þ:

A Republican government and a Democratic government are not the same thing. See here http://capitalismmagazine.com/2003/01/republic-democracy-whats-the-difference/ for a good run down of the two.

"The first European republic after the demise of the Roman Republic in 44-27 BC, was the Icelandic Commonwealth, which also saw the establishment of the world's oldest existing parliament, the Althing. The Icelandic Commonwealth was established in 930 AD by refugees from Norway who had fled the unification of that country under King Harald Fairhair." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic

Wow! Go Iceland!

"Republicanism may be distinguished from other forms of democracy as it asserts that people have unalienable rights that cannot be voted away by a majority of voters."-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism_in_the_United_States#cite_note-4 and John Phillip Reid, Constitutional History of the American Revolution (2003) p 76

GOVERNMENT < which meaning are we talking about? In the UK, doesn't this mean the PM and Cabinet Ministers? In the U.S., I think this is said to mean the body of bureaucracy.

Old English has many words for "government", which is hinged upon one's meaning. I think "sovereignty" was O.E. dryhtendōm. I would put forth that a word that means the same as Republic should be made. After all, I think most folks would want to be free, and rule themselves.

@AnWulf:

"avant-garde (vanguard) comes to mind ... I kno that guard is of Teutonic roots but avant (advance) looks Latin."

The list seems to have a few of these mixed words; Avant is Latin "front, before, forward, earlier". I don't think that the etym's are shaky... some words may be on the wrong page. The writer did not take out mixed rooted words. Also, it looks as if the writer is highlighting that the word was built over a main Germanic word.

As for COMMON > I think so, too. That is why I called it odd. I saw this here http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/common < maybe there is some new break-through? I can see how L. commūnis would be bolstered by the Frankish word, which had the same meaning and might've been said nearly the same. Keep in mind, it is only now that the great Frankish bearing on French is being found out. I am caught off-guard all the time by words that I thought were L.Fr., but are really misspoken Frankish.

@jayles: "If we wish to make a good push toward de-latinizing English, we need to make the most common latinate words our bullseye."

Yes, you are right. That shouldn't be too hard.

Of the first 100 most said, 96% are from Teutonic roots, 4% from Latin. Of the 500 most said, about 75% are of Teutonic roots, about 20% are Latin, 3%Greek, and 1% are Celtic. There is also one Persian word (check) and one of mixed roots > 'perhaps' (L/Teut.). Also, maybe two are of Etruscan roots instead of Latin.

Funny enough, many Latin words have unknown roots.It might be worth keeping Latin words like Mile (early Germanic borrowing before the year 1000), Pound (early Germanic borrowing before the year 1000), Port (early Germanic borrowing before the year 900), and Street (early W.Germanic borrowing before the year 900), since they are true loans. Also, maybe we should feel something for the five (maybe four--one is iffy) Celtic words, and let them stay.

We can put words that were thrust out back in their rightful stead: City < Burgh; Cause < Sake, Andwork; Large < Stoor, Stour, Muchel; Point < Ord, and so on.

Odd Word Root:

Common < M.E./A.N. < OFr. comun < loan-mark out (calque) of Frankish gemeini, gamaini "common" (see G. gemein, E. mean) + L. commūnis. The Frankish and Latin words share a PIE root and meaning.

"By the way, did English ever have a suffix like '-able' ?"

-endlīc "able to; capable of" (-ende + -līc)

@AnWulf: "Here's an eye-biting (fascinating/interesting) list of English Latinates supposedly of Teutonic upspring: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_La...

Some of the etyms look a little shaky ..."

Which ones do you find shaky?

þ > "I must say that I'm not of the belief that just because a word was in Old English it should now be in English. So many words went quite naturally, and many others are so long dead, that there's no point inlivening them."

How do you mean, " so many words went quite naturally..."? Which words? How does one know they went away "naturally"?

Why do you think there is no good end to bring back "long dead" O.E. words? I say they have been asleep for a few hundred years, but not dead.

"...was there a genuine word for 'sound' (as in hearing) in OE, middle English?"

Yes, and it is still in today's English, although it is not often said.

DIN "a loud noise" < M.E. din(e) (noun), Old English dyne, dynn(an) < P.Gmc. *dunjaz; cognate with Old Norse dynr noise, Old High German tuni.

"In this earsplitting din of pop-music, patrons drank more in less time."

"Invigorated by this jolt of misanthropy, he moved sleekly through the din" - Amsterdam by Ian McEwen

The word can be taken to mean only "sound", too.

þ > Would you kindly give the book or writing that shows 'sound' and its fore-bearer's came into English before 1066?

L. sonus shares the same PIE root as O.E. geswin "music, song," swinsian "to sing;" O.N. svanr, O.E. swan "swan," "the sounding bird"

As for "high words", Latin and/or Greek have no higher words to talk about any one thing than English (new or old). The academia have thrust these words upon English, and therefore stilted English from making these "high words".

As Gallitrot rightly says, high words can be shaped anew with lost Old English words, latter-day English, and borrowings from other Germanic tongues. English should look to Icelandic for this.

Wright..."Fraught is it not?"

No. Indeed "manufacturer" (one that manufactures) today means a 'company', but is really means "hand-work; made by hand". Wright can have the same meaning, if English speakers wanted it to.

"Manufacturer," meaning "one who employs workers in manufacturing," is from about 1752. The word itself came into English in the late 1560's, and wasn't thought of a s a verb until the end of the 1600's. 'Wright," and its many other shapes, has always been in the English tongue that we know of: That gives it the right of way.

I'd rather say, "Rolls-Royce, car-maker to Her Highness the Queen," and give a nod to Celtic.