The etymology of english words (Этимология английских слов)
ЕФЕРАТ
The Etymology of English
Words
contents
Survey of certain historical facts
Structural elements of borrowings
Why Are Words
Borrowed?
Do Borrowed Words Change or
do They Remain the Same?
International Words
Etymological
Doublets
Translation-Loans
Are Etymological and Stylistic
Characteristics of Words Interrelated?
Survey of certain historical facts
It is true that English
vocabulary, which is one of the most extensive among 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.
The first
century B. C.
Most of the territory now known to us as Europe was occupied by the
Roman Empire. Among the inhabitants of the Europe are Germanic
tribes. Theirs stage of development was rather primitive,
especially if compared with the high civilization of Rome. They
are primitive cattle-breeders
and know almost nothing about land cultivation. Their tribal
languages contain only
Indo-European and Germanic elements.
Due
to Roman invasion Germanic tribes had to come into contact with
Romans1.
Romans built roads, bridges, military camps.
Trade is carried on, and the Germanic people gain knowledge of
new and useful things. The first among them are new things to eat. It
has been mentioned that Germanic cattle-breeding was on a primitive
scale. Its only products known to the Germanic tribes were meat
and milk. It is from the Romans that they learn how to make butter
and cheese and, as there are naturally no words
for these foodstuffs in their tribal languages, they had to use the
Latin
words
to name them (Lat. “butyrum”, “caseus”). It
is also to the Romans that 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 entered their
vocabularies: “cherry” (Lat. “cerasum”),
“pear” (Lat. “pirum”), “plum”
(Lat. “prunus”), “pea” (Lat. “pisum”),
“beet” (Lat. “beta”), “pepper”
(Lat. “piper”).
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 Germanic tribal languages
gained a considerable number of new words and were thus
enriched.
Latin
words became the
earliest group
of borrowings2
in the future English
language
which was
- much
later
-
built
on the basis of the Germanic tribal languages.
The
fifth century A.D. Several of the Germanic tribes
(the most numerous among them were the Angles, the Saxons and
the Jutes) migrated across the sea to the British Isles. There they
were confronted by the Celts, the original inhabitants of the Isles.
The Celts desperately defended their lands against the invaders,
but nevertheless gradually yielded most of their territory. They
retreated to the North and South-West (modern Scotland, Wales and
Cornwall). Through numerous contacts with the defeated Celts, the
conquerors borrowed a number of Celtic
words (bald, down, glen, 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 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 “llyn” is another
Celtic word for "river" and “dun” stands for "a
fortified hill" - the meaning of the whole is "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 borrowings 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).
It was quite natural that
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 century to
the middle of the 11th century
England underwent several Scandinavian invasions. Here are some
examples of early Scandinavian borrowings: call (v.),
take (v.), cast (v.), die (v.), law (n.), husband3 (n.),
window4
(n.), ill (adj.), loose, (adj.), low (adj.), weak (adj.).
Some of Scandinavian borrowings are easily recognizable
by the initial (sk-) combination. E. g. sky, skill, skin, ski, skirt.
Certain
English words changed their meanings under the influence of
Scandinavian words of the same root. So, the old
English “bread” which meant
"piece" acquired its modern meaning by association with the
Scandinavian “braud”. The old
English “dream” which meant
"joy" assimilated the meaning of the Scandinavian
“draumr’’.
1066.
With the famous Battle of Hastings, when the English were defeated by
the Normans under William the Conqueror, began the eventful epoch of
the Norman
Conquest.
The Norman
culture of the 11th
century
was certainly superior to that of the Saxons. The result was that
English vocabulary acquired a great number of French words. But
instead of being smashed and broken by the powerful intrusion of the
foreign element, the English language managed to preserve its
essential structure and vastly enriched its expressive resources with
the new borrowings. England
became a bilingual
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.
Terms of everyday life: table,
plate, 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
century B.C.), the Renaissance ones were rarely concrete names. They
were mostly abstract words (e. g. major, minor, moderate,
intelligent, permanent, to elect, to create). There were numerous
scientific and artistic terms (e.g. datum, status, phenomenon,
philosophy, method, music).
Quite a number of words were borrowed into English from Latin
and had earlier come into Latin from
Greek.
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 were French borrowings. This time they came
from the Parisian dialect of French and are known as Parisian
borrowings. Examples: 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.
The historical survey above shows the ways in which
English vocabulary developed and of the major events through which it
acquired its vast modern resources. Summary is shown in the
table 1.
The
second column of the table contains more groups, but it also implies
a great quantity of words. Modern scholars estimate the percentage
of borrowed words in the English vocabulary at 65—70
per cent which is an exceptionally high figure. It means that the
native element5
doesn’t prevail.
This anomaly is explained by the country's
eventful history and by its many international contacts.
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 native element in English
comprises a large number of high-frequency words like the
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 and it
remains unaffected by foreign influence.
