The Latest influence from Classical Language is something between a hindrance and a help
Answer
Beside Scandinavian and French influence Latin holds enormous effect in English Language. It is however a question whether the Latin or Classical element is on the whole a benefit or a drawback to English language. And all acceptable decision is hardly a feasible formula, a study can be made on the issue considering the various pros and cons of the aspect.
Classical Influence: Advantages
(a) The first advantage of the classical influence strikes us is the enormous addition to the English vocabulary. The English boasts their language and their dictionaries contain a far great number of words than the German and French ones - the chief reason is the great number of foreign and especially of Latin and Greek words being adopted in the language.
(b) Secondly, many of the Latin words fill up the gaps in the native stock of words, so that they serve to express ideas which would have been nameless, but for them. Adjectives were comparatively few in Old English. So in the Middle and Modern English hundreds of Latin adjectives have been called from Latin. This tendency appears very strikingly in the large number of English nouns with Latin adjectives.
Some examples are
Alongside the Latin adjectives, we possess many Native adjectives.
For Example
(c) "More than anything else the richness of the English Language manifests itself" says Jesperson. In it a great number of synonyms are of great benefit to English language. Juvenile does not signify the same thing as 'Youthful' or 'Panderous'. Similarly, 'Portion' and 'Share' have two different shades of meaning. Sometimes the Latin word is used in a more limited special or precise sense than the English. Thus Science (Latin) is more restricted than Knowledge (English), Magnitude (Latin) than Size (English), Masculine is more abstract than Manly etc.,.
(d) Latin Elements are commentable on the score of international intelligibility. Many of them are used in many other civilized countries. The utility of those Latin words such as telegraph, telegram etc is evident in the days of easy communication.
Classical Influence: Hindrances
All the aspects above have certainly enrich the English language and have been an advantage to it but side by side with these advantages there were certain drawbacks which should be overlooked.
(a) Latin influence in its effect has stunted the growth of the Native vocabulary. The Old English was highly resourceful and it would therefore have been possible to find and adequate expression in the vernacular or to coin one out of the native speech material, but gradually the English speaker loss the habit of looking first to the utmost resulting in the decline of native resources.
(b) The introduction of quite a large number of Latin adjective has no doubt enrich the English language. But as against this it may be said that English has quite a number of endings by which the substantives can be turned into adjective. Moreover it is contrary to the generous of English language to use adjective at all. Many Latin adjective are quite superfluous and are almost never used such as 'eutumnal', 'hybernal', 'vernal', etc.,. These adjectives are thus out of harmony with the short and simple native words.
(c) Some Latin synonyms of superfluous, for example nobody can feel exactly how the three synonyms terms 'kingly', 'royal', and 'regal' differ in signification. The native words 'cold', 'cool', 'chilly' 'icy', 'frosty', might have been quite sufficient for all purposes without any necessity for imparting Latin words like 'frigid', 'galid', 'algid' etc.
(d) It is argued that Latin words have the advantage of international intelligibility. But the drawback is that these learned words are out of harmony with the genious of the English language and are undemocratic in the sense that they are used more for international convenience than the convenience of the native people.
(e) Latin derivatives distort the pronunciation of the proper noun Milton (Mil-ton) is distorted when Latin derivative ending 'an' is added to it and produces the word Milton (Mil-to-ni-an)
(f) Many Latin loans are incongruous and out of harmony with the core of the language paternal and parricide which are of Latin influence is that it has encouraged and inflated turgidity of style: the style was reached in the time of Dr. Samuel Johnson and he is known as Johnsonese as an example we may quote a sentence full of bombastic words like "The conflagration extended its devastating career" which is used in place of a simple and handy sentence like "The fire spread."
Thus the classical element in English remained always foreign to the language and was restricted to a few learnt people, but could never approach the sphere of words in everyday use.
Jesperson says, "Without siding completely with Milton's teacher Alexander Gill, who says that classical studies have done the English language more harm than even the cruelties of the Danes or the devastations of the Norman." We shall probably be nearer the truth if we recognize in the latest influence from the classical language "something berween a hindrance and a help."
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