other Germanic languages; we still see this usage today with the term "Yule-tide", ("Christmas time").

Tide: Old English "tīd", Dutch "tijd", German "Zeit", Old Icelandic "tíð"

Seasons

Summer: Old English "sumor", Dutch "zomer", German "Sommer" and Old Icelandic "sumar".
Winter: Old English "winter", Dutch "winter", German "Winter", Old Icelandic "vetr" and Gothic "wintrus".
Harvest: Old English "hærfest", Dutch "herfst", German "Herbst" and Old Icelandic "haust".

Although the word "month" is Germanic, the name of every month on the calendar is not. The names have all been borrowed from either French or Latin. That doesn't mean that Old English didn't have names for each month of it's own.

January: Æfterra Geōla; after Yule
February: Solmōnað; sun month
March: Hreðmōnað; month of "Hreða", the glory goddess
April: Ēastermōnað; month of "Ēastre", the fertility goddess
May: Þrimilcemōnað; month of three milkings
June: Ǽrra Līða
July: Æfterra Līða
August: Wēodmōnað; weed month
September: Hāligmōnað; holy month
October: Winterfylleð; winter full moon month
November: Blōtmōnað; sacrifice month
December: Ǽrra Geōla; pre-Yule

Animal Kingdom

2007-12-25T00:25:00.001-06:00

Much in the natural world was observed before the Norman Conquest, so naturally the English had names for all their animals. We still use them today.

