The Classical Languages and Their Actual Contribution - The Case of German and Greek

Abstract

In research on lexical and linguistic interference from one language to another, the case of Greek language contact with German has drawn attention. Greek, as one of the most widespread classic languages in the world, came through the Latin channel to convey its words, mostly science (e.g., mechanics) and the arts (e.g., aesthetics), in German-speaking countries. This paper investigates how two languages that share no common borders acquired numerous common words with matching semantic meanings. Tracing linguistic contact from the Greco-Roman period and the Migration Period (Völkerwanderung) through Martin Luther's translations of the Holy Scriptures, gymnasium schooling, and lexicons like the Duden dictionary, the study analyzes historical borrowing across multiple domains. The findings reveal that German absorbed extensive Greek vocabulary, technical prefixes, and expressions spanning medicine, pharmaceuticals, space science, religion, sports, arts, linguistics, personal names, toponyms, and contemporary culinary interactions. Despite continuous purification efforts by German linguists starting in the eighteenth century, these loanwords persisted and adjusted their pronunciation or structure. The article concludes that classical languages served as an inexhaustible treasure for German terminology, leaving Greek elements so thoroughly assimilated that modern native speakers naturally perceive them as native vocabulary rather than foreign linguistic additions.