{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Triplets in the English Language", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/624217017358106624/", "html": "<p><a href=\"https://sigaloenta.tumblr.com/post/624090987881496576/triplets-in-the-english-language\" class=\"tumblr_blog\" target=\"_blank\">sigaloenta</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https://languageramblings.tumblr.com/post/620851926956916736/triplets-in-the-english-language\" class=\"tumblr_blog\" target=\"_blank\">languageramblings</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>One of my favourite aspects of English vocabulary is the existence of Old English, French, and Latin triplets, where the same idea can be expressed with three different words (hence <i>triplets</i>), where the most colloquial originates from Old English, a slightly more literary version from French, and the most literary version from Latin.\u00a0</p>\n<p>Some examples:\u00a0</p>\n<ul><li>kingly / royal / regal</li>\n<li>ask / question / interrogate\u00a0</li>\n<li>rise / mount / ascend\u00a0</li>\n<li>holy / sacred / consecrated\u00a0</li>\n<li>foe / enemy / opponent</li>\n<li>start / commence / initiate\u00a0</li>\n</ul><p>Additionally, we can consider the triplets where the final word (the most literary word) arrived in English via Greek:\u00a0</p>\n<ul><li>teaching / instruction / pedagogy\u00a0</li>\n<li>witty / humourous / sarcastic\u00a0</li>\n</ul><p>Additional reading:</p>\n<p>1.\u00a0<a href=\"https://books.google.ca/books?id=Q6UgAwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\">Latin Alive: The Survival of Latin in English and the Romance Languages (Solodow 2010)</a></p>\n<p>2.\u00a0<a href=\"https://books.google.ca/books?id=gzjnGTaa26oC\" target=\"_blank\">Words, Meaning and Vocabulary: An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology (Jackson\u00a0&amp;\u00a0Amvela 2000)</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>My favorites are the triplets where the French-derivative is from the same Latin word as the (usually later-borrowed) Latin-derivative, for example:</p>\n<br/><p>\nkingly // royal // regal<br/>\nlawful // loyal // legal [this one is especially good because the Germanic-derived word and the Latin-derived words share the same PIE root]<br/>\nfriendly // amiable // amicable<br/>\ntrustworthiness // faithfulness // fealty // fidelity [faith was borrowed from French and naturalized to Germanic word-formstion patterns, and in addition the cognate was borrowed] <br/>\nwrong // fault // falsity<br/>\ncow // beef // bovine [there\u2019s also a common PIE root here]<br/></p>\n<br/><p>\nThere are also French/Latin doubles where there isn\u2019t a good single Germanic synonym, e.g.  court // cohort\n</p>\n<br/><p>\nAnd then there are \u201cGermanic\u201d doubles where the a word was borrowed from Norman French twice (guarantee // warranty) or borrowed into English when it already existed in English (guard // ward // [custody]) or borrowed much later with a specialized meaning (guerrilla // warrior).</p>\n</blockquote>"}