Etymological Characteristic

Etymological Characteristic

of the ModE Vocabulary

1. The notion of etymology.

2. The etymological background of the English vocabulary.

The term “etymology” means the origin of words. As to their origin words are subdivided into elements of native origin and borrowed elements.

A borrowed word is a word taken from another language and modified in phonetic shape, spelling, paradigm or meaning according to the standards of the English language.

A native word is one that belongs to the original English stock, as known from the earliest available manuscript of the OE period.

Native words:

The native words are further subdivided into words of the:

1. Indo-European stock

2. Common Germanic origin

The words having the cognates in the vocabularies of different Indo-European languages form the oldest layer. It has been noticed that they readily fall into definite semantic groups. Among them we find:

Ÿ terms of kinship: father, mother, daughter, brother, son

Ÿ words naming the most important objects and phenomena of nature: sun, moon, star, wind, hill, water, wood, tree, stone

Ÿ names of animals and birds: bull, cat, crow, goose, wolf

Ÿ parts of the human body: arm, ear, eye, foot, heart

Ÿ some frequent verbs: bear, come, sit, stand

Ÿ the adjectives of this group denote concrete physical properties: hard, quick, slow, red, white

Ÿ most numerals belong here

A much bigger part of this native vocabulary layer is formed by words of the Common Germanic stock, i.e. of words having parallels in German, Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic etc., but none in Russian or French.

It contains a great number of semantic groups. These words may serve as an illustration: winter, storm, ice, ground, bridge, house, shop, room, coal, iron, lead, cloth, hat, shirt, shoe, care, evil, hope; adjectives: broad, dead, deaf, deep.

Many adverbs and pronouns belong to this layer. Together with the words of Indo-European stock these common Germanic words form the bulk of the most frequently used words in any style of speech. They constitute no less than 80% of the most frequent words listed by Thorndile and Gorge.

Words of the native word-stock are for the most part characterized by:

1. A wide range of lexical and grammatical valency

2. High frequency value

3. Developed polysemy

4. They are often monosyllabic

5. They show great word-building power

6. They enter a number of set-expressions

Let’s take the word “watch”, which is one of the 500 most frequent words. It may be used as a verb in more than 10 different sentence patterns. Thus its valency is the highest.

e.g. Are you going to play or to watch?

He was watching the crowd go by.

Watch me carefully.

He was watching for the man to leave the house.

The man is being watched by the police.

“watch” is in the centre of a numerous word family: watch-dog, watcher, watchful, watchfulness.

Borrowed words

English history is famous for all sorts of contacts with other countries and the English vocabulary is responsive to every change in the life of the speaking community.

The source, the scope and the semantic sphere of loan words are all dependent upon historical factors. It has been estimated that the English vocabulary consists of borrowed words (up to 70%). Only 30% of the words are native. It’s due to specific conditions of the English language development. The Roman invasion, the introduction of Christianity, the Danish and Norman Conquests, British colonialism and imperialism caused important changes in the vocabulary.

The term source of borrowing should be applied to the language from which the loan word was taken into English. Origin of borrowing refers to the language to which the word may be traced. Thus paper < Fr. papier < Lat. papyrus < Gr. papyros has French as its source and Greek as its origin.

Alongside loan words proper we distinguish translation loans and semantic borrowings. Translation loans are words and expressions formed from the material already existing in the language, but according to the patterns taken from another language, by way of literal morpheme-for-morpheme translation.

e.g. swan song from Germ. swanen gesung

masterpiece – meisterstuck

surplus value – mehrwehrt

a populist – народник

a collective farm – колхоз

a state farm – совхоз

The term semantic loan is used to denote the development in an English word of a new meaning due to the influence of a related word in another language.

The English word “pioneer” meant “explorer” and one who is the first. Now under the influence of the Russian word “пионер” it has come to mean “a member of the Young Pioneer Organization”.

“Dwell” – “to wander about” (under the influence of Scandinavian - “to live”).

The number of loan words in English is very high. That’s why the mixed character of the English vocabulary cannot be denied. But the leading role in the history of this vocabulary belongs to word-formation and semantic changes which are genuinely English. This system absorbed and remade the vast majority of loan words according to its own standards so that it is sometimes difficult to tell an old borrowing from a native word.

e.g. cheese, street, wall, wine belong to the earliest Latin borrowings.

