Etymology of English words

1.

2. Etymology of English words

English words
native words
25-30% of the whole bulk
of the vocabulary
Common
Indo-European stock
borrowed (loan) words
75-70% of the vocabulary
Common
Germanic stock

3. Native words

Indo-European words
have cognates in various
Indo-European languages, they present the oldest
layer. They were inherited from the Indo-European
parent language (праязык).
E.g. Father – Gothic fadar; Swedish fader; Dutch vader; German Vater;
Greek pater; Latin pater; Sanskrit pitr
Son –
OE sunu; Gothic sunus; Russian сын; Icel. sunr;
Danish son; Swedish son; German Sohn;
Lithuanian sunus; Sanskrit sunu.

4. Indo-European words express the most vital, important and frequently used concepts, they fall into several semantic groups:

terms of kinship: father, mother, brother, daughter, son;
names of natural phenomena: fire, moon, hill, night, day, star,
snow, sun, stone, water, tree, birch, corn, wind, wood;
names of animals and birds: bull, cow, crow, cat, fish, mouse,
goose, wolf;
basic verbs: do, know, eat, sleep, sit, stand, bear, be;
basic physical properties and colours: red, hard, light, quick,
thin, white, slow, cold, new, glad (Russian гладкий), sad ( Russ
сытый);
parts of human body: heart, eye, foot, nose, mouth, ear, arm,
knee, lip;
numerals from one to a hundred: one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, ten, hundred;
pronouns: personal (except Scan. ‘they’); demonstrative,
interrogative.

5. Native words

Common Germanic words
have cognates in
Germanic languages – German, Norwegian, Dutch,
Icelandic. They were inherited from the Germanic
parent language.
E.g. Hand
–
OE hand, hond; Gothic Handus; Swedish hand;
German Hand; Icelandic – hond; Danish – hand
Have – OE habban; Gothic haban; Dutch hebben; Swedish hava;
German haben

6. Common Germanic words fall into several semantic groups:

parts of the human body: head, hand, finger, bone;
animals: bear, fox, calf, sheep, horse, chicken;
plants: oak, fir, grass;
natural phenomena: rain, frost, sea, ground, earth, flood, ice;
nouns denoting periods of time: winter, spring, summer, time,
week;
nouns denoting artifacts and materials: bridge, house, room;
words denoting abstract notions: care, evil, hope, life, need;
sea-going vessels: boat, ship;
verbs: drink, forget, hear, follow, live, make, send, sing, shake, burn,
bake, keep, learn, meet, rise, see, speak, tell, answer, make, drink;
adjectives, denoting colours, size and other properties: dead,
deaf, deep, heavy, sharp, soft, broad, green, grey, thick, old;
pronouns: all, each, he.

7. Typical features of native words:

mostly simple in their structure – often monosyllabic;
show great word-building power and serve as a basis
for word-formation;
E.g. hand – handy, handwork, handicraft, handful,
handbook, handcuff, handbag;
enter a number of set expressions and proverbs;
E.g. hand in hand, hands off, at hand, in hand, with a heavy
hand, with a high hand;
they are characterized by a wide range of lexical and
grammatical valency;
high frequency value;
have a highly developed polysemy;
stability.

8. Borrowed (loan) words:

‘zero, alcohol, algebra’ come from Arabic,
‘golf, wagon, gin’ – from Dutch,
‘balcony, piano, umbrella’ – from Italian,
‘lilac, lemon, shawl’ – from Persian,
‘poet, catastrophe, idiot’ – from Greek,
‘alligator, ranch, rodeo’ – from Spanish,
‘potato, chocolate, moccasin’ – from the
language of American Indians.

9. Types of borrowed (loan) words:

Borrowings enter the language in two ways:
through oral speech
(by immediate contact between people)
• through written speech (through books, newspapers).
Borrowings may be:
direct
indirect
source of borrowing
origin of borrowing
E.g. table < French ‘la table’ < Latin ‘tabula’;
paper < French ‘papier’ < Latin ‘papyrus’ < Greek ‘papyros’.

