XI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2019

The modern English language vocabulary possesses a rich history and is characterized by a great number of borrowed words from other languages during different steps of its development.

The reasons why the words were borrowed into English are the following:

Close interaction with a nation for whom English is not the mother tongue

A certain language is imposed on the English people as a result of numerous invasions

The mother tongue lacks the word for denoting a certain notion or object

The notion or object, which is peculiar for another country, is borrowed by the English people, altogether with the word, denoting the object.

The words are borrowed from another language as synonyms that give various shades of meaning to the words already existing in the language. [Арнольд 1986: 205]

Throughout the centuries, the British Isles underwent waves of invasions by Romans, Danes, and Norman French, each inevitably contributing to the way of life on the conquered land and leaving their trace on English vocabulary. [J.Algeo 2010: 247]

The words of Latin origin began to appear in the English language in the 1^st century BC. This process is closely connected with the occupation of the territory belonging to Germanic tribes by the Roman invaders. The adopted words naturally indicate the new conceptions that the Germanic peoples acquired from this contact with a higher civilization. [Albert C.Baugh, Thomas Cable 2002: 73]

During this period, mainly the words having to do with agriculture, cattle-breeding, and military affairs were borrowed. Many of the words borrowed in the Old English period have survived into Modern English. Among them are the following words: ancor ‘anchor’ (Lat. ancora), butere ‘butter’ (Lat. būtyrum), cealc ‘chalk’ (Lat. calx), cēse ‘cheese’ (Lat. cāseus), cetel ‘kettle’ (Lat. catillus), cycene ‘kitchen’ (Vul. Lat. cucīna, var. of coquīna), disc ‘dish’ (Lat. discus), mangere ‘-monger, trader’ (Lat. mangō), mīl ‘mile’ (Lat. mīlia [passuum]), piper ‘pepper’ (Lat. piper), pund ‘pound’ (Lat. pondō ), sacc ‘sack’ (Lat. saccus), sicol ‘sickle’ (Lat. secula), strǣt ‘ (Lat. [via] strata ), weall ‘wall’ (Lat. vallum). [J.Algeo 2010: 249]

Moreover, the Germanic tribes owe the knowledge of some new fruits and vegetables of which they had no idea before to the Romans. Thus, the English vocabulary was enlarged by the Latin names for new food products, such as cherry (Lat. cerasum), pear (Lat. pirum), plum (Lat. plunus), pea (Lat. pisum), beet (Lat.beta), plant (Lat.planta). [Антрушина 1985: 35]

A large plaster of borrowed Latin words appeared in the English language as a result of Christianization of England in the 7^th century AD. The borrowed words indicated the objects and ideas associated with church and religious rituals. [Антрушина 1985: 36] E.g. alter ‘altar’ (Lat. altar), (a)postol ‘apostle’ (Lat. apostolus), balsam (Lat. balsamum), dēmon (Lat. daemon), messe ‘mass’ (Lat. missa, позже messa), martir ‘martyr. [J.Algeo 2010: 250]

The introduction of Christianity meant the building of churches and the establishment of monasteries. Latin, the language of the services and of ecclesiastical learning, became widely spread throughout England. Schools were established in most of the monasteries and churches. [Albert C.Baugh, Thomas Cable 2002: 76]

A great number of Latin borrowings came into usage during the New English period (since 1500). The words were borrowed at the same time directly from Latin and from Greek as the ultimate source with the Latin as the immediate source. [Антрушина 1985: 38; J.Algeo 2010: 251]. All these words enriched the English language vocabulary in the fields of science, art and culture: e.g. datum, status, phenomenon, philosophy, method, music [Антрушина 1985: 38].

It is difficult to overestimate the immense impact on English vocabulary made by the French language. After the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Saxon nobility was deprived of their real estate and political rights. All the leading positions were distributed among the Norman conquerors, thus, French became the language of the official class in England. [Аракин 2003: 173].

French words of Norman dialect penetrated every aspect of social life, but most of the words had to do with political life and government (counsel, government, state, parliament, country); judicial proceedings (court, judge, justice, condemn, attorney); army and military affairs (war, battle, army, regiment, victory, cannon, mail). Construction and architecture (palace, pillar, chapel); religion and church (religion, clergy, parish, prayer); school (lesson, pupil, pen, pencil); trade (fair, market, money, mercer) and art (art, colour, ornament).

There is also a great number of loan translations from French, such as marriage of convenience (mariage de conveyance), that goes without saying (ça va sans dire), and trial balloon (ballon d’essai).