But some borrowings still retain some peculiarities in pronunciation, spelling and morphology. Thus the initial position of the sounds [v], [G], [Z] is a sign that the word is not of native stock.

e.g. vacuum (Lat.), valley (Fr.)

The initial [Z] occurs in comparatively late borrowings.

e.g. genre (Fr.)

The letters j, x, z in initial position and in combinations as ph, kh, eau in the root indicate the foreign origin of the word.

e.g. philosophy (Gr.), physics (Gr.), khaki (Ind.), beau (Fr.)

x is pronounced [ks] in words of native origin and [gz] in words of Latin origin.

e.g. six, exist

ch is pronounced [C] in native words and early borrowings; [S] – in late French borrowings; [k] – in words of Greek origin.

e.g. child, chair; machine, parachute; echo, epoch, chemist.

There are some suffixes and prefixes that show that the word is borrowed.

e.g. con centrate, dis agree

L.Bloomfield points out that English possesses a great mass of words (he calls them foreign-learned words) with a separate pattern of derivation. Their chief characteristic is the use of certain suffixes and combinations of suffixes: ability, education. Another feature of these words is the presence of certain phonemic alterations.

e.g. receive – reception; provide – provision.

The Celtic Elements

in the English Vocabulary

Before Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded the British Isles, they were inhabited by the Celtic tribes. Anglo-Saxons conquered them ousting the Celts from their territory, inflicting death and destruction. The Celtic population did not influence Anglo-Saxons to any serious extent. The number of Celtic words is rather small (10-12). From Old Celtic borrowings which entered the English stock we may mention such words as: bannock (пресный коржик), bin (корзина), brat (мальчик, проказник), down (дюна), dun (тёмно-коричневый).

In geographical names: Britain, the Thames etc.

In other periods from living Celtic languages (Scottish, Irish, Gaelic)there were borrowed such words: clan (клан), whisky, slogan, tory (meant ирландский работник).

Through other languages the English vocabulary was enriched by such Celtic words: career, cloak, carpenter, ear, to carry, clock.

Some words of Celtic origin belong to the Basic word-stock, the rest – to the general word-stock.

The Scandinavian Elements

The Scandinavian Invasion of England which proved to be of linguistic importance began in the 8-th century. In 878 the Wedmore Peace Treaty was signed and according to it the Danes (the Scandinavians) occupied the “Danelaw” regions on the Northern Coast of England. In 1017 the Danes conquered the whole of England and reigned over it up to 1042. The Danish settlers intermingled with the native population. The fact of both languages being Germanic facilitated mutual understanding and word borrowings; therefore it’s sometimes difficult to say whether a word is of native or Scandinavian origin.

Words are sometimes called Scandinavian if they were not met in Anglo-Saxon written documents up to the 11-th century.

e.g. anger, fellow, gate, husband, sky, want, window, to hit etc.

Among numerous Scandinavian borrowings we find the pronouns: same, both, they and adverbs: hence, whence, thence, which ousted the OE theoran, ƥanon, hwanon.

In distinguishing Scandinavian words we may sometimes apply the criterion of sound, such as [sk] in words of Scandinavian origin: scull, scare, scream, scrape, busk where the purely English words would have [S], since the OE sc turned into sh.

Then again the hard [g] and [k] sounds before i, e speak for the words of Scandinavian origin.

Scandinavian settlers left in England toponymic traces in a great number of place names.

e.g. Sc. byr (village): Derby, Whitby, Grimsby

foss (waterfall): Fossbury, Fossway

There is every reason to agree with those of our Soviet linguists whose research shows that the Scandinavian influence upon English was more like the influence of a kindred dialect.

Latin borrowings

The role of words borrowed from Latin cannot be overestimated. It was counted that approximately a quarter of the Latin vocabulary has been taken over by English.

But among Latin borrowings we must distinguish those borrowed:

1. Through immediate contact, that is orally at the early stages of language development.

2. Later borrowings which came through writing.

The first are mostly monosyllabic and denote things of everyday importance while the latter are mostly long bookish words. The first are thoroughly assimilated.

e.g. pear, pea, pepper, cheese, plum, butter, wine, kettle, cup, dish, line.

