2015-09-06
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Many peculiarities of the English word-stock may be explained by its etymological diversity.
There are two layers of the modern English Vocabulary:
1. Native words.
2. Borrowed (loan) words
A native word – only relatively started with the English literature tradition (VIII
century) Native words
1. Indo-European
a. Family relation: father, mother, brother, son
b. Parts of human body: foot, nose, lip, heart
c. Animals: cow, swine, goose.
d. Plants: tree, birch, corn
e. Time of day: day, night
f. Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star.
g. Numerous adjectives: red, new, glad, sad, hard, quick, slow
h. The numerals from one to a hundred, 1000
i. Some pronoun: personal (we, our); demonstrative
j. Verbs denoting the most important actions: be, stand, sit, eat, know, bear.
2. Common Germanic Origin
a. Natural phenomena: rain, frost
b. Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer
c. Landscape features: sea, land
d. Human dwelling, furniture and clothes: house, room, bench, hat skirt
e. Sea-going vessels: boats, ship
f. Adjectives: green, blue, grey, small, thick, high, old, good
g. Verbs: see, hear, speak, bake, give
h. Mineral recourses: ore, coal, iron, led
i. Abstract nouns: scare, hope, life, need
j. Pronouns: possessive, personal (I, they, them, their)
Native words are only 500 words in the language, but they comprise the basic vocabulary.
Borrowed Words.
A loan (borrowed) words or borrowing is a word that have been borrowed into
the English language and either have
been assimilated completely into the
English language or partially or have
not been assimilated at all and baring the
name of barbarisms.
According to the source of borrowing
1. Germanic element is older and comprises
a. Anglo-Saxon or native words- the largest part of the layer
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b. Scandinavian origin – they are the less part
c. other Germanic language mainly Dutch (deck, yacht)
d. Germanic (nickel, waltz, swindler)
2. The Romance element:
a. Latin
i. early borrowings (school, kitchen, cook, wine, butter, cheese)
(was spoken that’s why such words)
ii. During the Renaissance (concentration, moderation, unite)
(language of books; scholars and churchmen)
b. French (XI 1066)
i. names of dishes (pork, beef, mutton)
ii. cloth
iii. culture
iv. political culture (parliament)
In English it is possible to meet hybrids (words comprising elements of different languages)
Goddess (Germanic stem, Romance suffix)
Relationship (Romance stem and native suffix)
There are other borrowings in the English language:
1. Russian:
a. old borrowing, such as silk
b. late Middle Ages – the beginning of Modern Times – a reflection of the trade relations between Russia and England (samovar, czar, sterile)
c. words of the newest period, which reflect the social ideas, scientific achievements and culture (glasnost, perestroika)
2. Many scientific terms came from Greek: philanthropie, technology
3. Some words came from the languages of the American Indians: tobacco, potato
Etymological Doublets.
are two or more words of the Same language which originated from one word but now they have different phonetic shapes, graphic representation, and they’ve god an extending meaning still we feel something common in them
Hale-whole
drag-draw
skirt-shirt
dish-discus
