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Post by Novi Pazar on Jan 9, 2008 20:58:55 GMT -5
"I beg to differ!
It is generally recognized that of the 6,912 languages and dialects of the world, English has the most words. French for instance has less than 100,000 and German 200,000.
English has 500,000 words cataloged and half a million more awaiting cataloging, some authorities place the estimated total in the millions."
I beg to differ with u, English has borrowed extensively from Greek from its sciences, arts etc.....Whereas your vardar people borrowed a Greek name to name yourself's!.
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Post by Niklianos on Jan 9, 2008 22:25:26 GMT -5
GS you are showing your TRUE colors! It is amazing how fast you came out and attacked the post! Oooo, so the English language has 500,000 or 900,000 words! Please tell us where the vast majority of English words originate! I guarantee you that more than 80% of all "English" words are of non-English origin! HMMMM, now I wonder what are the origin of ALL the Greek words?? I guarantee you more than 90% are of GREEK ORIGIN! English is nothing more than a conglomeration of a wide variety of words such as Latin, Greek, French, German, Dutch. The list goes on and on.
So why do you once again attack something Greek that has nothing to do with nationalism??
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Post by kartadolofonos on Jan 9, 2008 23:14:23 GMT -5
Greek language is the richest language in the world with 5,000,000 million words.The Centre of Macedonian Study in the frame of celebrations of Three Hierarches organised ago few days lecture on the subject the importance of Greek language and alphabet for the maintenance of cultural Greek heritage. The dangers, that come from the European Union, and a lot of academicians observe that the Greek language is degraded considerably through various processes, as the utilisation of Latin characters in the electronic correspondences, the suppression of tones, the case of suppression of vowels and the more general use of it for the simplification of writing, were the main point of report in the lecture. According to Greek diaspora newspaper Morning of New York in her speech Mrs. Vagjia Karantinidi clinical Psychologist, child Psychology and international sciences of [Ancient] Greek Philosophy,ring the bell and saying characteristically that the Greek language is in danger.If the Greeks wants he elects again his racial virtues, he should it learns his past and his own Prehistory. The population of research and reflection has obligation to know and to rescue the cultural giant of his ancestors.”. The speaker presented ideas and inquiring elements with regard to the importance of Greek language and making analytic report in the creation of alphabet and the particular importance of each symbol of/letter, stressing that Greek language is the richest language in the world with 5,000,000 million words and 70.000.000 lexical types, as she was recorded in the book Guinness in 1990, while English has only 490.000 words.She stressed that when it is ignored the relation of alphabet in the language, is lost the real meaning and the basic energy of word, provided that the letters symbolize concrete attributes. “The Greek language is the base of all European languages with words that they possess optical-sound conceptual good. The Greek alphabet was carried to the Greater Greece of Italy and evolved into the Latin alphabet as was the case in the 9th century A.D. (in the Byzantine period ), with the conversion to Christianity of the Slavs by the Greek monks Cyrillus and Methodius and the Cyrillic Alphabet was created, based on the Greek one. The alphabet is still based today in the written forms of the Slavic languages. Greek Language that have passed into the European languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and so on). For practical reasons and in order to save time, I will refer mainly to the form Greek words have taken in English, with limited references to other languages. Ευρώπη (Europe). The name of Europe derives from Greek name of a mythological figure. The most likely etymology of the word is “the one who has «ευρείς ώπας», that is “big eyes”. From the name of Europe is derived the name of the European currency euro (from the first part of the name) and is printed on the paper euro in its Greek form ΕΥΡΩ. A field where Greek ideas passed with Greek words into European languages is that of politics, of instutions and ideology. Πολιτική (politics: The word originates in the Greek πολιτικός (political), πολιτική τέχνη (political art) or science was the technique and the knowledge of the πολίτης (citizen) in the Athenian Republic as to how he should carry out his duties and obligations; that is, to elect and be elected, to be conscriped, to become χορηγός (sponsor), so that the citizens could have the opportunity to attend theatrical performances without paying, mainly the ancient tragedies which had an educational character, πολιτική (politics)< πολιτικός (politician, political)< πολίτης (citizen)<πόλις (the city-state in ancient Greece). Δημοκρατία (democracy): From δήμος (people) and κράτος (power); it expressed the power, the people’s authority, of the many, of the citizens; in contrast with αριστοκρατία (the power of the elite) which was, in the final analysis, the power of the few. The Athenian δημοκρατία (democracy) became the model for the government of a city- state, since it was the system of