English is generally classified as Germanic language, despite having less than a third of its vocabulary from Germanic roots.
One of the principal reasons why English is considered a Germanic rather than Romance language is that most of its basic everyday words are Germanic. Let's see if that is true of adjectives. Here is the list of the 25 most common adjectives in English:
Only 10 of the top 25 adjectives are of purely Germanic origin and have cognates in other modern Germanic languages.
This oddity is even more apparent when one looks at the most basic adjectives in English. Lots of them have no cognate in other modern Germanic languages, and the etymology of some is so mysterious that nobody knows where they come from. A few examples:
English adjectives of unclear/unknown origin
- average
- bad
- big
- crazy
- funny
- lazy
- tired
English adjectives of Proto-Indo-European origin but unique to English
- cheap => English coinage
- evil
- healthy
- hollow
- mad => derived from a PIE and Germanic root, but meaning(s) unique to English.
- quick => based on a Proto-Germanic and PIE root, but sense of 'fast' unique to English.
- sad => based on a Proto-Germanic and PIE root for 'satiated'
English adjectives probably based on a Germanic root but unique to English
- blunt => cognates vaguely with Old Norse, but ultimately of unknown origin.
- clever
- dark
- dirty
- empty => found in Old English, but of unknown origin.
- happy
- tall
- scary => derived from Old Norse, but of unknown origin.
- smooth => found in Old English, but of unknown origin.
- steep => probably Germanic, but of unknown origin.
- stingy => English coinage
- straight => derived from Old English but origin unknown
- swift => English coinage
- wicked => English coinage from the Old English noun wicca. Unique to English.
English adjectives with ancient Germanic cognates but no modern ones
- angry => only found in Old English and Gothic
- back => only found in Old English and Old Frisian
- early => only found in Old English or Old Norse
- fair
- flat
- guilty => only found in Old English
- hilly
- ill => vaguely cognates with Old Norse
- naughty => only found in Old English
- shallow => only found in Old English
- together => only found in Old English
English adjectives with a few modern Germanic cognates but of unknown, probably non-Germanic origin
- busy => only related to Old Dutch bezich, Low GerMan besig.
- lean => vaguely related to the East Frisian luf, Dutch dialectal loof.
- narrow => sole cognates in Dutch and Frisian; probably not from Proto-Germanic.
English adjectives of Germanic origin but with a unique sense/usage in English
- clean => distantly related to the West Germanic term for small, but English sense not found elsewhere.
- creepy
- kind => derived from the Germanic word for 'kin'.
- mean => derived from the Old English gemæne (common, public), from the Germanic root *ga-mainiz meaning 'possessed jointly'.
- pretty => of West Germanic origin, but English meaning not found elsewhere.
- ready => derived from the Germanic word for 'arranged'.
- same => derived from the Germanic word for 'together'.
- silly => derived from the Germanic word for 'happy'.
- tiny
- wrong => derived from the Germanic word for 'crooked'.
- ugly => derived fom Old Norse, but unique to English with this meaning.
English adjectives of Romance origin but with a unique sense/usage in English
- cheerful => Anglo-Fr. chere and Latin cara, both meaning 'face'.
- cute => perhaps derived from the Romance word 'acute', but otherwise unique to English.
- nice => derived many times from Latin nescius ('ignorant'); unique to English.
- proud => derived from the Old French prud (brave, valiant), itself from Latin prode (profitable).
All the above (57 words listed so far) could be considered coinages of English or Old English, or words that have died out in other modern languages. The fact that they are unique to English makes me want to count them separately from true Germanic words.
Examples of adjectives that have obvious equivalent in other modern Germanic languages and can therefore truly be classified in the modern Germanic family include:
Some single- or double-syllable adjectives may have a Germanic look to them (at least for people not well versed in Latin or Romance languages), but are actually derived from Latin or Old French:
The vast remainder of common adjectives in English are all from French or Latin.
All in all, I have listed 57 adjectives unique to English, 59 of Germanic origin, and 167 of Romance origin. Out of a total of 283 common adjectives, only 20% have cognates in modern Germanic languages.
One of the principal reasons why English is considered a Germanic rather than Romance language is that most of its basic everyday words are Germanic. Let's see if that is true of adjectives. Here is the list of the 25 most common adjectives in English:
- good => Germanic
- new => PIE (Latin novus, Old English neowe)
- first => Germanic
- last => Germanic
- long => Latin
- great => PIE (Latin grandis, West Germanic *grautaz)
- little => Germanic but quite rare in other modern Germanic languages
- own => Germanic
- other => PIE (Latin alter, Proto-Germanic *antharaz)
- old => Germanic
- right => Germanic
- big => unique to English
- high => PIE (French haut, Latin altus, Old English heh, Proto-Germanic *haukhaz)
- different => Latin
- small => Germanic
- large => Latin
- next => Germanic
- early => Germanic but unique to English nowadays
- young => Germanic
- important => Latin
- few => PIE (*pau 'little, few'), but only survived in English and Romance languages (Latin paucus, French peu)
- public => Latin
- bad => unique to English
- same => Germanic but unique to English
- able => Latin
Only 10 of the top 25 adjectives are of purely Germanic origin and have cognates in other modern Germanic languages.
This oddity is even more apparent when one looks at the most basic adjectives in English. Lots of them have no cognate in other modern Germanic languages, and the etymology of some is so mysterious that nobody knows where they come from. A few examples:
English adjectives of unclear/unknown origin
- average
- bad
- big
- crazy
- funny
- lazy
- tired
English adjectives of Proto-Indo-European origin but unique to English
- cheap => English coinage
- evil
- healthy
- hollow
- mad => derived from a PIE and Germanic root, but meaning(s) unique to English.
