lexicology / 28-29

two languages - Anglo-Saxon and Norman-French - coexisted without mingling; French was the language of the government and the aristocracy while English was reduced almost to the condition of a peasant's dialect.

The early borrowings from French were simple words (usually rather short). They were thoroughly naturalized in English and made to conform to the rules of English pronunciation.

The Normans formed the upper classes of the English society; consequently, many words referring to government and administration arc French.

e.g. authority, crown, exchequer, govern, minister, sovereign, state Many French words were introduced along with the development of feudalism in England.

e.g. feudal, liege, vassal

The names of ranks were also borrowed from French, e.g. duke, duchess, marquis, prince, peer, viscount, baron The management of military matters was in the hands of the conquerors, so many military terms were adopted from French.

e.g. army, battle, combat, defence, guard, peace, retreat, siege Words that denote military ranks arc among them, e.g. captain, lieutenant, sergeant

Some words, which arc now used very extensively outside the military domain, were at first purely military terms.

e.g. danger, escape, espy (and its doublet spy)

The French dominance is particularly felt in the vocabulary of law. Most of the terms pertaining to law are of French origin.

e.g. accuse, attorney, court, crime, judge, jury, plead, plaintiff

Some words which originally used to be juridical terms gained a more general use and now belong to the vocabulary of everyday life.

e.g. case, culpable, culprit, false, innocent, prove

Just like justice, ecclesiastical matters were also chiefly under the control of the higher classes, consequently, we find many words of French origin connected with the church.

e.g. abbey, altar, clergy, friar, parish, pray, preach, religion, sermon

Many purely ecclesiastical words now belong to the common language.

e.g. blame, order, rule, tempt

As the clergy were teachers of morality as well as religion they introduced the whole gamut of words pertaining to moral ideas.

e.g. charity, chaste, conscience, discipline, mercy

French loans define different notions in the spheres of fashion and

adornment.

e.g. coat, embroidery, frock, lace, kerchief, petticoat, pleat, plume

A very large number of words that make life enjoyable arc of French origin.

e.g. comfort, joy, leisure, luxury, pleasure

French loans denote notions connected with life and activity of knights.

e.g. conduct, courtesy, honest, honour, pavilion, tournament

Numerous words connected with cookery arc French borrowings.

e.g. appetite, feast, pastry, sauce, sausage, sugar, supper, toast

Here we also find the names of fish (oyster, porpoise, salmon, sardine), names of meat (bacon, beef, loin, mutton, pork, sausage, veal, venison), words denoting deserts and fruits (almonds, cherry, confection, fig, grape, oranges, pastry, tart).

f) German borrowings

Most German borrowings are terms. The oldest and constant influence of German language is in the sphere of mineralogy and geology. We find German loans among the names of metals and minerals.

e.g. bismuth, cobalt, nickel, quartz, shale, zink

Among German borrowings we also find words of everyday use.

e.g. kindergarten, poodle, plunder, rucksack, swindler, schnapps, schnitzel, sauerkraut, waltz

Many German borrowings denote concepts of philosophy, political economy, medicine and psychoanalysis,

e.g. determinism, intuition, transcendental, dialectics, homeopathy, inferiority complex

The loan words, which entered English vocabulary in World War 11, usually denote political and military notions characterizing the bloody aggressive regime of Hitler.

e.g. Wehrmacht, blitzkrieg, Siegfried line. Third Reich, Gestapo, nazi, SS-man, hitlerite, blackshirt, furer, gas chamber

There are quite a number of translation loans from German in the domain of philosophy and scientific socialism.

e.g. surplus value, thing-in-itself, chain-smoker, masterpiece, swan song, bolt from the blue, place in the sun

Modern German borrowings are usually non-assimilated words which preserve morphological, phonetical and graphic peculiarities of the original language.

e.g. Gelandersprung - a jump over an obstacle in skiing.