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English is more of a mongrel than that even, there are substantial additions from Latin and Greek as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Origins_of_Englis

• Grue3 10y ago
  Name any (natural) language that's "pure". English is hardly unique in that respect.
  • jrochkind1 10y ago
    No languages are pure, although some languages in modern times have official national bodies trying to keep them as 'pure' as possible (like French), they're still not 'pure' in any way. But English is especially hybrid. Some think that contributed to it's global popularity as a second language, but I think it's probably more just a coincidence that England and then the U.S. were such global powers, and not related to characteristics of English.
    • jmfayard 10y ago
      > I think it's probably more just a coincidence that England and then the U.S. were such global powers, and not related to characteristics of English ... and if you want to argue otherwise, you will have to explain why russian had such good linguistic characteristics in east-europe between 1945 and 1989, and not so much since then :)
• 13of40 10y ago
  That's a very aptly named PIE chart.