ape: Old English "apa", Dutch "aap", German "Affe", Old Icelandic "api"; compare Latin "simius"
auk: Old Icelandic "álka", Norwegian "akle"
aurochs: German "Aurochs"
bear: Old English "bera", Dutch "beer", German "Bär", Old Icelandic "bjǫrn"; Latin "ursus"
bee: Old English "bēo", Dutch "bij", German "Biene", Old Icelandic "bý"; Latin "apis"
bird: Old English "brid"; Latin "avis"
boar: Old English "bār", Dutch "beer", Dialectal German "Bär"; Latin "aper"
bull: Old English "bula", Dutch "bul", Old Icelandic "boli"; Latin "taurus"
calf: Old English "cælf, cealf", Dutch "kalf", German "Kalb", Old Icelandic "kálfr", Gothic "kalbo"; Latin "vitulus"
cat: Old English "cat, catte", Dutch "kat, "German "Katze", Old Icelandic "köttr"; Latin "feles"
chicken: Old English "cīcen", Dutch "kuiken", German "Küken"; Latin "pullus"
clam: Old English "clamm", German "Klamm"; Latin "myax"
cow: Old English "cū", Dutch "koe", German "Kuh", Old Icelandic "kýr"; Latin "bos"
crab: Old English "crabba", German "Krabbe", Old Icelandic "krabbi"
crow: Old English "crāwe", German "Krähe", Old Icelandic "kráka, krákr"; Latin "cornix"
deer: Old English "dēor", Dutch "dier", German "Tier", Old Icelandic "dýr", Gothic "**dius"; Latin "cervus"
doe: Old English "dā", Alemannic German "tē"; Latin "cerva"
dog: Old English "docga", Dutch "dog", German "Dogge"; Latin "canis"
dove: Old English "dūfe-", Dutch "duif", German "Taube", Old Icelandic "dúfa", Gothic "-dūbō"; Latin "columba"
duck: Old English "dūce"; Latin "anas"
eel: Old English "ǽl", Dutch "aal", German "Aal", Old Icelandic "áll"; Latin "anguilla"
elk: Old English "elh, eolh", German "Elch", Old Icelandic "elgr"; Latin "alces"
ewe: Old English "ēowu", Old Frisian "ei", Old Saxon "ewi", Old High German "ouwi, ou", Old Icelandic "ǽr"; Latin "ovis"
finch: Old English "finc", Dutch "vink", German "Fink"
fish: Old English "fisc", Dutch "vis", German "Fisch", Old Icelandic "fiskr", Gothic "fisks"; Latin "piscis"
flounder: Middle Low German "flundere", German "Flunder", Old Icelandic "flyðra", Swedish, Norwegian "flundra"; Latin "passer"
fowl: Old English "fugel", Dutch "vogel", German "Vogel", Old Icelandic "fugl", Gothic "fugls"; Latin "avis"
fox: Old English "fox", Dutch "vos", German "Fuchs", Old Icelandic "fóa", Gothic "faúhō"; Latin "vulpes"
goat: Old English "gāt", Dutch "geit", German "Geiß", Old Icelandic "geit", Gothic "gaits"; Latin "caper"
goose: Old English "gōs", Dutch "gans", German "Gans", Old Icelandic "gás"; Latin "anser"
hart: Old English "heorot, heort", Dutch "hert", German "Hirsch", Old Icelandic "hjǫrtr"; Latin "cervus"
hawk: Old English "heafuc, hafoc", Dutch "havik", German "Habicht", Old Icelandic "haukr"; Latin "accipiter"
hind: Old English "hind", Dutch "hinde", German "Hinde", Old Icelandic "hind"; Latin "cerva"
horse: Old English "hors", Dutch "ros", German "Roß", Old Icelandic "hross"; Latin "equus"
hound: Old English "hund", Dutch "hond", German "Hund", Old Icelandic "hundr", Gothic "hunds"; Latin "catulus"
kid: East Frisian "kitze", German "Kitz, Kitze", Old Icelandic "kið"; Latin "haedus"
lamb: Old English "lamb", Dutch "lam", German "Lamm", Old Icelandic "lamb", Gothic "lamb"; Latin "agnus"
mare: Old English "mīere, mēre, mýre", Dutch "merrie", German "Mähre", Old Icelandic "merr, marr"; Latin "equa"
midge: Old English "mygg, mycg, mycge", Dutch "mug", German "Mücke", Old Icelandic "mý"; Latin "culex"
mite: Old English "mīte", Dutch "mijt", Old High German "mīza"
mole: Old English "*molde", Dutch "mol"; Latin "talpa"
ox: Old English "oxa", Dutch "os", German "Ochse", Old Icelandic "oxi, uxi", Gothic "aúhsa"; Latin "bos"
pig: Old English "**picga"; Latin "porcus"
rook: Old English "hrōc", Dutch "roek", Old Icelandic "hrókr", Gothic "*hrukjan"; Latin "cornix"
seal: Old English "sēolh", Old Icelandic "selr"; Latin "phoca"
sheep: Old English "scēap, scēp", Dutch "schaap", German "Schaf"; Latin "ovis"
snail: Old English "snægl", German "Schnegel", Old Icelandic "snigill"; Latin "cochlea"
snake: Old English "snaca", Old Icelandic "snákr, snókr"; Latin "anguis"
sow: Old English "sū, sugu"; Dutch "zeug", German "Sau", Old Icelandic "sýr"; Latin "scrofa"
sparrow: Old English "spearwa", Middle High German "sparwe", Swedish "sparv", Gothic "sparwa"; Latin "passer"
spider: Old English "spīðra"; Latin "arena"
stag: Old English "stagga", Icelandic "steggi"; Latin "cervus"
steed: Old English "stēda"; Latin "equus"
steer: Old English "steor", Dutch "stier", German "Stier", Old Icelandic "stjorr", Gothic "stiur"; Latin "juvencus"
swallow: Old English "swealwe", Dutch "zwaluw", German "Schwalbe", Old Icelandic "svala"; Latin "hirundo"
swan: Old English "swan", Dutch "zwaan", German "Schwan", Old Icelandic "svanr"; Latin "cygnus"
swine: Old English "swīn", Dutch "zwijn", German "Schwein", Old Icelandic "svín", Gothic "swein"; Latin "sus"
tick: Old English "ticia", Dutch "teek", German "Zecke"; Latin "ricinus"
weasel: Old English "weosule, wesle", Dutch "wezel", German "Wiesel", Norwegian "vesel"
whale: Old English "hwæl", Dutch "walvis", German "Wal", Old Icelandic "hvalr"; Latin "balaena"
whelp: Old English "hwelp", German "Welf", Old Icelandic "hvelpr"
wolf: Old English "wulf", Dutch "wolf", German "Wolf", Old Icelandic "ulfr", Gothic "wulfs"; Latin "lupus"
worm: Old English "wyrm, wurm", Dutch "worm", German "Wurm", Old Icelandic "ormr", Gothic "waúrms"; Latin "vermis"

*meaning has changed, or different part of speech
**form unrecorded, though attested to through some other form

Germanic Origins

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It is true that some people believe that English is a Romance language, (originating from Latin; hence romance) still others correctly regard English as a germanic language, but believe instead that the Germanic family of Indo-european developed from Latin. In reality, Germanic existed alongside Latin, and branched into three distinct varieties based upon geographic separation. These three varieties include: North Germanic, West Germanic and East Germanic. Due to a lack of written record, the Germanic legacy begins with Gothic, recorded about the year 350CE by the bishop Wulfila. It was almost 400 years later before another Germanic language (Old English) was recorded.

