5. International words

It is often the case that a word is borrowed by several languages, and not just by one. Such words usually con vey concepts which are significant in the field of communication.

Many of them are of Latin and Greek origin. Most names of sciences are international, e.g. philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, linguistics, lexicology. There are also numerous terms of art in this group: music, theatre, drama, tragedy, comedy, artist, primadonna.

It is quite natural that political terms frequently occur in the international group of borrowings: politics, policy, revolution, progress, democracy, communism, anti-militarism.

20th c. scientific and technological advances brought a great number of new international words: atomic, antibiotic, radio, television, sputnik. The latter is a Russian borrowing, and it became an international word (meaning a man-made satellite) in 1961, immediately after the first space flight by Yury Gagarin.

The English language also contributed a considerable number of international words to world languages. Among them the sports terms occupy a prominent position: football, volley-ball, baseball, hockey, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, etc.

Fruits and foodstuffs imported from exotic countries often transport their names too and, being simultaneously imported to many countries, become international: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, coca-cola, banana, mango, avocado, grapefruit.

It is important to note that international words are mainly borrowings. The outward similarity of such words as the E. son, the Germ. Sohn and the R. сын should not lead one to the quite false conclusion that they are international words. They represent the Indo-Euroреаn group of the native element in each respective language and are cognates, i. e. words of the same etymological root, and not borrowings.

QUESTIONS

1What sets of English words can be singled out according to their origin? 2 What word is called ‘native’?

3. What does the term a borrowed word/a-borrowing mean? 4. What is the diachronic division of native words? 5. What semantic groups are words belonging to the Indo-European stock divided into? 7 What are the ways of borrowing? 8 What is meant by the term 'source of borrowing'? 9 What is meant by the term 'origin of borrowing'? 10 What historical facts and events stipulated the great influence of borrowings from different languages? 11What languages did the English language borrow words from? 12 What borrowings are called translation borrowings? 13 What does ‘semantic borrowing’ mean? 14 What words are called international? 15 What does the term 'assimilation of borrowings' denote? 16 What degrees of assimilation can be singled out? 17 In what cases can borrowed words be considered completely assimilated? What are the peculiarities of completely assimilated borrowed words? 18 What borrowings are regarded as partially assimilated? 19 What is the principle of the classification of partially assimilated borrowed words? 20 What words are called unassimilated words or barbarisms? 21 What does the term 'etymological doublets' imply? 22 What levels of the language system were influenced by borrowings?

EXERSISES

1. Subdivide all the following words of native origin into a) Indo-European, b) Germanic, d) English proper.

Daughter, woman, room, land, cow, moon, sea, red, spring, three, I, lady, always, goose, bear, fox, lord, tree, nose, birch, grey, old, glad, daisy, heart, hand, night, to eat, to see, to make.

2. Subdivide the following words of native origin into: 1) words of Indo-European origin; 2) words of Common Germanic origin; 3) English words proper. In case of difficulty consult the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

MODEL tell, sheriff, what The native English word tell is of Common Germanic origin (group 2). The native English word sheriff belongs to the English words proper (group 3). The native English word what is of Indo-European origin (group 1).

Woman, blast ('gust of wind or air'), sister, glove, lady, tooth, always, slow, green, know, daisy, sand, long, grass, flood, boy, seven, high, eat, sheriff, widow, answer, life, lip, call, swine, small, bird, corn, silver, ten, day, lord, ship, we, bench, sun, girl.

3. In the following sentences find examples of Latin borrowings; identify the period of borrowings.

1. The garden here consisted of a long smooth lawn with two rows of cherry trees planted in the grass. 2. They set to pork – pies, cold potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cold bacon, ham, grabs, cheese, butter, gooseberry-tarts, cherry-tarts, bread, more sausages and yet again pork-pies. 3. Instead of commendation, all we got was a tirade about the condition of the mackintosh sheets, which Matron had said were a disgrace both to the hospital and the nursing profession. 4. A cold wind knifing through downtown streets penetrated the thin coat she had on. 5. The substance of my life is a private conversation with myself which to turn into a dialogue would be equivalent to self-destruction. 6. It was the money, of course; money which did strange things to human beings, making them greedy, panicked, at times sub-human.

