7) International words and etymological doublets

Sometimes words are borrowed not by one language, but by several. They are called international words. Most of them are words of Latin and Greek origin. To such words we refer: 1)Most names of sciences (for example – philosophy, physics, medicine, lexicology). 2) Most names of arts (music, drama, tragedy, theatre)3) Most names of politics (democracy, revolution, policy, militarism)4) Most names of science and technology (radio, television, computer, internet)5) Most names of fruits and foodstuffs (coffee, cocoa, banana, mango, chocolate)The English language also contributed a considerable number of international words to other languages – for example – football, tennis, hockey, cricket, rugby.Etymological doublets. A doublet is a pair of words, both of which originate from the same source, but each differs from the other in meaning, usage or form. For example – abridge (сокращать за счет объема) and abbreviate (очень сильно сокращать – NATO, UNESKO). These 2 words are doublets. Each of them comes from Latin word ‘abbreviare’, which means ‘to shorten’, but their usage in English and their forms are obviously different. Their phonetic shape is different and yet there is a certain resemblance, which reflects their common origin. Etymological doublets can enter the vocabulary by different rules. For example - ‘shirt’ and ‘skirt’. “Shirt ” originates from a native word ‘shrew’, ‘skirt’ – from a borrowed one – screw. But they both denote articles of clothing.

Other pairs can also be of Latin origin, but one of these pair has come into English directly from Latin and preserves an unmistakable resemblance to the Latin words, whereas the other has often passed through the French language on its way into English and has taken on changes of pronunciation and spelling, which sometimes make the word almost unrecognizable as an offspring of the parent word. For example, the word ‘sir’ was borrowed from Latin(senior) to French, and then from French to English. The word ‘channel’ was borrowed from Latin(canal) to French, and then from French to English. But these words (channel and canal) both exist, the first word denotes TV or water channel, the second word is used for something which is digged. Still others were borrowed from the same language twice, but in different period. For example – ‘corpce’ (which means труп) was borrowed from Norman French, and ‘corps’ (which means корпуса) was borrowed from French in the Renaissance period. ‘Travel’ and ‘travail’ are also etymological doublets. ‘Travel’ (which means путешествие) was borrowed from Norman French, and ‘travail’ (which means тяжелый труд или родовые муки) was borrowed from French in the Renaissance period.Etymological triplets are groups of three words of common root. They occur seldom. Though, there are several groups. For example – hospital (Latin word), hostel (Norman French word) and hotel (Renaissance French word). Another group of words is to capture (Latin word), to catch (Norman French word) and to chase (Renaissance French word). A doublet may also consist of a shortened word and the one from which it was derived. For example – ‘fan’ was derived from ‘fanatic’, ‘fancy’ was derived from ‘fantasy’, ‘story’ was derived from ‘history’. So as we see, there are very many Latin and French borrowings in the English language , more than that, we find them among the basic vocabulary words. Borrowed words have become so fully adapted to the English language system, that they are practically indistinguishable from the native stock.