Chapter 1 etymological lexis in english and ukrainian

1.1 Main peculiarities of the etymological lexis in the English language

Modern Language - is the product of a long historical development, during which it undergoes diverse changes caused by various reasons. Changes affecting all aspects (level tiers aspects) of linguistic structure, but they are different. The historical development of each level depends on the specific causes and conditions that stimulate changes in the lexical structure of language, its phonetic (phonological) organization, in its grammatical order.

Development of language inherent processes of growth and decay. For example, in English, develop analytical forms a complex system of verbal shaping, but breaks conjugation system and personal endings of verbs fall vocabulary words, new borrowing or by tumors.

The history of language reveals the processes taking place in the language at different stages of its existence, causes (factors) changes that are inherent in the language itself, called linguistic and factors associated with the history of the people, with the overall development of human society. These 2 concepts and 2 side language history ever faced.

The accumulation of knowledge about the history of the various aspects of language should lead eventually to the point of final preparation when using etymological dictionary, and mostly without it, we can explain the source of forms and phenomena that are reflected in any modern word.

In terms of the vocabulary of the English language should be classified as a language of international origin, or at least as one of Latin (as dominated by French and Latin words ). But given the relative frequency distribution of words , it is clear that the Anglo -Saxon heritage takes its toll. local element in the English language contains a huge number of frequently repeated words such as articles, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs , and words denoting objects of everyday life (child , water, come , good, bad , etc.)

In addition, the grammatical structure is essentially German, remained untouched by foreign influence.

It should also be noted that at various times purists tried to clear the English language from foreign words, replacing them with the Anglo-Saxon. One linguistic nationalist wrote: "Avoid Latin derivatives, use short expressive Anglo-Saxon monosyllabic words." (Avoid Latin derivatives; use brief, terse Anglo-Saxon monosyllable) The irony is that the only Anglo-Saxon word in the slogan - "Anglo-Saxon".

Now back to the first column of the table, which is a local element based English vocabulary. The column consists of three groups, and only the third dated. Word of the group have appeared in English in the V century or later. That is, after the Germanic tribes migrated to the British Isles. With regard to the Indo-European and German groups, they are so old that they can not be dated.

Under the Indo-European element refers to words that are common to all or most of the Indo-European language group. The English meaning of the words of the elementary concepts without which human communication. They can be grouped into the following groups:

1. relationship: father, mother, brother, son, daughter

2. human body: foot, nose, lip, heart

3. animals: cow, swine, goose.

4. plants: tree, birch, corn

5. time of day: day, night.

The role of debt (borrowings, loan-words) in different languages varies and depends on the specific historical conditions of each language . In English, the percentage of loans is much higher than in many other languages, for historical reasons , he was , in contrast , for example, Iceland is very permeable . English more than any other language was able to borrow foreign words in terms of direct contact , first in the Middle Ages succeeded each other from the British Isles foreign invaders , and later in the expansion of trade and colonization activity of most Englishmen. It is estimated that the number of primordial words in the English dictionary is only about 30%.

It would be vulgarization believe that the role of words in a language is determined by whether it is borrowed or prey. Yet all the most common prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs of time and place, all auxiliary and modal verbs, almost all strong verbs and almost all pronouns, adjectives with Suppletivnye education degrees of comparison, all numbers, except second, million, billion, and finally many nouns denoting the most common and is constantly involved in the act of communication concepts in modern English native words.

The general law of uneven change elements of language as applied to the problem of borrowing is formulated as follows: the most permeable is the most moving elements of the language included in the vocabulary of a language, less permeable - to defend elements of the fund, and almost never exposed to foreign influences grammatical structure of language.

One particular influence of one language to another is always due to historical reasons: war, conquest, travel, trade, etc. result in more or less close interaction between different languages. The intensity of the flow of new loan words in different periods are different. Depending on the specific historical conditions, it is increasing, then decreasing. The degree of influence of one language to another at the same time largely depends on linguistic factors such as the degree of closeness of interacting languages, that is, whether they are closely related or not.

Misconceptions that prevailed in linguistics problems regarding loans, not confined only to exaggerate their role in language development. The approach to the topic was one-sided and formal. Researchers were interested mainly source and date of borrowing and, at best, historical causes and conditions of borrowing.

Despite the need for these data, they can not be limited. Scientists are now interested not only how and why it is borrowed word, but as it is assimilated in the language, as it yielded grammatical and phonetic rules as changed its meaning and has caused changes its appearance in the vocabulary of his adopted language.

Indeed, the need for such an approach is to borrow some Russian scientists have long pointed out. In particular, the largest Russian linguist XIX century A. Potebnya believed that we should not ask that of someone borrowed, but must ask that changed, created as a result of, the relevant stimulus excited when borrowing words from other people. But this view has not become widespread at the time and found no response.

A.A. Potebnya drew attention to the creative element in the process of borrowing. "To borrow he said - then take to be made to the treasury of human culture for more than you get." This approach to the question of borrowing reveals regularities that govern the development of vocabulary, explain the phenomena occurring in it and identify their reasons to reveal connections between the history of individual words, history, language and history of the people. Explain the above example.