4. In the sentences given below find the examples of Scandinavian borrowings. How can the Scandinavian borrowings be identified?

1. He went on to say that he was sorry to hear that I had been ill. 2. She was wearing a long blue skirt and a white blouse. 3. Two eyes – eyes like winter windows, glared at him with ruthless impersonality. 4. The sun was high, the sky unclouded, and the air warm with a dry fresh breeze. 5. If Eastin were right, Wainwright reasoned, the presence of the husband could be in with Wainwright’s own theory of an outside accomplice. 6. It’s not such a bad thing to be unsure sometimes. It takes us away from rigid thinking.

5. Copy out the examples of Norman and Parisian borrowings from the following passage. Describe the structural peculiarities of these words.

1. It was while they were having coffee that a waitress brought a message to their table. 2. I knew nothing about the film world and imagined it to be a continuous ferment of personal intrigue. 3. The masseur and majordomo quietly disappeared. Replacing them like one more character emerging on stage was a chef, a pale, worried pencil of a man. 4. A limousine and chauffeur, available at any time from the bank’s pool of cars, were perquisites of the executive vice-president’s job, and Alex enjoyed them. 5. He would have dinner quickly and then get down to work. But as he opened the door he smelt Eau-Cologne and there was Ruth in a chair by the gate. 6. His bandaged head was silhouetted in the light from the little window. 7. “ I don’t see the matter”, said Steven, helping himself to more mayonnaise. 8. Apart from being an unforgivable break of etiquette, you only make yourself extremely ridiculous. 9. However this John Davenant evidently knew more about the army and commerce than either of them. 10. At last I began to want my breakfast. I began walking in the direction of Madge’s hotel and set down en route at a cafe no tar from the Opera.

6. State whether the given words were borrowed into the English language directly or indirectly, i. e. through another language. Define the source and origin of the given borrowed words.

Model sphinx < ME < L < Gr Sphigx

The word sphinx was borrowed into the English language indirectly, i.o. through another language. The source of borrowing is Latin, whereas the origin of borrowing is Greek.

1) obelisk < L obeliscus < Gr obeliskos; 2) please (v) < ME plaise, plese < OF plaisir < L placere; 3) easy < ME < OF aisie; 4) character< ME caracter < OF caractere < L character < Gr kharakter; 5) poof ME povere, pore < OF povre < L pauper; 6) averse < L avcrsnn; 7) climate < (O)F climat or L cllma, cllmat < Gr klima, klfmtM| 8) mania < ME < L mania < Gr mania; 9) hurricane < Sp huracrtlij 10) risk < F risque < It risco; U)fate < It fato < L fatum; 12) damp 4 (O)F damner, < L damnare; 13) obese < L obesus; 14) tender • () tender < L tener; 15) gnosis < Gr gnosis; 16) alarm < ME < OF alarme< It allarme.

7. Write down in the space provided a letter, which indicates the language from which the given words were borrowed. In case of difficulty consult the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

a — Celtic, b — Latin, c — Scandinavian, d — French, e — Greek, f — Russian, g — Spanish, h — Italian , i — German

Cup, to cast, anemia, samovar, Avon, kindergarten, banana, law, government, violin, halt, fellow, London, promenade, umbrella, criterion, armada, Exe, cosmonaut, anger, motto, power, candle, mosquito, waltz, hormone, plant, verst, to take, nickel, wall, eponym, Kilbride, guerilla, poodle, lieutenant, tornado, the Downs, kvass, bandit, interior, restaurant, tundra, gondola, anamnesis.

