Here's a breakdown:
* Indo-European: German is part of the Indo-European language family, which includes many languages spoken in Europe and Asia.
* Germanic: Within Indo-European, German belongs to the Germanic branch, along with English, Dutch, Swedish, etc.
* Proto-Germanic: These languages all descended from a common ancestor, Proto-Germanic. This is where the foundation of German grammar and many basic words originated.
* Latin: Latin is a Romance language, descended from Vulgar Latin, a spoken form of Latin. While Latin influenced some vocabulary in German (like "Schule" from Latin "schola"), it did not have a fundamental impact on the language's structure.
Latin influence on German is primarily in:
* Vocabulary: Some words were borrowed from Latin, especially during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
* Scientific and Academic Terminology: Latin is still used in many scientific and academic fields, so German has adopted some Latin terms.
However, German grammar and basic vocabulary are primarily rooted in Proto-Germanic, making it distinct from Romance languages like Latin.