We have the luxury that English and its immediate parent languages are very well attested. But what of similar situations where there is very little written record?
Imagine for a moment that we knew only the English from before the Norman conquest, but the VM turned out to be post-Norman English. Depending on the type of document, around 50% of English vocabulary is of Latin/French origin. We'd be confused by the way Latin and Germanic roots are mixed.
What David says about historical background is of course crucial. But it may be difficult to eliminate possibilities. Latin, Greek and Arabic are all tied to sciences and had international roles. So if someone said that the VM mixes Latin, Greek, Arabic and a fourth language of choice, you'd have to accept the possibility.
The problem is not the mixing in itself but rather the way it's mixed. Specialized vocabulary is fine, but there must be some structure. In a regular sentence you can't just allow yourself to pick at random. Even in a language like English, that has been severely exposed to Latin influences, the core vocabulary remains almost entirely Germanic!
Imagine for a moment that we knew only the English from before the Norman conquest, but the VM turned out to be post-Norman English. Depending on the type of document, around 50% of English vocabulary is of Latin/French origin. We'd be confused by the way Latin and Germanic roots are mixed.
What David says about historical background is of course crucial. But it may be difficult to eliminate possibilities. Latin, Greek and Arabic are all tied to sciences and had international roles. So if someone said that the VM mixes Latin, Greek, Arabic and a fourth language of choice, you'd have to accept the possibility.
The problem is not the mixing in itself but rather the way it's mixed. Specialized vocabulary is fine, but there must be some structure. In a regular sentence you can't just allow yourself to pick at random. Even in a language like English, that has been severely exposed to Latin influences, the core vocabulary remains almost entirely Germanic!