Language Trees

So we’re driving along, running errands for my wife, me and the Little One, and we’re chatting about languages. I love languages, though, sadly enough, the only one I know with any real authority is English. But I have a passing enthusiasm for etymologies, and for rhymes and syncopations, and even for the visual “look” of a word on paper. I can recall as a fourth or fifth grader being fascinated with that whole tree of languages chart.





My daughter has a similar interest, at least for the time being, and really only regarding names. She’s commandeered the family’s Baby Names book, which the wife and I dog-eared trying to find suitable appellations for the two little ones (we made the decision to be surprised by the baby’s gender at delivery, so we had to have two names ready). So Little One goes through the book, and notes the meanings of various names of her friends and family members.

Somehow the conversation turns to derivations. Don’t ask me how, I don’t quite remember. Anyway, since I’m talking with a six-year-old, and since I’m not an expert on the subject, merely an interested party, I’m simplifying things as much as possible. English, I say, has about four times as many words in it as other common languages, like Spanish or French, because we tend to snatch words from other languages to use. Plus, we’re basically the international language of science and finance throughout the world.

I think she understands this as I note her furrowed brow in the rear view mirror. Then she asks me what it means when her baby name book says that such-and-such name comes from Latin. I say that most of the words in English evolve from either Latin or Germanic. As a general rule, mellifluous, polysyllabic words are usually from the Latin, whereas short, harsh, guttural sounding words come from the Germanic. Rephrasing this a couple of times, plus a few examples, seem to illustrate this for her.

Satisfied, I seek to cement the idea with an image she’ll easily relate to and remember. “Just think of English as having two parents, Latin and Germanic.”

Again I see her reflection deep in thought. A few minutes go by and my mind begins to wander as I drive through traffic.

“Hey, Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Which one’s the mommy?”