Modern English has many word roots in Latin and Greek, but where did the Latins and Greeks get those word roots in the first place? Did somebody just make it up out of the blue? Or did they get it from an earlier language, and if that’s true, where did they get it from?

Question

Modern English has many word roots in Latin and Greek, but where did the Latins and Greeks get those word roots in the first place? Did somebody just make it up out of the blue? Or did they get it from an earlier language, and if that’s true, where did they get it from?

In: Culture

Answer 1

If you want to read a book, I recommend *The Rude Story of English* by Tom Howell. Easy to read, he makes it funny, while he traces the roots of English, from its starter-languages to actual England, to America, etc.