It is interesting to note that the same French word may be borrowed at various periods in the history of English, like gentle (thirteenth century), genteel (sixteenth century), and jaunty (seventeenth century), all from French gentil. (Gentile, however, was taken straight from Latin gentīlis, meaning ‘foreign’ in post Classical Latin.) It is similar with chief, first occurring in English in the fourteenth century, and chef, in the nineteenth. [J.Algeo 2010: 256]

In Modern English, there are the words of French origin and the native English words, which denote the same notion. However, they are different in their stylistic value. The English words are neutral, and the borrowed French words may be characterized as “bookish” and “high-flown” [Аракин 2003: 177]. E.g. (to begin - to commence, to come – to arrive, to wish – to desire, to do – to act, speech – discourse, harm – injury, help - aid).

The Renaissance period is characterized by extensive cultural contacts between the major European states. During this period, a great number of words of French origin entered the English language and enriched its vocabulary in the fields of science, culture and art. The peculiar feature of such borrowings is that their French pronunciation is preserved. (machine, police, magazine, ballet, matinée, scene, technique). [Антрушина 1985: 38]

Scandinavian loanwords appeared in the English language at the end of the 8^th century AD, when England underwent several Scandinavian invasions.

The newly borrowed words did not denote any new notions – they indicated commonly used objects and habitual actions. [Аракин 2003: 169] In some cases, Scandinavian borrowings so closely resemble their English cognates that it becomes almost impossible to say whether the word was borrowed or not.

Sometimes an English word acquired a new meaning under the influence of a Scandinavian word similar in form. The initial meaning of the word “dream”, for instance, was “joy”. Later on, under the Scandinavian influence it changed its meaning according to the cognate word draumr ‘vision in sleep. ’

Most of the words in Modern English beginning with the sound combination [sk] are of Scandinavian origin e.g. scowl, scrape, scrub, skill, skin, skirt, sky.

References

Антрушина Г.Б., Афанасьева О.В., Морозова Н.Н. Лексикология английского языка. - М.: Высшая школа, 1985. - 223 с.

Аракин В.Д. История английского языка. - М.: ФИЗМАТЛИТ, 2003. - 272 с.

Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка. - М. : Высшая школа, 1986. - 295 с.

Пословицы в фразеологическом поле: когнитивный, дискурсивный, сопоставительный аспекты: монография / Н.Ф. Алефиренко [и др.]; под ред. проф. Т.Н. Федуленковой. – Владимир: Изд-во ВлГУ, 2017. 231 с. (С. 176-196)

Современная фразеология: тенденции и инновации: монография (том посвящается д.ф.н. проф. Т.Н. Федуленковой по случаю юбилея) / Н.Ф. Алефиренко, В.И. Зимин, Т.Н. Федуленкова и др. – М.-СПб-Брянск: «Новый проект», 2016. – 200 с.

Традиции и инновации в лингвистике и лингводидактике: Материалы Международ. конф. в честь 65-летия д.ф.н. проф. Т.Н. Федуленковой / ВлГУ им. А.Г. и Н.Г. Столетовых. Владимир, 2015. 268 c.

Федуленкова Т.Н. Лекции по английской фразеологии библейского происхождения. М.: ИД АЕ, 2016. – 146 с.

Федуленкова Т.Н. Сопоставительная фразеология английского, немецкого и шведского языков: курс лекций. М.: ИД Акад. Естествознания, 2012. – 220 с.

Федуленкова Т.Н., Адамия З.К., Чабашвили М. и др. Фразеологическое пространство национального словаря в сопоставительном аспекте: монография. Т.2. / под ред. Т.Н. Федуленковой. – М.: ИД Академии Естествознания, 2014. – 140 с.

Федуленкова Т.Н., Иванов А.В., Куприна Т.В. и др. Фразеология и терминология: грани пересечения: монография – Архангельск: Поморский университет, 2009. – 170 с.

Федуленкова Т.Н., Садыкова А.Г., Давлетбаева Д.Н. Фразеологическое пространство национального словаря в сопоставительном аспекте: монография. Т.1. / отв ред. Т.Н. Федуленкова. – Архангельск: Поморский университет, 2008. – 200 с.

Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Cultural Approaches to Phraseology: ESSE-9, Aarhus, 22-26 August 2008 / T. Fedulenkova (ed.). Arkhangelsk; Aarhus, 2009. 209 p.

John Algeo The Origins and Development of the English Language:. - Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2010. - 347 с.

Albert C.Baugh, Thomas Cable A History of the English Language. London: Routledge, 2002. 447 с.

Код для цитирования: Скопировать