Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12_30
Yes and Yes.
I want to write more tersely-- again-- get back to the Rohirrim way of speaking.... and, simplify, simplify. More punch less francophication. 'Twould be well to speak thus.
So what's your advice for dodging greek, latin, and phrench?
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Okay.
First thing is to "know your enemy". Recognize the typical shape and form of the borrowings.
Greek: many words ending in "os" or "as", or words that once did: logic, philosophy, any of the ology words. Anything medical usually comes from Greek, or a mix of Greek and Latin: "cardiovascular". Caritas. olympic, olympiad.
Latin: words from musical forms, such as "sonata". Any word ending in - -ous, -us, -um, -a, or -able, or -tion - - - is probably Latinate. Museum, marvelous, sonata, available. Many words having suffixes or prefixes that come from Latinate: Congress, community, proximity, association, festival.
Norman: beef, pork, ... any word that separates the clean from the dirty, as it were, or is a law word: warrant, bailliff
French: many words having "ou" in them, or bunches of vowels strung together (beautiful) or "gu": guarantee. unique.
English: swine. cattle. height. quote. Any strong verb: sit, sat; throw, threw. Many words with silent letters "gh".
Now, you tell me which of the pairings below is English and which is a borrowing from another language:
praise : glorify
colleague : partner
annual : yearly
foreigner : stranger : alien
punish : shrive
foe : enemy
many : several