government that secured and guaranteed the democratic rights of all citizens. Both αριστοκρατία and the one-man regime, μοναρχία (monarchy) –the hereditary authority the αρχή (authority of only one ruler– did not prevail in ancient Greece, in the same way as αναρχία (anarchy) was not acceptable. Equally undesirable were the antidemocratic political conditions of absolute power: δεσποτισμός (despotism) from δεσπότης (despot, the main, the absolute ruler), ηγεμονισμός (hegemony) from ηγεμών (absolute ruler) and τυραννία (tyranny) from τύραννος (absolute, authoritarian, ruler). The basic of democracy was διάλογος (dialogue) from the verb διαλέγομαι (discuss matters with others seeking the truth). From the same verb we get the διαλεκτική (dialectic) method of philosophy, the method of seeking truth through question and answer, through dialogue. Later, in mediaeval times, we had the creation of the word μονόλογος (μόνος + λόγος) "speaking alone as the only speaker") that from the beginning had pejorative sense. Conversing and talking correctly, objectively, convincingly and creatively, being a ρήτωρ (rhetor or orator) and knowing the ρητορική (rhetorics, the art of rhetoric) was an advantage as long as you didn’t, with your rhetoric, mislead the people into rash decisions, and you are not a δημαγωγός (demagogue˙ from δήμον + άγω, "to lead the people"). All these are, of course, subjects of political ιδεολογίας (ideology), another familiar word in political terminology, which derives from the very significant Greek word ιδέα (idea) and which has given to the European languages the words idea (English), idée (French), idea (Italian/Spanish), Idee (German) and so on. The original meaning of ιδέα is "what I see or conceive with my mind", vision as a source of knowledge. From the same Greek root we get two important words ιστορία (ίστωρ, story, history, from "the one who knows", initially "the one who sees with his eyes and knows", initially "the one who sees with his eyes and knows well" (see the English words history and story ―through Latin― the French histoire, the Italian istoria and the Spanish historia, "that appears without being real". Also είδωλο (English idol, French idole, Italian/Spanish idolo). The semantic areas of education and art have given another set of basic words: θέατρο (theatre), the space where we θεώμεθα (θέατρο < θεώμαι “see”) what is acted δράμα (δρω "act"), which may be moving such as τραγωδία (tragedy from τράγος a satyr in the form of a goat + ωδή "song") or satirical like κωμωδία (comedy) from κώμος "a merry group, a company of young people + ωδή (song). From the basic words τράγος (tragic) and κώμος (comic), in connection with τραγωδία and κωμωδία were also formed the words τραγικός (tragic) and κωμικός (comic). The concept of δημιουργώ (create) has given from the verb ποιώ (make, create) the words ποίημα (poem, "language creation"), ποίηση (poetry) and ποιητής (poet). [It should be noted that three basic Greek verbs meaning "make or do" have given a series of words to European languages: (i) δρω (perform, act) > δράμα (drama), δραματοποιώ (dramatize) δραματικός (dramatic) and δράσις (action), δραστικός (drastic); (ii) πράττω (do) > πράξις (praxis), πρακτικός (practical, practice), πράγμα (object), πραγματικός (pragmatic, pragmatism, pragmatist), and, more recently, the American chiropractic; (iii) ενεργώ (operate, activate), ενέργεια (energy), ενεργητικός (energetic), ενεργοποιώ (energize)]. Returning to the theatre, let us remember some theatrical terms which have led to the creation of a series of European words: σκηνή (English scene, French scène, Italian and Spanish scena), χαρακτήρ (character < χαράσσω, χαράζω "characteristic by which somebody/something can be recognized"), επεισόδιο (episode, "the dialogic part of the tragedy between two choruses), πρωταγωνιστής (protagonist "the main, the first character), ορχήστρα (orchestra, the original meaning being "the part of the theatre where people ορχούντο (danced). The Μούσες (Muses, the goddesses of the arts, have given the word μουσική (music, the musical art the original meaning being "the one referring to the Muses" and form of art protected by the Muses: music, painting, dance, poetry, prose, philosophy) and the word μουσείο (museum, "a space dedicated to the Muses, and, by extension, the arts they protected"). With music are connected other words which have found their way into European languages. Here are some: μελωδία (melody, < μέλος "song", original meaning: "articulation, harmonious articulation; αρμονία (harmony, from < αρμός, original meaning "good joining, impeccable linking); from the word αρμονία we get αρμόνιο (harmonium, the church organ). In French or Italian we have from αρμονία "philarmonique" and "filarmonico" meaning "the one who loves harmony"; in English we get philharmonic (φιλαρμονική the orchestra, the band). Here we have an example of another interesting process for the presence of Greek words in European languages. It is not a question of loans from ancient Greek words, but one of the creation of new words with Greek being the basis. From phil (φίλος "he who loves" as in philosophy, philology, philanthropy) and harmony, we get philharmonic. From phil and ατέλεια (without charge) we get philately and philatelic. We have also got symphony and symphonic from the Greek συμφωνία (harmony, harmonious, coexistence), ρυθμός (rhythm) from ρέω (original meaning "the sound from the tightening of the strings of a musical instrument"), μέτρο (metre from μέτρον