I’m told that English is now a Germanic language with a more-than-half Latinate (mostly French) vocabulary.
That’s true only for highbrow written English (and even then, I’m not sure if French words would outnumber those coming directly from Latin). Everyday spoken English still overwhelmingly consists of Germanic words.
Also, that sample you cite is Law French, a very peculiar historical sort of formal legal language. Nobody ever used anything like that as everyday spoken language.
Costanza:
That’s true only for highbrow written English (and even then, I’m not sure if French words would outnumber those coming directly from Latin). Everyday spoken English still overwhelmingly consists of Germanic words.
Also, that sample you cite is Law French, a very peculiar historical sort of formal legal language. Nobody ever used anything like that as everyday spoken language.