- quick => based on a Proto-Germanic and PIE root, but sense of 'fast' unique to English.
- sad => based on a Proto-Germanic and PIE root for 'satiated'
English adjectives probably based on a Germanic root but unique to English
- blunt => cognates vaguely with Old Norse, but ultimately of unknown origin.
- clever
- dark
- dirty
- empty => found in Old English, but of unknown origin.
- happy
- tall
- scary => derived from Old Norse, but of unknown origin.
- smooth => found in Old English, but of unknown origin.
- steep => probably Germanic, but of unknown origin.
- stingy => English coinage
- straight => derived from Old English but origin unknown
- swift => English coinage
- wicked => English coinage from the Old English noun wicca. Unique to English.
English adjectives with ancient Germanic cognates but no modern ones
- angry => only found in Old English and Gothic
- back => only found in Old English and Old Frisian
- early => only found in Old English or Old Norse
- fair
- flat
- guilty => only found in Old English
- hilly
- ill => vaguely cognates with Old Norse
- naughty => only found in Old English
- shallow => only found in Old English
- together => only found in Old English
English adjectives with a few modern Germanic cognates but of unknown, probably non-Germanic origin
- busy => only related to Old Dutch bezich, Low GerMan besig.
- lean => vaguely related to the East Frisian luf, Dutch dialectal loof.
- narrow => sole cognates in Dutch and Frisian; probably not from Proto-Germanic.
English adjectives of Germanic origin but with a unique sense/usage in English
- clean => distantly related to the West Germanic term for small, but English sense not found elsewhere.
- creepy
- kind => derived from the Germanic word for 'kin'.
- mean => derived from the Old English gemæne (common, public), from the Germanic root *ga-mainiz meaning 'possessed jointly'.
- pretty => of West Germanic origin, but English meaning not found elsewhere.
- ready => derived from the Germanic word for 'arranged'.
- same => derived from the Germanic word for 'together'.
- silly => derived from the Germanic word for 'happy'.
- tiny
- wrong => derived from the Germanic word for 'crooked'.
- ugly => derived fom Old Norse, but unique to English with this meaning.
English adjectives of Romance origin but with a unique sense/usage in English
- cheerful => Anglo-Fr. chere and Latin cara, both meaning 'face'.
- cute => perhaps derived from the Romance word 'acute', but otherwise unique to English.
- nice => derived many times from Latin nescius ('ignorant'); unique to English.
- proud => derived from the Old French prud (brave, valiant), itself from Latin prode (profitable).
All the above (57 words listed so far) could be considered coinages of English or Old English, or words that have died out in other modern languages. The fact that they are unique to English makes me want to count them separately from true Germanic words.
Examples of adjectives that have obvious equivalent in other modern Germanic languages and can therefore truly be classified in the modern Germanic family include:
- bitter
- broad
- cold
- cool
- dead
- deep
- dull
- dusty
- dry
- even
- far
- fast
- fat
- fierce
- first
- free
- friendly
- full
- good
- hard
- high
- hot
- hungry
- late
- last
- light
- lively
- loud
- lovely
- low
- lucky
- next
- old
- open
- right
- ripe
- rotten
- sharp
- shiny
- shy
- sick
- slow
- soft
- sour
- strong
- sweet
- thick
- thin
- thirsty
- true
- young
- warm
- weak
- well
- wet
- wild
- wise
- witty
- wonderful
Some single- or double-syllable adjectives may have a Germanic look to them (at least for people not well versed in Latin or Romance languages), but are actually derived from Latin or Old French:
- afraid
- bland
- clear
- close
- eager
- easy
- faithful
- faint
- fancy
- fine
- foolish
- fresh
- huge
- miser
- mute
- noisy
- nasty
- poor
- powerful
- quaint
- quiet
- safe
- spicy
- square
- tasty
The vast remainder of common adjectives in English are all from French or Latin.
- able
- acid
- adorable
- agreeable
- alert
- amused
- ancient
- annoyed
- automatic
- anxious
- arrogant
- beautiful
- brave
- brief
- calm
- careful
- cautious
- charming
- chemical
- colourful
- comfortable
- common
- complete
- complex
- complicated
- concerned
- condemned
- confused
- conscious
- cooperative
- courageous
- cruel
- curious
- damaged
- dangerous
- defeated
- defiant
- delicate
- delightful
- dependent
- depressed
- determined
- different
- difficult
- disgusted
- distinct
- disturbed
- doubtful
- elated
- elegant
- embarrassed
- enchanting
- encouraging
- energetic
- enthusiastic
- envious
- excited
- expensive
- exuberant
- false
- famous
- fantastic
- feeble
- female
- fertile
- fixed
- fragile
- frantic
- frequent
- future
- general
- gentle
- gigantic
- glorious
- graceful
- greasy
- grotesque
- hilarious
- important
- impossible
- infamous
- innocent
- inquisitive
- large
- long
- male
- married
- massive
- material
- medical
- medium
- military
- miniature
- mixed
- modern
- necessary
- nervous
- normal
- obedient
- obnoxious
- opposite
- outrageous
- panicky
- parallel
- past
- perfect
- physical
- plain
- pleasant
- poised
- polite
- political
- possible
- present
- private
- probable
- public
- rapid
- real
- repulsive
- rich
- round
- second
- secret
- separate
- serious
- silent
- simple
- sociable
- solid
- special
- splendid
- strange
- stupid
- successful
- sudden
- terrible
- terrific
- usual
- victorious
- violent
- vivacious
All in all, I have listed 57 adjectives unique to English, 59 of Germanic origin, and 167 of Romance origin. Out of a total of 283 common adjectives, only 20% have cognates in modern Germanic languages.
Last edited: