英文中到底有多少拉丁字源字呢?

昨天和朋友聊天時提到這個問題。

馬上來考究了一下, 原來英文中拉丁字源字高達 60%, 尤其是科學和科技字詞竟高達百分之90%. 難怪米拉索學了西文後, 英文單字識字量真的變大了 (但老實說拼字也變得很差, 因為西文是怎麼唸就怎麼拼, 會唸就會寫, 不用一個個字母的拼, 大腦可能變懶了~)。

 

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.
http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/t16.html