Section II etymological survey of the english word-stock

Language as a historical phenomenon. The study of synchrony and diachrony as the basic principle of linguistic analysis. The importance of examining the etymology of English words, historical causes of their appearance and comparative significance of native and borrowed elements.

The mixed character of the English vocabulary as one of its main features. Words of native origin and the role they play in the English language. Their main characteristic features: semantic groups they belong to, wide collocability, high frequency of usage, great derivational potential. Words of Indo-European stock, words of Common Germanic origin, the English proper element.

Borrowing as the process of adopting words from other languages and as the result of this process. The terms "source of borrowings" and "origin of borrowings". The factors, the number and character of borrowings as dependent on historical conditions, nature and length of the contacts, and proximity of languages. Borrowing through oral speech and written speech. Translation-loans. Semantic loans. Hybrids.

Historical causes of adopting words from Celtic and Scandinavian. The three layers of Latin borrowings and their characteristic features. Words borrowed to denote 1) objects and notions Germanic people learnt from the Romans, 2) objects and ideas connected with church and religion, 3) scientific and artistic terms. Borrowings from French: historical conditions and semantic classification of borrowed elements. Borrowings from Greek, Italian, Spanish, German. Words of Russian origin in the vocabulary of English.

Etymological doublets. International words and their importance for EFL teaching.

Assimilation of borrowings. Phonetic, grammatical, semantic assimilation. Degree of assimilation and factors it depends on. Complete and partial assimilation. Barbarisms.

Working Definitions of Principal Concepts

Diachrony	historical development of the system of language as the object of linguistic investigation
Translation loans (calques, loan translations)	borrowing by means of literary translating words (usually one part after another) or word combinations
Hybrid	a word different elements of which are of etymologically different origin
Etymological doublets	two or more words originating from the same etymological source, but differing in phonetic shape and in meaning
Borrowing	1) process of adopting words from other languages to express new concepts, to further differentiate the existing concepts and to name new objects, phenomena, etc.; 2) the result of this process (words and word building affixes borrowed into the language)
Source of borrowing	the language from which the word was taken
Origin of borrowing	the language the word may be traced to
Semantic loan	the development in the English word of a new meaning due to the influence of a related word in another language
International words	words borrowed by several languages
Assimilation of loan words	adjusting to the norms of the recipient language
Phonetic adaptation (assimilation)	adaptation of a word to the phonetic system of the new language
Grammatical adaptation	a complete change of the former paradigm of the borrowed word
Semantic adaptation	adjustment to the system of meanings of the vocabulary

1 . Read the text. What peculiarity of the English vocabulary does it describe? What happens to words which are similar in form and meaning in the course of historic development of the language?

We see in English a phenomenon which is paralleled nowhere else to such an extent, namely, the existence side by side for a long time, sometimes for centuries, of two slightly differing forms for the same word, one the original English form and the other Scandinavian. In the following the first form is the native one, the form after the dash is the imported one.

In some cases both forms survive in standard speech, though, as a rule, they have developed slightly different meanings: whole (formerly hool) - hale; both were united in the old phrase ‘hail and hool’ | no-nay; the latter is now used only to add an amplifying remark (‘it is enough, nay too much’), but formerly it was used to answer a question, though it was not so strong a negative as no (‘Is it true? Nay.’ ‘Is it not true? No’.) | rear - raise | from-fro, now used only in ‘to and fro’ | shirt-skirt | shot-scot | shriek-screak, screech | true-trigg, ‘faithful, neat, tidy’ | edge-egg vb. (‘to egg on’, ‘to incite’).

In other cases, the Scandinavian form survives in dialects only, while the other belongs to the literary language: dew-dag, ‘dew, thin rain’; vb.’to drizzle’ | leap-loup | neat-nowt, ‘cattle’ | church-kirk | chest-kist | mouth-mun | yard-garth, ‘a small piece of enclosed ground’. All these dialectal forms belong to Scotland or the North of England.

As a rule, however, one of the forms has in course of time been completely crowded out by the other. The surviving form is often the native form, as in the following instances: goat-gayte | heathen-heythen, haithen | loath-laith | grey-gra, gro | few-fa, fo | fish-fisk.

Still there are instances in which the intruder succeeded in ousting the legitimate heir: the native ey and the Scandinavian egg [3].

2. Read the following passage and be ready to explain how French and native words differ in expressive-emotional connotations and spheres of usage.

Certain differences have developed in the course of time between two synonyms when both have survived, one of them native, the other French. The former is always nearer to the nation’s heart than the latter, it has the strongest associations with everything primitive, fundamental, popular, while the French word is often more formal, more polite, more refined and has a less strong hold on the emotional side of life. A cottage is finer than hut, and fine people often live in a cottage, at any rate in summer. The word bill was too vulgar and familiar to be applied to a hawk, which had only a beak (the French term, whereas bill is the A.S. bile). To dress means to adorn, deck, etc., and thus generally presupposes a finer garment than the old word to clothe. Amity means ‘friendly relations, especially of a public character between states or individuals’, and thus lacks the warmth of friendship. The difference between help and aid thus indicated in the Funk-Wagnalls Dictionary: ’Help expresses greater dependence and deeper need than aid. In extermity we say “God help me!” rather than “God aid me!”; in time of danger we cry “help, help” rather than “aid, aid” . Help includes aid, but aid may fall short in the meaning of help. All this amounts to the same thing as saying that help is the natural expression, belonging to the indispensable stock of words, and therefore possessing more copious and profounder associations than the more literary and accordingly colder word aid; cf. also assist. Folk has to a great extent been superseded by people, chiefly on account of political and social employment of the word. …Hearty and cordial made their appearance in the language at the same time, but their force is not the same, for ‘a hearty welcome’ is warmer than ‘a cordial welcome’, and hearty has many applications that cordial has not (heartfelt, sincere; vigorous: a hearty slap on the back; abundant: a hearty meal), etc. Saint smacks of the official recognition by the Catholic Church, while holy refers much more to the mind. Matin(s) is used only with reference to church service, while morning is the ordinary word. Compare also darling with favourite, deep with profound, lonely with solitary, indeed with in fact, to give or to hand with to present or to deliver, love with charity, etc.

In some cases the chief difference between the native word and the French synonym is that the former is more colloquial and the latter more literary, e.g. begin-commence, hide-conceal, feed-nourish, hinder-prevent, look for-search for, inner and outer-interior and exterior, and many others. In few cases, however, the native word is more literary. Valley is the everyday word, and dale has only lately been introduced into the standard language from the dialects of the hilly northern counties. Action has practically supplanted deed in ordinary language, so that the latter can be reserved for more dignified speech [4].