Editing German language (section)

== Vocabulary ==
Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family.{{sfn|Leao|2011|p=25}} However, there is a significant number of loanwords from other languages, in particular [[Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[French language|French]], and most recently [[English language|English]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/~deutsch/Grammatik/Wortbildung/Fremdwoerter.html |title=Foreign Words (Fremdwörter) |website=dartmouth.edu |access-date=23 February 2020 |archive-date=23 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223221137/https://www.dartmouth.edu/~deutsch/Grammatik/Wortbildung/Fremdwoerter.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early 19th century, [[Joachim Heinrich Campe]] estimated that one fifth of the total German vocabulary was of French or Latin origin.<ref>Uwe Pörksen, German Academy for Language and Literature's Jahrbuch [Yearbook] 2007 (Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2008, pp. 121–130)</ref>

Latin words were already imported into the predecessor of the German language during the [[Roman Empire]] and underwent all the characteristic phonetic changes in German. Their origin is thus no longer recognizable for most speakers (e.g. {{lang|de|Pforte}}, {{lang|de|Tafel}}, {{lang|de|Mauer}}, {{lang|de|Käse}}, {{lang|de|Köln}} from Latin {{lang|la|porta}}, {{lang|la|tabula}}, {{lang|la|murus}}, {{lang|la|caseus}}, {{lang|la|Colonia}}). Borrowing from Latin continued after the fall of the Roman Empire during [[Christianisation]], mediated by the church and monasteries. Another important influx of Latin words can be observed during [[Renaissance humanism]]. In a scholarly context, the borrowings from Latin have continued until today, in the last few decades often indirectly through borrowings from English. During the 15th to 17th centuries, the influence of Italian was great, leading to many Italian loanwords in the fields of architecture, finance and music. The influence of the French language in the 17th to 19th centuries resulted in an even greater import of French words. The English influence was already present in the 19th century, but it did not become dominant until the second half of the 20th century.

Thus, [[Notker Labeo]] translated the Aristotelian treatises into pure (Old High) German in the decades after the year 1000.{{sfn|Hattemer|1849|p=5}} The tradition of loan translation revitalized in the 17th and 18th century with poets like [[Philipp von Zesen]] or linguists like [[Joachim Heinrich Campe]], who introduced close to 300 words, which are still used in modern German. Even today, there are movements that promote the substitution of foreign words that are deemed unnecessary with German alternatives.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://vds-ev.de/anglizismenindex |title = Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. – Der Anglizismen-Index |publisher = Walter Krämer |website=vds-ev.de |access-date = 15 March 2010 |archive-date = 10 March 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100310142212/http://vds-ev.de/anglizismenindex/ |url-status = dead }}</ref>

As in other Germanic languages, there are many pairs of [[synonym]]s due to the enrichment of the Germanic vocabulary with [[loanword]]s from Latin and Latinized Greek. These words often have different connotations from their Germanic counterparts and are usually perceived as more scholarly.
* {{lang|de|Historie, historisch}}&nbsp;– "history, historical", ({{lang|de|Geschichte, geschichtlich}})
* {{lang|de|Humanität, human}}&nbsp;– "humaneness, humane", ({{lang|de|Menschlichkeit, menschlich}}){{NoteTag|{{lang|de|menschlich}}, and occasionally {{lang|de|human}}, may also mean "human, pertaining to humans", whereas {{lang|de|Menschlichkeit}} and {{lang|de|Humanität}} never mean "humanity, human race", which translates to {{lang|de|Menschheit}}.}}
* {{lang|de|Millennium}}&nbsp;– "millennium", ({{lang|de|Jahrtausend}})
* {{lang|de|Perzeption}}&nbsp;– "perception", ({{lang|de|Wahrnehmung}})
* {{lang|de|Vokabular}}&nbsp;– "vocabulary", ({{lang|de|Wortschatz}})
* {{Lang|de|Diktionär}} – "dictionary, wordbook", ({{Lang|de|Wörterbuch}}){{NoteTag|In modern German, {{lang|de|Diktionär}} is mostly considered archaic.}}
* {{Lang|de|probieren}} – "to try", ({{Lang|de|versuchen}})
* {{Lang|de|proponieren}} – "to propose", ({{Lang|de|vorschlagen}})

[[File:German dictionary.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Deutsches Wörterbuch]]'' (1st vol., 1854) by the [[Brothers Grimm]]]]

The size of the vocabulary of German is difficult to estimate. The {{lang|de|[[Deutsches Wörterbuch]]}} (''German Dictionary''), initiated by the [[Brothers Grimm]] ([[Jacob Grimm|Jacob]] and [[Wilhelm Grimm]]) and the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language, already contained over 330,000 headwords in its first edition. The modern German scientific vocabulary is estimated at nine million words and word groups (based on the analysis of 35 million sentences of a [[Text corpus|corpus]] in Leipzig, which as of July 2003 included 500{{nbsp}}million words in total).<ref>{{cite web |url = http://wortschatz.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/html/inhalt_next.html |title = Ein Hinweis in eigener Sache |website = wortschatz.informatik.uni-leipzig.de |date = 7 January 2003 |access-date = 15 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110515064508/http://wortschatz.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/html/inhalt_next.html |archive-date = 15 May 2011 }}</ref>