A number of words adopted at that period pertain to trade: cheap, pound, inch. Some words had a military flavour, for the Romans built fortifications, military camps and roads: port, street, wall, mill. All these words were successfully assimilated.

Besides these words became head-words of whole groups of derivatives, compounds and set expressions.

e.g. wine bag, wine bowl, wine cellar, winecoloured;

cheap, cheaply, cheapness, cheaper.

As we see Latin borrowing of that period get combined with Anglo-Saxon word-building elements easily. Many Latin borrowings of this period did not survive in Modern English.

2) The second great stratum of Latin words came into English at the end of

the 6-th century when the people of England were converted to Christianity. Since Latin was the language of church many Latin words (mainly of Greek origin) denoting religious concepts came into English:

e.g. altar, angel, anthem, bishop, candle, disciple, devil, martyr, priest, temple

Many Latin words borrowed at that period referred to other spheres of life: cap, chest, purple, silk, belt, lily, plant, school, verse, fever, circle, lion, tiger.

Words borrowed at that period are also thoroughly assimilated.

3) Another great influx of Latin words came through French after the Norman Conquest (1066). They are referred to as the third stratum of Latin borrowings.

4) But the greatest stream of Latin words poured into English during and after the Revival of Learning (the Renaissance). For example:

Ÿ terms of philosophy, mathematics, physics: diameter, fundamental, momentum, radius, vacuum;

Ÿ words pertaining to law and government: alibi, affidavit, coroner, veto, judicial;

Ÿ medicine: anesthetics, diagnosis;

Ÿ geography: equator, continental, peninsula.

Some of these words can be traced to Greek roots.

Here are some abbreviations met in writing:

e.g. – for example

i.e. – that is

a.m. – before noon

p.m. – after noon

etc. – and so on

The Norman – French Elements

The French layer rates second to Latin in bulk. It has been estimated that English owes one fourth of its vocabulary to French. French borrowings penetrated into English in two ways:

1. From the Norman dialect (during the 1-st century after the Norman Conquest of 1066).

2. From the French national literary language beginning with the 15-th century.

The Normans who conquered England in 1066 (the battle at Hastings) were of Scandinavian origin (they had left their native country and seized a territory on the Northern coast of France and later adopted French language and culture). Their language differed somewhat from the central French dialect. During two centuries after the Norman Conquest the linguistic situation in England was rather complicated: the feudal lords spoke the Norman dialect (Norman French), the ordinary people spoke English, scientific and religious literature was in Latin, the court documents, fiction were written in French. Latin and French were used in administration and school teaching. The Anglo-Norman dialect which was a good conductor of French words which penetrated into English in great numbers. Gradually English assimilated many French words that either ousted their Saxon equivalents or became synonymous to native words.

e.g. happiness – felicity

help – aid

weak – feeble

Before the Norman Conquest only a few words were borrowed (proud, turn, false, chancellor, market).

French borrowings of the 12-16-th centuries show both the social status of the Norman invaders and their supremacy in economic, cultural and political development. They are:

Ÿ terms of law: accuse, acquit, judge, amend, jury, prison

Ÿ military terms: army, peace, armour, assault, battle, powder, siege, officer, sergeant, soldier etc.

Ÿ religious terms: saint, miracle, charity, mercy, clergy, pray, religion

Ÿ trade and everyday affairs: barber, butcher, grocer, chamber, tailor, beef, veal, mutton, pleasure, leisure, comfort, delight

Ÿ terms of rank: duke, duchess, prince, peer

Ÿ terms of art: beauty, colour, image, design, figure, costume, garment

Ÿ terms of architecture: arch, tower, pillar, column, palace, castle, mansion

In most cases such words were completely assimilated:

e.g. the [Z] turned into [G] in words age, marriage

[J] à [R] design, crime

long [R] gave sound [eI]: grace, blame

ch à [C]: chance, change, charity

The stress was shifted to the first syllable. These borrowings are now in common use.

Later French borrowings may be easily identified by their peculiarities of form and pronunciation.

e.g. automobile, foyer, garage, machine, technique

Assimilation of Loan Words

The term “assimilation of a loan word” is used to denote a partial or total conformation to the phonetic, graphical and morphological standards of the receiving language and its semantic system. The degree of assimilation depends upon:

1) the length of period during which the word has been used in the receiving language;

2) its importance for communication purpose;

3) its frequency.