8. Explain the etymology of the following words.

Sputnik, kindergarten, opera, piano, potato, tomato, droshky, czar, violin, coffee, cocoa, colonel, alarm, cargo, blitzkrieg, steppe, komsomol, banana, balalaika.

9. Think of 10-15 examples of Russian borrowings in English and English borrowings in Russian.

10 .Explain the etymology of the following words. Write them out in the three columns:

1. fully assimilated words;

2. partially assimilated words;

c) unassimilated words. Explain the reasons for your choice in each case.

Pen, hors d’oeuvre, ballet, beet, butter, skin, take, cup, police, distance, monk, garage, phenomenon, wine, large, justice, lesson, criterion, nice, coup d’etat, sequence, gay port, river, loose, autumn, low, uncle, law, convenient, lunar, experiment, skirt, bishop, regime, eau-de-Cologne.

11. State the origin of the following etymological doublets. Compare their meanings and explain why they are called “etymological doublets”.

1. captain – chieftain, canal – channel, cart – chart;

2. shirt – skirt, shriek – screech, shrew – screw;

3. goal – jail, corpse – corps, travel – travail;

4. shadow – shade, off – of, dike – ditch.

12. a) State the origin of the following doublets.

b) Comment on the different formation of the doublets and on the difference in the meaning, if any.

1. abbreviate – abridge 4 balm – balsam

cavalry – chivalry emerald - smaragdus

captain – chieftain hospital – hostel, hotel

cart – chart gaol - jail

fragile – frail major - mayor

2 artist – artist pauper - poor

corpus – corpse senior – sir

liquor – liqueur canal - channel

rout – route legal - loyal

suit – suite 5 skirt – shirt

salon – saloon screw – shrew

3 shade – shadow screech - shriek

of – off nay – no

white – wight 6 ward - guard

dike – ditch wage - gage

13 Classify the following borrowings according to the sphere of human activity they represent. What type of borrowings are they?

Television, progress, football, grapefruit, drama, philosophy, rugby, sputnik, tragedy, coca-cola, biology, medicine, atom, primadonna, ballet, cricket, hokey, chocolate, communism, democracy.

14 State the etymology of the given words. Write them out in three columns: a) completely assimilated borrowings; b) partially assimilated borrowings; c) unassimilated borrowings or barbarisms.

Torchere, wall, maharani, a la mode, datum, perestroika, gate, tet a-tet, want, chalet, ad hoc, sheikh, parlando, nucleus, parquet, matter, bagel, a la carte, kettle, chauffeur, formula, pari-mutuel, shaman, finish, corps, alcazar, commedia dell'arte, money, souvenir, bacillus, pas de deux, ill, spahi, stratum, nota bene, spaghetti, ménage a trios, odd, memoir, parenthesis, hibakusha, padrona, incognito, thesis, coup de maitre, tzatziki, sabotage, ad libitum, stimulus, Soyuz, alamcdn, street, boulevard, criterion, deja vu, torero, yin, Ubermenseh, macaroni, tzigane, sensu lato, hypothesis, bagh, pousada, Shiatsu, shapka.

15 Transcribe the following borrowings not completely assimilated graphically or phonetically. Pay special attention to their spelling tin pronunciation.

Torchere, chalet, parquet, chauffeur, corps, souvenir, spaghetti, memoir, incognito, sabotage, boulevard, macaroni.

16 Give the plural form of the nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek sanatorium — sanatoria;

Datum, nucleus, formula, bacillus, stratum, parentheiltylJl stimulus, criterion, hypothesis.

17. Read the following jokes. Identify examples of international words.

1. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. 2. A psychologist is man who watches everybody else when a beautiful girl enters the room. 3. An expert is a man who knows a great deal about very little; and who goes on knowing more and more about less and less until finally he knows practically everything about nothing; whereas a reviewer is a man who knows very little about a great deal and keeps on knowing less and less about more and more until finally he knows practically nothing about everything.

18. State the origin of the following translation-loans. Give more examples.

Five-year plan, wonder child, masterpiece, first dancer, collective farm, fellow traveller.

