IV. Lexicology

4.1. Etymological survey of the english vocabulary

The outline of the problem discussed

1. The terminological distinction between native words and borrowings.

2. The main characteristics of words of native origin.

3. The sources of borrowing into the English vocabulary.

4. The international element in the English vocabulary.

The most characteristic feature of English is usually said to be its mixed

character. Many linguists consider foreign influence, especially that of French, to be

the most important factor in the history of English.

To comprehend the nature of the English vocabulary and its historical

development it is necessary to examine the etymology of its different layers, the

historical causes of their appearance, their volume and role and the comparative

importance of native and borrowed elements in replenishing the English vocabulary.

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In linguistic literature the term native is conventionally used to denote words

of Anglo-Saxon origin brought to the British Isles from the continent in the 5th

century by the Germanic tribes – the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes.

The term borrowing is used in linguistics to denote the process of adopting

words from other languages and also the result of this process, the language material

itself. Not only words, but also word-building affixes were borrowed into English (as

is the case with –able, -ment, -ity, etc.). It must here be mentioned that some wordgroups,

too, were borrowed in their foreign form (e.g. coup d’etat, vis-a-vis). It has

been approximately estimated that more than 60% of the English vocabulary are

borrowings and about 40% are words native in origin.

When speaking about the role of the native element in the English language we

must admit that almost all words of Anglo-Saxon origin belong to very important

semantic groups. They include most of the auxiliary and modal verbs (shall, will,

should, would, must, can, may, etc.), pronouns (I, you, he, my, your, his, who, whose,

etc.), prepositions (in, out, on, under, etc.), numerals (one, two, three, four, etc.) and

conjunctions (and, but, till, as, etc.). Notional words of Anglo-Saxon origin include

such groups as words denoting parts of the body (head, hand, arm, back, etc.),

members of the family and closest relatives (father, mother, brother, son, wife),

natural phenomena and planets (snow, rain, wind, frost, sun, moon, star, etc.),

animals (horse, cow, sheep, cat), qualities and properties (old, young, cold, hot,

heavy, light, dark, white, long), common actions (do, make, go, come, see, hear, eat,

etc.), etc.

Most words of native origin possess large clusters of derived and compound

words in the present-day language, e.g. the word wood was the basis for the

formation of the following words: wooden, woody, wooded, woodcraft, woodcutter,

woodwork and many others.

It is true that the English vocabulary, which is one of the most extensive

amongst the world's languages 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.

In order to have a better understanding of the problem, it will be necessary to

go through a brief survey of certain historical facts, relating to different epochs.

The first century B. C. Most of the territory now known to us as Europe is

occupied by the Roman Empire. Among the inhabitants of the continent are

Germanic tribes, "barbarians" as the Romans call them. They are primitive cattlebreeders

and know almost nothing about land cultivation. Their tribal languages

contain only Indo-European and Germanic elements.

Now comes an event which brings an important change. After a number of

wars between the Germanic tribes and the Romans these two opposing peoples come

into peaceful contact. Trade is carried on, and the Germanic people gain knowledge

of new and useful things. The first among them are new things to eat. To the Romans

the Germanic tribes owe the knowledge of some new fruits and vegetables of which

they had no idea before, and the Latin names of these fruits and vegetables enter their

vocabularies reflecting this new knowledge: cherry (Lat. Cerasum), pear (Lat.

pirum), plum (Lat. Prunus), pea (Lat. pisum), beet (Lat. beta), pepper (Lat. piper). It

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is interesting to note that the word plant is also a Latin borrowing of this period (Lat.

planta).

Here are some more examples of Latin borrowings of this period: cup (Lat.

cuppa), kitchen (Lat. coquina), mill (Lat. molina), port (Lat. portus), wine (Lat.

vinum).

The fifth century A. D. Several of the Germanic tribes (the most numerous

amongst them being the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes) migrated across the sea

now known as the English Channel to the British Isles. There they were confronted

by the Celts, the original inhabitants of the Isles, the military-minded Teutons

gradually yielded most of their territory. Through their numerous contacts with the

defeated Celts, the conquerors got to know and assimilated a number of Celtic words

(Mod. E. bald, down, glen, druid, bard, cradle).Especially numerous among the

Celtic borrowings were place names, names of rivers, hills, etc. The Germanic tribes

occupied the land, but the names of many parts and features of their territory

remained Celtic. For instance, the names of the rivers Avon, Exe, Esk, Usk, Ux

originate from Celtic words meaning "river" and "water".