10. Types of borrowed (loan) words:

borrowings proper: regime (Fr), ballet (Fr), bouquet (Fr);
translation loans: superman – German Ubermensch;
homesickness – German Heimweh; first dancer – Italian primaballerina;
semantic loans: OE bread ‘piece’ - Scandinavian ‘braud’;
OE dream ‘joy’ - Scandinavian ‘draumr’; dwellan (OE ‘блуждать,
медлить’) assimilated the meaning of the Scandinavian ‘dvelja’
‘жить’; OE gift ‘выкуп за жену, свадьба’ - Scandinavian ‘present’

11. Assimilation. Degrees of assimilation

According to the degree of
assimilation borrowed words are
classified into:
• completely assimilated loan words;
• partially assimilated loan words;
• unassimilated loan words (barbarisms).

12. Partially assimilated loan words:

words not assimilated semantically
E.g. domino, minaret, valenki
words not assimilated grammatically
E.g. bacillus – bacilli; phenomenon – phenomena; crisis –
crises;
words not assimilated phonetically – borrowed after the
XVII century; E.g. Parisian borrowings – machine,
bourgeois, protégé, beige, boulevard, fiancé;
words not assimilated graphically - mainly of the French
origin; E.g. restaurant, corps, bouquet, cliché, ballet.

13. Etymological Doublets

Etymological doublets enter the vocabulary by different routes:
a native word – a borrowed word.
E.g.
two borrowings from different languages which historically
descended from the same root.
E.g.
senior (Latin) – sir (French);
captain (Latin) - chieftain (French);
words borrowed from the same language twice, but in different
periods.
E.g.
shrew (Native) – screw (Scan);
corpse (Norman French) – corps (Parisian French);
cavalry (Norman French) – chivalry (Parisian Fr);
a shortened word – the one from which it was derived.
E.g.
story – history; fancy – fantasy; fan – fanatic.

14. International Words

denote terms of politics, arts, industry, sports,
science;
they are present in English as well as in other
languages: Fr, G, Sp, Ru;
they have one source;
they are very close in the meaning; international
words are often confused with other words which
ultimately come from the same source but have
diverged in meaning - ‘false friends’ or ‘false
cognates’, e.g. accurate/аккуратный , conserves/
консервы;
they preserve phonetical and morphological
peculiarities typical of the given language.

15. International Words

concert
sort
chaos
hockey
dacha

16. The role of borrowings in English

Borrowed words have influenced:
the phonetic structure of English
words and the sound system;
the word-structure and the system of
word-building;
the semantic structure of English
words;
the lexical territorial divergence.

17. The influence of borrowings on the phonetic structure of English words and the sound system

the appearance of a number of words of new phonetic structure
with strange sounds or familiar sounds in unusual positions, e.g.
waltz, psychology, souffle. The initial [ps], [pn], [pt] are
used in English alongside the forms without the initial sound
[p];
the appearance of a new diphthong [oi] which came into
English together with such French words as point, joint,
poise;
the reappearance of the initial [sk] mostly due to Scandinavian
borrowings;
the development of the Old English variant phonemes [f] and
[v] into different phonemes: [v] came to be used initially
(vain, valley) and [f] in the intervocal position (effect,
affair);
the appearance of the affricate [dj] at the beginning of words,
e.g. jungle, journey, gesture. In the Middle English period
the affricate [dj] was found at the end or in the middle of
words: bridge.

18. The influence of borrowings on the word-structure and the system of word-building

The influence of borrowings on the wordstructure and the system of word-building
the appearance of a number of new structural types in which
some highly-productive borrowed affixes (e.g. re-, inter-, -er,
-ism) can combine with native and borrowed bases. Other
borrowed affixes, not so productive (e.g. со-, de-, -ant, -ic),
combine only with Latinate bases, i.e. bases of Latin, Greek or
French origin, e.g. inform-ant (inform- < Old French < Latin),
defend-ant (defend- < Old French <Latin);
the ousting of native affixes by borrowed ones, e.g. the prefix
pre- has replaced the native prefix fore- which was highlyproductive in Middle and Early New English;
the appearance of a great number of words with bound
morphemes, e.g. tolerate, tolerable, tolerance, toleration;
the change of the very nature of word-clusters which now unite
not only words of the root-morphemes, but of different
synonymous root-morphemes, e.g. spring — vernal; sea —
maritime.