19 What is the difference between the words in the following pairs? Analyze the examples and prove that the etymological and stylistic characteristics of words are closely interrelated.

Motherly – maternal, fatherly – paternal, childish – infantile, daughterly – filial, womanly – feminine, brotherly – fraternal, to begin – to commence, to wish – to desire, to love – to adore, to build – to construct, to go on – to proceed, to take part in – to participate.

20. Group the following words according to their origin:

Caftan, lilac, canoe, operetta, machine, vanilla, waltz, skipper, guerilla, verst, algebra, caravan, jungle, law, mule, chocolate, telephone, dollar, khaki, artet, wigwam, mazurka, pagoda, cannibal, kangaroo, taboo, chimpanzee, maize, gorilla, tobacco, verandah, beryl, chauffeur, beauty, umbrella, squaw, devil, school, nun, anchor.

21 From the following sentences, pick out all special terms which have become international and state which of them are formed from Latin or Greek roots.

1. Many of the things that we knew later were not then in existence - the telegraph, telephone, express company, ocean steamer, city delivery of mails. 2. The object of hydropulpers is to slush sheets of wood pulp and waste paper in a continuous operation and render them fit to pass through refiners with the use of minimum amounts of power. 3. The purity of cotton cellulose accounts for its use in manufacture of gun cotton for high explosive. 4. One atom of sulphur will combine with two atoms of hydrogen or with one atom of bivalent metal, forming sulphides. 5. Wood is a heterogeneous substance fibrous in structure and made up of very small cells. 6. Bearings of the ball or roller type may be use in most of high-speed fans, or other machinery where it is desirable to prevent damage from oil leakage. 7. Somehow, Frank realized that his father was too honest, too cautious, but when he grew up, he told himself, he was going to be a broker, or financier, or a banker, and do some of these things. 8. He diagnosed the man’s disease but refused on ground of medical etiquette to disclose its nature.

22. Match the translation borrowings on the left with the original phrases/ words on the right. State the origin of the latter.

Model 11 —h {Latin)

1the moment of truth

2 word-combination

3 below one's dignity

4 first dancer

5 that goes without saying

6 fellow-traveller

7 wonder child

8 vicious circle

9 famous case

10. collective farm

11.under consideration

a) infra dignitatem

b) Wunderkind

c)попутчик

d) el momento de la verdad

e) circulus vitiosus

f) KOJIX03

g) словосочетание

h) sub judice

i) cela va sans dire

j) cause celebre

k) prima-ballerina

23.Write out international words from the given sentences.

MODEL This music is by Beethoven. The word music is an international word.

1. He gave a false address to the police. 2. I've seen many good films lately. 3 Do you take sugar in your coffee? 4. Do you play tennis? 5. Arrange the words in alphabetical order. 6. Charlotte Bronte wrote under pseudonym of Currer Bell. 7. He worked in radio for nearly 40 years. 8. Many people feel that their interests are not represented by mainstream politics. 9. We've visited the open-air theatre in London's Regents Park. 10. I'm worried about my son's lack of progress in English. 11. The government has promised to introduce reforms of the tax system. 12. He went on to study medicine at Edinburgh University.

24 Give the false cognates ('false friends') in the Russian language to the given English words. State the difference in their meanings.

Model: argument The false cognate of the word argument is the Russian word apгумент. The word argument means 'an angry disagreement between people', whereas the word аргумент has the meaning 'reasoning'.

Paragraph, baton, order, to reclaim, delicate, intelligent, revision, artist, sympathetic, capital, fabric, ambitious, concourse, romance, to pretend, command.