The Etymological Structure6
of English Vocabulary
table 1
|
The native element
|
The borrowed element
|
|
1.Indo-European element
|
I. Celtic (5th
– 6th c.A.D.).
|
|
2.Germanic element
|
II. Latin
|
|
1st
group: 1st c.B.C.
|
|
2st
group: 7th
c.A.C.
|
|
3st
group: the Renaissance period
|
|
3.English Proper
element (no earlier than 5th c.A.D.)
|
III. Scandinavian
(8th – 11th c.A.D.)
|
|
IV. French |
|
1. Norman
borrowings: 11th–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
|
The first column of the
table consists of three groups, only the third being dated: the words
of this group appeared in the English vocabulary in the 5th
century or later, that is, after the
Germanic tribes migrated to the British Isles. 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. The words of this
group denote elementary concepts without
which no human communication would be possible. The following
groups can be identified.
Family
relations: father, mother, brother, son, daughter.
Parts
of the human body: foot, nose, lip, heart.
Animals:
cow, swine, goose.
Plants:
tree, birch, corn.
Time
of day: day, night.
Heavenly
bodies: sun, moon, star.
Numerous
adjectives: red, new, glad, sad.
The
numerals from one to a hundred.
Pronouns
- personal (except “they”
which is a Scandinavian borrowing) and demonstrative.
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.
Parts
of the human body: head, hand, arm, finger, bone.
Animals:
bear, fox, calf.
Plants:
oak, fir, grass.
Natural
phenomena: rain, frost.
Seasons
of the year: winter, spring, summer7.
Landscape
features: sea, land.
Human
dwellings and furniture: house, room, bench.
Sea-going
vessels: boat, ship.
Adjectives:
green, blue, grey, white, small, thick, high, old, good.
Verbs: see, hear, speak,
tell, say, answer, make, give, drink.
The
English
proper element
is opposed to the first two groups. For not only it
can be approximately dated, but these words have another distinctive
feature: they are
specifically English have
no cognates8
in other languages whereas for Indo-European and Germanic words
such cognates can always be found, as, for instance,
for the following words of the Indo-European group.
Star: Germ. - Stern, Lat. -
Stella, Gr. - aster.
Stand:
Germ. – stehen, Lat. - stare, R. – стоять.
Here are some examples of English proper words: bird,
boy, girl, lord, lady, woman, daisy, always.
Structural elements of
borrowings
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. We can also recognize words of Latin and French origin by
certain suffixes, prefixes or endings. Here are some typical and
frequent structural elements of Latin and French borrowings:
Latin affixes of nouns:
The suffix (-ion): legion,
opinion, etc.; the suffix (-tion): relation, temptation, etc.
Latin affixes of verbs:
The suffix (-ate): appreciate,
create, congratulate, etc.; the suffix (-ute): attribute, distribute,
etc.; the remnant9
suffix (-ct): act, collect, conduct, etc.; the prefix (dis-):
disable, disagree, etc.
Latin affixes of adjectives:
The suffix (-able):
detestable, curable, etc.; the suffix (-ate): accurate, graduate,
etc.; the suffix (-ant): constant, important, etc.; the suffix
(-ent): absent, evident, etc.; the suffix (-or): major, senior, etc.;
the suffix (-al): final, maternal, etc.; the suffix (-ar): solar,
familiar, etc.
French affixes of nouns:
The suffix (-ance): endurance,
hindrance, etc.; the suffix (-ence): consequence, patience, etc.; the
suffix (-ment): appointment, development, etc.; the suffix (-age):
courage, marriage, village, etc.; the suffix (-ess): actress,
adventuress, etc.
French affixes of verbs:
The prefix (en-): enable, enact,
enslave, etc.
French affixes of adjectives:
The suffix (-ous): curious,
dangerous, etc.
It’s important to
note that later formations derived from native roots borrowed Latin
and French affixes (e.g. eatable, lovable).
Why Are Words Borrowed?
Sometimes
it is done to
fill a gap in vocabulary.
When the Saxons borrowed Latin words for "butter", "plum",
"beet", they did it because their own vocabularies
lacked words for these new objects. For the same reason the words
“potato” and “tomato” were borrowed by
English from Spanish when these vegetables were first brought to
England by the Spaniards.
But
there is also a great number of words which are borrowed for other
reasons. There may be a word (or even several words) which expresses
some particular concept, so that there is no gap in the vocabulary
and there does not seem to be any need for borrowing. However a word
is borrowed because it supplies a new shade of meaning or a different
emotional colouring though it represents the same concept. This type
of borrowing enlarges groups of synonyms and provides to enrich
the expressive resources of the vocabulary. That is how the Latin
“cordial” was added to the
native “friendly”, the French “desire” to
“wish”, the Latin “admire” and the
French “adore” to “like” and “love”.
The historical
circumstances stimulate the borrowing process. Each time two nations
come into close contact. The nature of the contact may be different.
It may be wars, invasions or conquests when foreign words are imposed
upon the conquered