the original meaning being "measuring rhythmical pieces in poetry, in metrical speech); συμμετρία (symmetry, from συν + μέτρον "the one with the correct proportions"). We should note here that the word αναλογία (analogy, namely "the equivalence of the characteristics of two objects" has given to English and other European languages, words like analogy, analogous, analogue, analogic and others. From the field of education, I would mention selectively, σχολή (school, original meaning "free time" which, in Ancient Athens was used, fortunately, for discussions leading to the acquisition of knowledge and the training of the intellect). From this word we get the Latin and Italian schola, the Spanish escuela, the English school, the French école, the German Schule and so on. We also have ακαδημία (academy, academic from < Ακαδημία / Ακαδήμεια Πλάτωνος "Plato's school in Colonus, in the sacred grove of Ακάδημος < εκάς + δήμος, "the distant, the borough which is away from the centre"). We also have γυμνάσιο (gymnasium from < γυμνάζομαι < γυμνός the original meaning being "a place where the young train without clothes on" and λύκειον (lyceum the gymnasium near the temple of Lykeios Apollo, the school where Socrates and mainly Aristotle taught. Talking of gymnasiums and gymnastics, let us not forget the words αθλητής (athlete / athletics, deriving from αθλούμαι (train) < άθλον (prize) with the original meaning of "compete with others for victory, distinction, the prize"). Let us also note that the highest distinction for an athlete was victory at the Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες (the Olympic Games) a highly prestigious panhellenic competition held in ancient Olympia. I have so far referred to a small number of words, which are of great importance to the basic concepts of European civilization, which I have briefly commented on. To save time, I am now going to mention some other groups of basic words without making detailed comments. First, a few general words τάλαντο / ταλέντο (talent); αισθητική (aesthetics), μύθος (myth), φαντασία (fantasy, fantastic), μαγικός (magic), μυστήριο (mystery), ερωτικός (erotic), ενθουσιασμός (enthusiasm from ένθεος "the one who has God in him"), συμπόσιο (symposium συν + πίνω), ήρως (hero) and ηρωίνη (heroin "what makes you feel like a hero, to feel strength and euphoria), στρατηγός, στρατηγικός (strategy), τακτική (tactics), συμπάθεια (sympathy), απολογία (apology, apologize). From the field of τεχνολογίας (technology, original meaning "grammatical analysis of the words of a text"), τεχνικός (technical), μηχανή / μηχανικός (machine / mechanic), ενέργεια (energy), ηλεκτρικός / ηλεκτρονικός (electric, electronic), αυτο-αυτόματος (automatic), αυτοκίνητο (automobile), αυτόνομος (autonomous), αεροπλάνο (aeroplane < αήρ + πλανώμαι original meaning "soar, fly in the air"), ελικόπτερο (helicopter < έλιξ = propeller), τηλε-τηλέφωνο (telephone < τήλε + φωνή), τηλεσκόπιο (telescope > τήλε-σκοπώ), ελαστικός (elastic), πλαστικός (plastic), σχήμα (scheme) σχέδιο (English "sketch", Italian "schizzo"). From the field of language itself and its analysis: γραμματική grammar < γράμματα "letters", original meaning "study of the written word"), σύνταξη (syntax from συντάσσω "put together"), λεξικό (lexicon), ετυμολογία (etymology, from έτυμος "true", ancient Greek meaning "search for the true origin of words"), σημαντική, σημειωτική (semiotics < σημείο), φωνητική (phonetics), συλλαβή (syllable), φράση (phrase), κόμμα (comma, κόπτω "cut") παράγραφος (paragraph), αλφάβητο (alphabet), διάλεκτος (dialect). A field where a large number of Greek words has found its way into European languages is that of theology, due to the fact that the main holy texts are written in Greek. The following is only a small sample: Χρίστος (Christ, from < χρίω, original meaning "he who bears the unction of saviour". With comparatively few, Ι hope, examples, I have tried to show what the presence of the Geek language has been in the European civilization and European thought as it is expressed with concepts and words in European languages. I could list thousands of Greek words, which are already recorded in the works of linguistics, philologists and other scholars, words which can also be found in all the reliable dictionaries of individual European languages. However, the theme is not quantitative. It is qualitative. As it has become obvious, key concepts of the European civilization (in science in general and specific sciences, religion, letters, arts, technology, politics, institutions and so on) are expressed in Greek words and secondly, though, this was not my subject, with Latin ones. This is the case, as I have explained, because the texts and the language of the great Greek authors and thinkers of ancient and mediaeval times was Greek. Also, the texts of the Christian religion and tradition are written in Greek, the language which has passed through and left its mark on European thought and all the European languages. The language of population expresses his his communication and dialogic. It is unthinkable a language, that spoke above 5.000 years to be forgotten, and suffers war” stressed Mrs Karantinidi. In the frame of effort heals the vital hurt at the Greek culture that is expressed with written texts, the Centre of Macedonian Study you will extend his efforts with a line of lectures in academic centres of New York, aiming at the briefing of what teaches courses interwoven with the Greek culture, hoping they limit the misinformation.
