5. The etymology of english words II

(1) nation + nation = contacts => borrowings

w ars foreign words are imposed upon the

invasions conquered nation (oppressed nation rejects

conquests and condemns the language of the oppressor)

t rade peaceful interchange

cultural relations ( more favourable for stimulating the borrowing process)

(2) 2 similar events – different linguistic consequences

Norman Conquest → England Mongol-Tartar Yoke → Russia

long period of cruel oppression

level of development of the level of development of the

nation and the language of nation and the language of

the invaders is superior to the invaded is superior to

those of the invaded those of the invaders

↓ ↓

influence on the English influence on the Russian

language is significant language is insignificant

↓

immense number of French words

forced their way into English

vocabulary, but English language

preserved its essential structure

& vastly enriched its expressive

resources with the new borrowings

( 3) Reasons for borrowing

to fill a gap in vocabulary to represent the same

Latin → Saxon concept in some new aspect

butter, plum, beet (new shade of meaning or

Spanish → English different emotional colouring)

potato, tomato enlarges groups of synonyms &

enrich the expressive resources

of the vocabulary

Latin cordial → native friendly

admire → like

French adore → love

desire → wish

(4) "Do words when they migrate from one language into another behave as people do under similar circumstances? Do they remain alien in appearance, or do they take out citizenship papers?" (Maria Pei)

(5) Most borrowings adjust themselves to their new environment and get adapted to the norms of the recipient language by undergoing certain changes → foreign features are erased → they

are assimilated

foreign origin becomes unrecognizable foreign origin is still recognizable

(dinner, cat, take, cup) (distance,development – Fr. Suffixes

skin,sky - Scandinavian initial sk

police,regime – Fr. stress on the lastsyllable)

( 6)main areas borrowings are adjusted in the new language system

the phonetic the grammatical the semantic

Norman French complete change of the adjustment to the

borrowing stable, former paradigm of the system of meanings of

plate, courage, chivalry borrowed word the vocabulary

(no traces of French origin) (noun ← new system of

Parisian borrowings regime, declension

valise, matinee, cafe, ballet verb ← new system of

(still sound French, phonetic conjugation)

adaptation is not completed) earlier Lat. borrowings -

cup, plum, street, wall

(Amer.) - fully adopted

Renaissance borrowings

datum(pl. data)

phenomenon(pl. phenomena)

criterion(pl. criteria)

(7) “blind borrowings” – borrowing without any obvious reason

▼

“accidental” borrowings

↓ ↓

soon rejected & forgotten take root by the process of

semantic adaptation

1) Fr. large → Eng. = wide → "big in size"

1) horizontal dimensions

2) = big (any object)

in frequency&meaning

"noble of birth"

2) Fr. gay (adj.) → Eng. "bright, shining"

↓ "multi-coloured"

"joyful, high-spirited" = merry

3) Fr. nice → Eng. “silly” → “attractive”

(8) If the word is not needed in the vocabulary of a recipient language in its borrowed meaning, the meaning changes to fill the gap in another semantic group.

(9) Often words are borrowed by several languages = international words:

1) names of sciences (philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, linguistics, lexicology) (Mostly from Latin & Greek)

2) terms of art (music, theatre, drama, tragedy, comedy, artist, primadonna)

3) political terms (politics, policy, evolution, progress, democracy, communism, anti-militarism)

4) technological terms (atomic, antibiotic, radio, television, sputnik (Russian borrowing = international word (“man-made satellite”) since 1961, after the first space flight by Yury Gagarin))

5) fruits and foodstuffs imported from exotic countries (coffee, cocoa, chocolate, coca-cola, banana, mango, avocado, grapefruit)

English → other languages

1) sports terms (football, volley-ball, baseball, hockey, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf)

(10) International words are mainly borrowings

E . son, are not represent the Indo-Euroреаngroup of the

Germ. Sohn, international native element and are cognates (=words of the

R. сын words same etymological root, and not borrowings)

(11) shir tskirt

↓ ↓

native sk- =>Skandinavian

same etymological root

different phonemic shape

different meaning, but both = articles of clothing

↓

etymological doublets

( 12) Words originating from the same etymological source, but differing in phonemic shape and in meaning are calledetymological doublets.

nativeword+borrowed word borrowed word+borrowed word

(shirt, n. (Eng.) – skirt, n (Scand.); ↑ ↑

shrew, n. (Eng.) — screw, n. (Scand.).) lang 1 lang 2

same root

(senior(Lat.) — sir (Fr.)

shortened word + full word canal (Lat.) — channel (Fr.)

history— story, fantasy — fancy captain (Lat.) — chieftan(Fr.)

fanatic— fan, defence — fence

courtesy— curtsy, shadow — shade

borrowedfron the language in different periods

corpse[ko:ps] (Norm. Fr.) — corps [ko:] (Par. Fr.)

travel(Norm. Fr.) — travail (Par. Fr.)

hospital(Lat.) — hostel (Norm. Fr.) — hotel (Par. Fr.)

cavalry(Norm. Fr.) — chivalry (Par. Fr.)

gaol(Norm. Fr.) — jail (Par. Fr.)

(13) Etymological triplets= groups of three words of common root) occur rarer, but here are at least two examples: to capture (Lat.) — to catch (Norm. Fr.) — to chase (Par. Fr.).

(14) loan word = borrowed word

translation loans - are not taken into the vocabulary of another language in the same phonemic shape, but undergo the process of translation, they are only compound words (=words of two or more stems), each stem being translated separately (masterpiece (from Germ. Meisterstück), wonder child (from Germ. Wunderkind), first dancer (from Ital. prima-ballerina), collective farm (from R. колхоз), five-year plan (from R. пятилетка); Russian колхозwas borrowed twice, by way of translation-loan (collective farm) and by way of direct borrowing (kolkhoz); German Blitzkrieg was also borrowed into English in two different forms: the translation-loan lightning-war and the direct borrowings blitzkrieg and blitz)

(15) basic vocabulary = native words + borrowings (Lat., Fr.)

(16) short common words also can be borrowings despite their native appearance & common use (very, air, hour, cry, oil, cat, pay, box, face, poor, dress)

(17) foreign element dominates the native

↓ ↓

learned words terminology

(18) formal vs. informal = borrowed vs. native

↓

esp. slang & dialect

(19) "The French word is usually more formal, more refined, and has a less strong hold on the emotional side of life." (O. Jespersen)

Eng. Fr.

to begin to commence

to wish to desire

happiness felicity

(20) Eng. Lat.

motherly maternal

(Motherly love seems warmer) (maternal feelings sounds dutiful but cold)

fatherly paternal

childish infantile

(with all the wonder and vivid (quite dry: infantile diseases,

poetry of the earliest human age: infantile mind implies criticism)

childish games, childish charm)

daughterly filial

(21) sunny— solar ≠ synonyms, but both pertain to the sun

fine day can be sunny, but can’t be solar

↑

used in highly formal terminological senses (solar energy)

the same is true about: handy — manual,

toothy — dental

(atoothy grin) (term again),

nosy — nasal

(a nosy person) (nasal sounds, voice)