Ironically, even the name of the English capital originates from Celtic Llyn +

dun in which Ilyn is another Celtic word for "river" and dun stands for "a fortified

hill", the meaning of the whole being "fortress on the hill over the river".

Some Latin words entered the Anglo-Saxon languages through Celtic, among

them such widely-used words as street (Lat. strata via) and wall (Lat. vallum).

The seventh century A. D. This century was significant for the

christianization of England. Latin was the official language of the Christian church,

and consequently the spread of Christianity was accompanied by a new period of

Latin borrowings. These no longer came from spoken Latin as they did eight

centuries earlier, but from church Latin. Also, these new Latin borrowings were very

different in meaning from the earlier ones. They mostly indicated persons, objects

and ideas associated with church and religious rituals. E. g. priest (Lat. presbyter),

bishop (Lat. episcopus), monk (Lat. monachus), nun (Lat. nonna), candle (Lat.

candela).

Educational terms were also Latin borrowings, for the first schools in England

were church schools, and the first teachers-priests and monks. So, the very word

school is a Latin borrowing (Lat. schola, of Greek origin) and so are such words as

scholar (Lat. scholar(-is) and magister (Lat. magister).

From the end of the 8th c. to the middle of the 11th c. England underwent

several Scandinavian invasions which inevitably left their trace on English

vocabulary. Here are some examples of early Scandinavian borrowings: call, v., take,

v., cast, v., die, v., law, n., husband, n. (<Sc. hus + bondi, i. e. "inhabitant of the

house"), window n. (<Sc. vindauga, i.e. "the eye of the wind"), adj., loose, adj., low,

adj., weak, adj.

Some of the words of this group are easily recognizable as Scandinavian

borrowings by the initial sk- combination. E. g. sky, skill, skin, ski, skirt.

1066. With the famous Battle of Hastings, when the English were defeated by

the Normans under William the Conqueror, we come to the eventful epoch of the

Norman Conquest. The epoch can well be called eventful not only in national, social,

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political and human terms, but also in linguistic terms. England became a bi-lingual

country, and the impact on the English vocabulary made over this two-hundred-years

period is immense: French words from the Norman dialect penetrated every aspect of

social life. Here is a very brief list of examples of Norman French borrowings:

administrative words: state, government, parliament, council, power;

legal terms: court, judge, justice, crime, prison;

military terms: army, war, soldier, officer, battle, enemy;

educational terms: pupil, lesson, library, science, pen, pencil.

Everyday life was not unaffected by the powerful influence of French words.

Numerous terms of everyday life were also borrowed from French in this period: e. g.

table, plate, saucer, dinner, supper, river, autumn, uncle, etc.

The Renaissance Period. In England, as in all European countries, this period

was marked by significant developments in science, art and culture and, also, by a

revival of interest in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome and their

languages. Hence, there occurred a considerable number of Latin and Greek

borrowings. In contrast to the earliest Latin borrowings (1st c. B. C.), the Renaissance

ones were rarely concrete names. They were mostly abstract words (e. g. major,

minor, filial, moderate, intelligent, permanent, to elect, to create). There were

naturally numerous scientific and artistic terms (datum, status, phenomenon,

philosophy, method, music). Phenomenon, philosophy, method, music, etc. were

borrowed into English from Latin and had earlier come into Latin from Greek. The

same is true of Greek Renaissance borrowings (e. g. atom, cycle, ethics, esthete).

The Renaissance was a period of extensive cultural contacts between the major

European states. Therefore, it was only natural that new words also entered the

English vocabulary from other European languages. The most significant once more

were French borrowings. This time they came from the Parisian dialect of French and

are known as Parisian borrowings. Examples: regime, routine, police, machine,

ballet, matinee, scene, technique, bourgeois, etc.

Italian also contributed a considerable number of words to English, e. g. piano,

violin, opera, alarm, colonel.

There are certain structural features which enable us to identify some words as

borrowings and even to determine the source language. We have already established

that the initial sk usually indicates Scandinavian origin. You can also recognize words

of Latin and French origin by certain suffixes or prefixes; e. g. Latin affixes: -ion, -

tion, -ate, -ute , -ct, -d(e), dis-, -able, -ate, -ant, -ent, -or, -al, -ar in such words as

opinion, union, relation, revolution, appreciate, congratulate, attribute, contribute, ,

act, collect, applaud, divide, disable, disagree, detestable, curable, accurate,

desperate, arrogant, constant, absent, convenient, major, minor, cordial, familiar;

French affixes –ance, -ewe, -ment, -age, -ess, -ous, en- in such words as arrogance,

intelligence, appointment, development, courage, marriage, tigress, actress, curious,

dangerous, enable, enslaver.