Before bishop Wulfila devised an alphabet to record Gothic, the official writing system for writing any Germanic language was Runic, a distinct alphabet from the familiar Latin one we use today. This alphabet is called "Futhark", ("Futhorc" for Old English) after the first six letters of the alphabet. It extists only in short inscriptions today, so little is known about it. You can read more about the different varieties of Futhark here.

Germanic

North Germanic

Danish (Denmark)
Faroese (Faroe Islands)
Icelandic (Iceland)
Norn (Shetland and Orkney; extinct)
Norwegian (Norway)
Swedish (Sweden)

West Germanic

Afrikaans (South Africa)
Dutch (Netherlands)
English (England)
Frankish (France; extinct)
Frisian (Netherlands)
German (Germany)
Low German (Germany)
Luxembourgish (Luxembourg)
Pennsylvania German (USA)
Yiddish (international)

East Germanic

Gothic (extinct)

Crimean Gothic (Ukraine; extinct)

The Human Body

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Cognates regarding the human body:

arm: Old English "earm", Dutch "arm", German "Arm", Old Icelandic "armr", Gothic "arms"; compare Latin "bracchium"
beard: Old English "beard", Dutch "baard", German "Bart", Old Icelandic "barð"; Latin "barba"
belly: Old English "bælg, belg, bylg", Old Icelandic "belgr", Gothic "balgs"; Latin "venter"
body: Old English "bodig, bodæi, bodeg", Old High German "botah, potach, botch"; Latin "corpus"
bone: Old English "bān", Dutch "been", German "Bein", Old Icelandic "bein"; Latin "os, ossis"
brain: Old English "brægen", Old Frisian "brein", German "Brägen"; Latin "cerebrum"
brow: Old English "brū, brǽw", Old Saxon "brāwa, brāha", Old Icelandic "brá"; Latin "frons"
calf: Old Icelandic "kálfi"
cheek: Old English "cēce, cēace", Middle Low German "kāke, kēke", Dutch "kaak"; Latin "gena"
chin: Old English "cin", Dutch "kin", German "Kinn", Old Icelandic "kinn", Gothic "kinnus"; Latin "mentum"
ear: Old English "ēare", Dutch "oor", German "Ohr", Old Icelandic "eyra", Gothic "ausō"; Latin "auris"
elbow: Old English "elnboga", Dutch "elleboog", German "Ellenbogen, Ellbogen", Old Icelandic "ǫlnbogi"; Latin "cubitum"
eye: Old English "ēge, ēage", Dutch "oog", German "Auge", Old Icelandic "auga", Gothic "augō"; Latin "oculus"
finger: Old English "finger", Dutch "vinger", German "Finger", Old Icelandic "fingr", Gothic "figgrs"; Latin "digitus"
fist: Old English "fýst", Dutch "vuist", German "Faust"; Latin "pugnus"
foot: Old English "fōt", Dutch "voet", German "Fuß", Old Icelandic "fótr", Gothic "fōtus"; Latin "pes"
hair: Old English "hēr, hǽr", Dutch "haar", German "Haar", Old Icelandic "hár"; Latin "capillus"
hand: Old English "hand, hond", Dutch "hand", German "Hand", Old Icelandic "hǫnd", Gothic "handus"; Latin "manus"
head: Old English "hēafod", Dutch "hoofd", German "Haupt", Old Icelandic "hǫfuð", Gothic "haubith"; Latin "caput"
heel: Old English "hēla", Dutch "hiel", Old Icelandic "hǽll", Norwegian, Danish "hæl", Swedish "häl"; Latin "calx"
knee: Old English "cnēo, cnēow", Dutch "knie", German "Knie", Old Icelandic "kné", Gothic "kniu"; Latin "genu"
knuckle: Old Frisian "knokel", Dutch "kneukel", German "Knöchel"; Latin "digiti articulus"
legg: Old English "līra", Old Icelandic "leggr", Norwegian "legg", Danish "læg", Swedish "lägg"; Latin "crus"
midriff: Old English "midhrif", Old High German "ref"; Latin "septum"
mouth: Old English "mūð", Dutch "mond", German ""Mund", Old Icelandic "muðr, munnr", Gothic "munths"; Latin "os, oris"
nail: Old English "nægel, negl", Dutch "nagel", German "Nagel", Old Icelandic "nagl", Danish "negl"; Latin "unguis"
neck: Old English "hnecca", Dutch "nek", German "Nacken, Genick", Old Icelandic "hnakki, hnakkr"; Latin "cervix"
nose: Old English "nasu, nosu", Dutch "neus", German "Nase, Nüster", Old Icelandic "nǫs"; Latin "nasus"
shin: Old English "scinu", Dutch "scheen", German "Schienbein, Schiene", Swedish "skena"; Latin "tibia"
shoulder: Old English "sculdor", Dutch "schouder", German "Schulter", Swedish "skuldra", Danish "skulder"; Latin "umerus"
skin: Dutch "schinden", German "schinden", Old Icelandic "skinn", Nowegian "skinn", Danish "skind", Swedish "skinn"; Latin "cutis"
skull: Old English "scealu", Old Icelandic "skalli", Norwegian "skalle", Swedish "skalle"; Latin "cranium"
thews: Old English "þēawes", Old Saxon "thau", Old High German "thau"; Latin "musculi"
thigh: Old English "þēoh, þēh", Old Saxon "þioch", Dutch "dij", Old Icelandic "þjó"; Latin "femur"
throat: Old English "þrote", German "Drossel", Old Icelandic "þroti"; Latin "fauces"
thumb: Old English "þūma", Dutch "duim", German "Daumen", Old Icelandic "þumall"; Latin "pollex"
toe: Old English "tā, *tāhe, tāhae", Dutch "teen", German "Zehe", Old Icelandic "tá"; Latin "digitus"
tongue: Old English "tunge", Dutch "tong", German "Zunge", Old Icelandic "tunga", Gothic "tungō"; Latin "lingua"
tooth: Old English "tōð", Dutch "tand", German "Zahn", Old Icelandic "tǫnn", Gothic "tunthus"; Latin "dens"

