Lecture 3 The Etymology of English Words. Borrowings.

Plan:

1. English vocabulary from the point of its origin

2. Classification of borrowings in the English language

3. Assimilation

4. Criteria of Borrowings

5. International words, translation-loans, etymological doublets

Etymology - the branch of lexicology that studies the origin of words and their genetic ties with words in the same language and other language.

English vocabulary consists of two layers - the native stock of words and the borrowed stock of words.

Native stock of words comprise the historical basis of the English language and form 30 per cent of the total number of all English words, such words are: articles, conjunctions (and, if, though), auxiliary verbs (do, did), pronouns (I, you, we) and words of everyday importance.

Borrowings enter the language 2 ways through oral communication and written speech.

Oral borrowings took place in early periods of history: street, mill, inch. These words are short and undergo a lot of changes in their process of adaption.

Written borrowings are usually long and they preserve the peculiarities of the original language.

The English language contains an immense number of words of foreign origin. Explanations for this should be sought in the history of the language which is closely connected with the history of the nation speaking the language. The native words arc further subdivided into those of the Indo-European stock, those of Germanic origin and those of the English proper origin

The Etymological Structure of English Vocabulary

The native element	The borrowed element
1. I Indo-European	I. Celtic (5th — 6th c. A.D.)
clement
11. Germanic clement	II Latin
	lsl group: 1st c B C
	2nd group 7th c A D
	3rd group: the Renaissance
	period
III English Proper	HI Scandinavian (8th — 11th
element (no earlier	c A.D.)
than 5th c A D.)	IV French
	1 Norman borrowings: 11 th
	— 13th c A D
	2 Parisian borrowings
	(Renaissance)
	V Greek (Renaissance)
	VI. Italian (Renaissance and
	later)
	VII. Spanish (Renaissance
	and later)
	VIII German
	IX Indian
	X Russian And some other
	groups