Borrowings enter the language in two ways: through oral speech (by

immediate contact between the peoples) and through written speech (by indirect

contact through books, etc.).

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Oral borrowing took place chiefly in the early periods of history, whereas in

recent times written borrowing gained importance. Words borrowed orally (e.g. L.

inch, mill, street) are usually short and they undergo more changes in the act of

adoption. Written borrowings (e. g. Fr. communiqué, belles-lettres, naїveté) preserve

their spelling; they are often rather long and their assimilation is a long and laborious

process.

Modern scholars estimate the percentage of borrowed words in the English

vocabulary at 65-70 per cent which is an exceptionally high figure. On a straight

vocabulary count, considering the high percentage of borrowed words, one would

have to classify English as a language of international origin or, at least a Romance

one (as French and Latin words obviously prevail). But here another factor comes

into play, the relative frequency of occurrence of words, and it is under this heading

that the native Anglo-Saxon heritage comes into its own. The native element in

English comprises a large number of high-frequency words like articles, prepositions,

pronouns, conjunctions, auxiliaries and, also, words denoting everyday objects and

ideas (e.g. house, child, water, go, come, eat, good, bad, etc.).

Furthermore, the grammatical structure is essentially Germanic having

remained unaffected by foreign influence.

The native element representing the original stock of the English vocabulary

consists of three groups: 1) Indo-European element; 2) Germanic element; 3) the

English element proper. The words of the 3d group appeared in the English

vocabulary in the 5th c. or later, that is, after the Germanic tribes migrated to the

British Isles. As to the Indo-European and Germanic groups, they are so old that they

cannot be dated. It was mentioned above that the tribal languages of the Angles, the

Saxons, the Jutes, by the time of their migration, contained only words of Indo-

European and Germanic roots plus a certain number of the earliest Latin borrowings.

By the Indo-European element are meant words of roots common to all or

most languages of the Indo-European group. English words of this group denote

elementary notions without which no human communication would be possible:

I. Family relations: father, mother, brother, son, daughter.

II. Parts of the human body: foot (cf. R. пядь), nose, lip, heart.

III. Animals: cow, swine, goose.

IV. Plants: tree, birch, corn.

V. Times of day: day, night.

VI. Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star.

VII. Numerous adjectives: red, new, glad, sad.

VIII. The numerals from one to a hundred.

IX. Pronouns - personal (except they which is a Scandinavian borrowing);

demonstrative.

X. Numerous verbs: be, stand, sit, eat, know.

The Germanic element represents words of roots common to all or most

Germanic languages. Some of the main groups of Germanic words are the same as in

the Indo-European element.

I. Parts of the human body: head, hand, arm, finger, bone.

II. Animals: bear, fox, calf.

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III. Plants: oak, fir, grass.

IV. Natural phenomena: rain, frost.

V. Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer.

VI. Landscape features: sea, land.

VII. Human dwellings and furniture: house, room, bench.

VIII. Sea-going vessels: boat, ship.

IX. Adjectives: green, blue, grey, white, small, thick, high, old, good.

X. Verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say, answer, make, give, drink.

Most developed modern languages including English have a common

international fund of words which comprises scientific, technical and socialpolitical

terminology. Words making up the fund of international terminology are

mostly Latin or Greek by origin, such as:

Greek: democracy, poem, poet, philosophy, logarithm, mathematics,

meteorology, cosmography, geography, biology, zoology, stenography, telegraph,

electron, analysis, paralysis, asphalt, autonomy, aMnEsty, strategy, stadium,

aerodrome, rheumatism, sclerosis, pedagogy, drama, lyric, theatre, tragedy and

others.

Latin: Numerous medical terms, as: angina, tuberculosis, furuncle, etc.; quite

a number of juridical words: advocate, appeal, civil, jurist, justice, etc.; socialeconomic

and political vocabulary: communism, proletariat, constitution, republic,

socialism, class, dictatorship, agitation, etc.; school terminology: auditorium, dean,

discipline, institute, rector, student, etc.

Much of the modern scientific vocabulary is international in character.

Among international words we find a number of newly coined compounds

made from Latin and Greek roots by means of derivation and composition, e. g.

telephone, kilometre, microscope, locomotive, etc.

The Russian element in the international fund of words is constantly

increasing. Words borrowed from Russian have spread all over the world and have

international currency, e.g.: soviet, Bolshevik, kolkhoz, komsomol, sputnik,

perestrojka, glasnost’, etc.