The meaning

1. THE MEANING OF THE WORD. DEFINITIONS OF MEANING

2. THE MEANING OF THE WORD, TYPES, COMPONENTS

3. WORD MEANING AND MOTIVATION

4. CAUSES, NATURE AND RESULTS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE

5. POLYSEMY

6. TYPES OF CONTEXT

7. SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY

8. SYNONYMS

9. ANTONYMS

10. HOMONYMS

11.EXERCISES

SEMASIOLOGY

The meaning of the word

1. The brunch of lexicology, which is devoted to the study of meaning, is known as Semasiology.

Semasiology (from Gr. semasia - "signification")

The main objects of semasiological study are as follows: semantic development of words, its causes and classification, relevant distinctive features and types of lexical meaning, polysemy and semantic structure of word, semantic groupings and connections in the vocabulary system, i.e. synonyms, antonyms, etc.

What is meaning? The definition of lexical meaning has been attempted more than once in accordance with the main principles of different linguistic schools.

Every word has two aspects: the outer aspect (its sound form) and the inner aspect (its meaning). Sound and meaning do not always constitute a constant unit even in the same language. E.g. the word «temple» may denote «a part of a human head» and «a large church» in such cases we have homonyms. One and the same word in different syntactical relations can develop different meanings, e.g. the verb «treat» in sentences:

a) He treated my words as a joke.

b) The book treats of poetry.

c) They treated me to sweets.

d) He treats his son cruelly.

In all these sentences the verb «treat» has different meanings and we can speak about polysemy.

On the other hand, one and the same meaning can be expressed by different sound forms, e.g. «pilot», and «airman», «horror» and «terror». In such cases we have synonyms.

Both the meaning and the sound can develop in the course of time independently.

2.Meaning is one of the most controversial terms in the theory of language. There are 3 main categories of definitions of meaning:

1. the referential or analytical definitions, which formulate the essence of meaning as the interdependence between words and things or concepts they denote;

2. the functional or contextual definitions , which study the functions of a word in speech. This approach is (sometimes described as contextual) based on the analysis of various contexts.

3. operational or information-oriented definitions of meaning.

2.1 Referential

The essential feature of the first approach is that it distinguishes between the three components, closely connected with meaning:

1) the sound form of the linguistic sign (sign or symbol);

2) the concept underlying this sound form (meaning; thought or reference).concept is a category of human cognition, the thought of an object that singles outfits essential features.

3) the actual referent, i.e. the part or the aspect of reality to which the linguistic sign refers (thing meant).

The best known referential model of meaning is so-called "basic triangle", which may be represent in a simplified form:

concept

Sound form ----------------------referent

dove

The sonnd-fbrm of the linguistic sign [dAV] is connected with our concept of the bird which it denotes and through it with the referent i.e. the actual bird. The diagram implies that meaning is in a way a correlation between the sound-form of a word, the underlying concept

and the concrete object it denotes. Hence, the questions arise: in what way does meaning correlate with each element of the triangle and in what relation does meaning stand to each of them?

1. It is easily observed that the sound-form of the word is not identical with its meaning. There is no inherent connection between the sound cluster [d^v] and the meaning of the word dove. The connection is conventional and arbitrary. This can be easily proved by comparing the sound-forms of different languages conveying one and the same meaning: English [d^v] and Russian [golub']. The words have different sound-forms but express the same meaning.

2. When we examine a word we see that its meaning though closely connected with the underlying concept or concepts is not identical with it or with them. Concept is a category of human cognition (категория мышления). Concept is the thought of an object that single out its essential features. Concepts are the results of abstraction and generalization. Thus they are almost the same for the whole of humanity in on and the same period of its historical development. The meanings of words are are different in different languages

As we can see from the diagram, the sound form of the linguistic sign, for instance [d^v] is connected with our concept of a small bird which it denotes, and though it with the referent, i.e. the actual thing. The common feature of the referential approach is the implication that meaning in some form or other connected with referent.

These definitions are usually criticized on the ground that :

1. they cannot be applied to sentences

2. they cannot account for certain semantic additions emerging in the process of communication

3. they fail to account for the fact that one word may denote different objects and phenomena(polysemy) while one and the same object may be denote by different words(synonymy)