Family Tree

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The members of your family have various titles based upon their relation to you. These titles have actually existed with little change since the common germanic tongue had currency. In fact, many of these family member's titles remain easily recognisable cognates from their Indo-european root. This is due to the fact that these words have a very strong sentimental connection for people, making it almost blasphemous for them to change when handed down to the next generation. This also explains why direct family member's titles have changed little, while extended (and therefore possessing less emotional value) family member's titles, such as "aunt" and "uncle", have been replaced since Old English.

Germanic Cognates

father: Old English "fæder", Dutch "vader", German "Vater", Old Icelandic "faðir", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "far", Gothic "fadar"; compare Latin "pater"
mother: Old English "mōdor", Dutch "moeder", German "Mutter", Old Icelandic "móðir", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "mor"; Latin "mater"
brother: Old English "brōðor", Dutch "broer", German "Bruder", Old Icelandic "bróðir", Norwegian, Danish, Swedish "bror", Gothic "brōthar"; Latin "frāter"
sister: Old English "sweostor", Dutch "zuster", German "Schwester", Old Icelandic "systir", Norwegian, Danish "søster", Swedish "syster", Gothic "swistar"; Latin "soror"
son: Old English "sunu", Dutch "zoon", German "Sohn", Old Icelandic "sonr", Norwegian "sønn", Danish "søn", Swedish "son", Gothic "sunus"; Latin "filius"
daughter: Old English "dohtor", Dutch "dochter", German "Tochter", Old Icelandic "dóttir", Norwegian, Danish "datter", Swedish "dotter", Gothic "daúhtar"; Latin "filia"

Latin Borrowings

pater: English "paternity" (fatherhood)
mater: English "maternity" (motherhood)
frāter: English "fraternity" (brotherhood)
soror: English "sorority" (sisterhood)