Oral borrowings are assimilated more completely and rapidly than literary borrowings (i.e. borrowings through written speech).

Concerning the degree of assimilation of loan words we may distinguish 3 groups:

Ÿ completely assimilated loan words;

Ÿ partially assimilated loan words;

Ÿ non-assimilated loan words or barbarisms.

Completely assimilated words are found in all the layers of older borrowings. Latin borrowings: cheese, street, wall, wine. Scandinavian loan words: husband, fellow gate, root, call, die, take, want, happy, ill, add, wrong. French: table, chair, fall, figure, finish, matter.

Completely assimilated words follow all morphological, phonetic and orthographic standards of English. They are many times greater than partially assimilated. Being very frequent and stylistically neutral, they occur as dominant words in synonymic groups. They take an active part in word-formation.

Partly assimilated words can be subdivided into several groups:

1. Loan words not assimilated semantically because they denote objects and notions peculiar to the country from which they come: sari, sombrero, shah, rickshaw;

2. Words not assimilated grammatically (nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek, which keep their original plural forms: bacillus – bacilli, crisis – crises, phenomenon – phenomena;

3. Loan words not completely assimilated phonetically: machine, cartoon, police, regime, bourgeois;

4. Loan words not completely assimilated graphically. This group is large and variegated: ballet, buffet, café.

Barbarism is a word borrowed without any change in form: habeas, corpus, alibi, de-facto.

It is necessary to stress that a loan word never brings into the receiving language the whole of its semantic structure if it is polysemantic in the original language.

The word sport can serve as an illustration. In Old French it had a much wider scope, denoting pleasure, making merry and entertainment in general. It was borrowed into Mid.E in this character but gradually acquired the additional meanings of outdoor games and exercises, and in this new meaning was borrowed into many European languages and became international.

e.g. a borrowed word from Russian “Sputnic” – in Russian it has other meanings as well (спутник жизни).

The borrowing of a new word leads as a rule to semantic changes in words already existing in the language. The interaction of linguistic and extralinguistic factors in this process has been investigated by several authors (I.P. Ivanova,

A.A. Ufimsteva).

Etymological Doublets

The changes a loan word has had to undergo depending on the date of its penetration are the main cause for the existence of so-called etymological doublets – they are two words of the same language which were derived from different roots from the same basic words.

Words which go back to one and the same source are called etymological doublets.

Let’s take such words: discus and dish.

In OE the word was borrowed from Latin to denote something round. The word had undergone all phonetic changes and came to denote a round object on which people had their meals. Completely assimilated, the word entered many word combinations (a dishcloth). But later on it appeared that English lacked a word to name a sport appliance. The word discus was borrowed again, but as it was borrowed after the period of phonetic changes, it was less assimilated. So these two words go back to one and the same source – Latin discus, but now they have different forms and meanings.

The origin of etymological doublets is different. They may be borrowed at a different period of time or through different languages.

They may be Latin – French, like

abbreviate(Lat.) (сокращать слова) – abridge (Lat.) (сокращать рассказы)

canal (Lat.) - channel (Fr.)

captain (Lat.) - chieftan (Fr.)

cart (Lat.) – chart (Fr.)

Scandinavian – English

screw (Sc.) (винт) – shrew (Eng.) (сварливая тётушка)

skirt (Sc.) – shirt (Eng.)

major (Lat.) – mayor (Fr.)

International Words

The appearance of new words is connected with the appearance of new notions. That’s why it’s natural that the borrowing is seldom limited to one language. Words of identical origin that occur in several languages as a result of simultaneous borrowings from one and the same source are called international words. They play an important part in various terminological systems and among words denoting abstract notions. They are: antenna, atomic, automation, bionics, cybernetics. We meet them in English, French, Russian, Ukrainian and several other languages.

This layer is very important for the foreign language teacher, as he must know the points of similarity between such words as: contro l – контроль, general – генерал, industry – индустрия, magazine – магазин.

The teacher must draw his pupils’ attention to the spreading of the English vocabulary into other languages. We find numerous English words in the field of sports: football, match, time, pullover, sweater film, club, cocktail, jazz; after the Great October Social Revolution the Russian element in the international fund of words is steadily increasing. Words of international currency borrowed from Russian have spread all over the world: soviet, sputnik, kolkhoz, perestroika, glasnost.

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