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Post by greekslav on Jan 10, 2008 0:00:05 GMT -5
GS you are showing your TRUE colors! It is amazing how fast you came out and attacked the post! Oooo, so the English language has 500,000 or 900,000 words! Please tell us where the vast majority of English words originate! I guarantee you that more than 80% of all "English" words are of non-English origin! HMMMM, now I wonder what are the origin of ALL the Greek words?? I guarantee you more than 90% are of GREEK ORIGIN! English is nothing more than a conglomeration of a wide variety of words such as Latin, Greek, French, German, Dutch. The list goes on and on. So why do you once again attack something Greek that has nothing to do with nationalism?? It is not something Greek that I debate in this thread. It is the notion that a language has 5 million words to its credit. You know that is what I debate. But you negate reason just to jump on the "blind conformity" band wagon. I can not help you there.
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Post by Emperor AAdmin on Jan 10, 2008 0:18:47 GMT -5
English has been called a Germanic language with a Romance vocabulary. Estimates of native words (derived from Old English) in English range from 20%–33%, with the rest made up of foreign borrowings. A large number of these borrowings are Latinate, coming directly from Latin, from Latin through one of the Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, or Spanish) or from some other language (such as Greek) into Latin and then into English. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_influence_in_English---------- What is the proportion of English words of French, Latin, or Germanic origin? * Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24% * French, including Old French and early Anglo-French: 28.3% * Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Dutch: 25% * Greek: 5.32% * No etymology given: 4.03% * Derived from proper names: 3.28% * All other languages contributed less than 1% www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutenglish/proportion-------- What percentage of English words comes from Latin? What is the percentage of English words derived from other languages?
About 80 percent of the entries in any English dictionary are borrowed, mainly from Latin. Over 60 percent of all English words have Greek or Latin roots. In the vocabulary of the sciences and technology, the figure rises to over 90 percent. About 10 percent of the Latin vocabulary has found its way directly into English without an intermediary (usually French). For a time the whole Latin lexicon became potentially English and many words were coined on the basis of Latin precedent. Words of Greek origin have generally entered English in one of three ways: 1) indirectly by way of Latin, 2) borrowed directly from Greek writers, or 3) especially in the case of scientific terms, formed in modern times by combining Greek elements in new ways. The direct influence of the classical languages began with the Renaissance and has continued ever since. Even today, Latin and Greek roots are the chief source for English words in science and technology.
dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/t16.html----------- Vocabulary Bridges from English to Latin & Greek
Most of what we speak and read is Latin and Greek. We just don’t know it. As much as 80% of English Vocabulary is derived from Latin and Greek. If we could recognize the Latin and Greek in English, we would understand our own language better. Understanding English vocabulary from the perspective of Latin and Greek roots gives us the advantage of: www.triviumpursuit.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16142&cat=250&page=1--------- English, though being a Germanic language, derives about 50-60% of its vocabulary from Latin,[1][2] largely by way of French, but partly through direct borrowings made especially during the 1600s in England. This also includes a large number of words of Greek origin borrowed into Latin itself. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin---------- "Vocabulary Vine: A Spiral Study of Latin and Greek Roots
Over 60% of English comes from Latin roots, and over 10% comes from Greek roots, not to mention prefixes and suffixes! " www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=691608&event=ENETP-----------
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