Considering the development of speech sport, we will not be satisfied to the fact that the word is borrowed from Old French sredneanhlyyskyy where it was desport happened with the late-Latin disportus. We are interested in what desport and disportus meant distraction, diversion, which was held at loan value and specialization in Middle English word is a little more general than at present, meaning entertainment, sports, fun, excitement. We notice that next to the word in the same period of the French language into the English borrowed many words associated with entertainment elite, due to the fact that after the XI century Norman barons became sole master of the country, the remains of an Anglo-Saxon nobility assimilate their way of life and customs and, simultaneously, the Norman dialect of Old French language. Next, we note that the word is subject to the English system of grammatical changes nouns to give the plural ending-s. It not only replaced all the sounds of English and read the last one, but no longer, as is often observed Owned by the French borrowings, the first syllable (aferezis), resulting in a sound word respect more resemble the original English words, which have a odnoskladovist . In New England the word is still undergoing some changes in the semantics and meaning exercise, preferably in the form of games and competitions. With this value, and in its new form, it is borrowed back again in French and in other languages and become international. .

In the vocabulary of the English verb remains parallel to disport fun, which, however, is infrequent. Because of the systemic nature of language in general and vocabulary in particular, no new recruitment vocabulary borrowed words can not pass unnoticed for the rest vocabulary. Commonly loanwords accepts one or more values semantically closest to his words have already existed in the language. Thus there is a rearrangement. These semantic structure, ie a kind of secondary importance, may be central or vice versa. It may also occur, and often is the displacement from the language of words, nearly identical in meaning to the new word. This occurs because the long-term coexistence in the language of absolute or near-absolute synonyms can not always be liquidated or separation of their values, or expulsion from the language of unnecessary words.

Interaction between borrowing and vocabulary that they adopted the language is clearly visible on the history of words denoting concepts work, work, synonymous original to work. After borrowing sredneanhlyyskyy period verbs: labouren work, make great efforts (with st.-fr.labourer - Lat. Laborare) and travaillen hard work (with st.-fr.travailler born. Lat. Trepaliare torture), the first of these verbs about native English synonyms swincan, replaced the latter with state language in some territorial dialects. The second verb travailler not stand competition with the original werken verb and therefore has undergone significant changes in its semantic structure. Since the XVI century, its main value is to travel (modern-English. To travel). In this sense, it displaces the native verb lithenan travel, which is the rise of the verb travailler has become little used.

Later, as a new word, quite apart from the first, borrowed into English Old French noun travail, which means hard work and: flour in childbirth. It is less changed its phonetic form, retaining the typical French accent on the second syllable [trae'veil]. Since it was formed and the corresponding verb to travail painful toil and suffer in childbirth. The result is a so-called.: Doublet pair to travel - to travail.

General Law on the systemic effects of language as applied to the problem of debt can therefore formulated as follows: any change in the vocabulary of the language as the penetration of foreign borrowing entails semantic or stylistic changes to the existing language in words and synonymous changes in groups.

There are some types of the borrowings. Though borrowed words undergo changes in the adopting language they preserve some of their former peculiarities for a comparatively long period. There are various degrees of “foreignness” (H. Marchand) which differentiate various types of borrowings:

1. Loan words proper – words borrowed from a foreign language without any change of the foreign sound and spelling. These words are immediately recognizable as foreign. They retain their sound-form, graphic peculiarities and grammatical characteristics. E.g., ballet, bouquet, chauffeur, coup d’état, phenomenon, table d’hôte, vis-à-vis, etc.

2. Translation – loans are words and expressions formed from the material already existing in the British language but according to patterns taken from another language, by way of word-for-word translation, e.g., mother-tongue (from Lat. lingua materna), wall newspaper (from Russian), by heart (from Fr. par coeur), a slip of the tongue (from Lat. lapsus linguae). Most of the given words are international in character, e.g., Procrustean bed – прокрустоволоже, Sword of Damocles – Дамокловмеч, Heel of Achilles – Ахиллесовапята. Translation-loans are not less characteristic in phraseology: either Caesar or nothing – Lat. aut Caesar autnihil – илиЦезарьилиничего (илипанилипропал).

3. Semantic borrowings is the appearance in an English word of a new meaning due to the influence of a related word in another language. E.g., propaganda and reaction acquired their political meanings under the influence of French. The word pioneermeant “explorer”, now under the influence of the Russian word “пионер” it means “a member of the Young Pioneers’ Organization”. Deviation and bureau entered political vocabulary under the influence of Russian (political bureau, right and left deviations).

The majority of the borrowings are remodeled according to the system of the English language system, so it is sometimes difficult to tell an old borrowing from a native word (e.g., cheese, street, wall, wine and other words belonging to the earliest layer of Latin borrowings). But there are loan words, on the other hand, that in spite of changes they have undergone, retain some peculiarities in pronunciation, spelling and morphology.