Which is not one of the major influences of English?

• A. Russian
• B. Latin
• C. French
• D. Greek

Answer: (A)

Understanding what languages shaped English helps answer this. English began with Germanic roots and later absorbed a great deal from Latin, especially through religious and scholarly use, and from French after the Norman Conquest, which added many everyday and legal terms. Greek also found its way into English, largely through science, philosophy, and academic vocabulary, often via Latin. Russian, by contrast, did not play a major historical role in shaping English; there are some modern borrowings, but it did not influence English to the same extent as Latin, French, or Greek.