19. The influence of borrowings on the semantic structure of English words

the differentiation of borrowed words and synonymous native
words in meaning and use, cf.: feed (native) — nourish (L);
the narrowing of meaning of native words due to the
differentiation of synonyms. For instance, the word stool of
native origin in Old English denoted ‘any article of furniture
designed for sitting on’. Under the influence of the French
borrowing chair the word stool came to be used as the name
for only one kind of furniture, i. e. ‘a seat that has three or four
legs, but no back or arms’;
the extension of meaning of native English words or the
acquisition of additional or new meanings, e.g. the political
meanings of shock and deviation have come from the Russian
ударный and уклон.

20. The influence of borrowings on the lexical territorial divergence

the intensification of the difference between the word-stock of
the literary national language and dialects owing to the
borrowing of words into the literary national language which are
not found in the dialects, and vice versa;
the enlargement of the word-stock of different dialects and
national variants of English. For example, Irish English has the
following words of Celtic origin: shamrock — трилистник,
dun - холм, colleen — девушка, etc. In the Northern and
Eastern dialects there are many Scandinavian borrowings, e.g.
busk — ‘get ready’; mun — ‘mouth’;
the acquisition by literary national words of a status of dialectal
words, e.g. heal — скрывать, покрывать (OE helan).

21. Folk etymology

MnE cutlet «котлета» goes back to Fr cotelette;
MnE buttery «кладовая» goes back to Latin
botaria «место хранения напитков» (Latin bota
«бочка, бутылка») was erroneously associated
with the English butter «масло»;
‘asparagus’ (Latin) – ‘sparrow grass’ (English);
‘tarantula’ (Latin) – a spider – ‘triantelope’
(English);
‘crevice’ (French) ‘рак’ – ‘crayfish’ (English);
‘primerole’ (French) ‘примула’ – ‘primrose’
(English).

22.

Languages
are
the
pedigrees of nations.
(Samuel Johnson)
Языки – родословная
наций.

23. Latin borrowings

Third layer
the Renaissance Period
XIV – XVI centuries
Second layer
Christianization of England
the end of VI – VII centuries A.D.
First layer
by the V-th century A.D.
The English
language

24. The first layer of Latin borrowings (by the V-th cent. A.D.)

wine (Lat. vinum); cheese (Lat. cāseus);
peach (Lat. persicum); butter (Lat. būtyrum);
mill (Lat. molina); kitchen (Lat. coquina);
cup (Lat. cuppa); mule (Lat. mulus);
cheap (Lat.caupōna)

25.

Germanic tribes
before they left
the continent
for the British Isles
(V-th century A.D.)

26. The first layer of Latin borrowings (by the V-th cent. A.D.)

street (Lat. strata via); camp (Lat. campus);
port (Lat. portus); wall (Lat. vallum);
colonia and castra (Lincoln,
Manchester, Gloucester, Leicester)

27. Latin borrowings

Third layer
the Renaissance Period
XIV – XVI centuries
Second layer
Christianization of England
the end of VI – VII centuries A.D.
First layer
by the V-th century A.D.
The English
language

28.

The second layer of Latin
Borrowings (Christianization)
angel (Lat angelus < Gk aggelōs ‘вестник’);
nun (Lat nonna); candle (Lat. candela);
pope (Lat pāpa;Gk pāpas); devil (Lat-Gk);
priest (Lat-Gk);
school (Lat. schola < Gk. skholế ‘досуг’);
verse (Lat. versus); circle (Lat circŭlus);
scholar (Lat); magister (Lat)

29. Latin borrowings

Third layer
the Renaissance Period
XIV – XVI centuries
Second layer
Christianization of England
the end of VI – VII centuries A.D.
First layer
by the V-th century A.D.
The English
language

30. The third layer of Latin borrowings (Renaissance)

Nouns: act, conception, defect, effect, election,
fate, formula, idea, imitation, illusion, memory,
torture, use.
Verbs: to add, to addict, to adopt, to celebrate, to
describe, to collect, to convince, to decorate, to
neglect, to tolerate.
Adjectives: absent, absolute, accurate, direct,
equal, fatal, finite, future, humane, immediate,
immaculate, literary, manual, neutral.

31. Greek borrowings

direct borrowings (church – Gk. kuriakon ‘дом бога’)
Peculiarities of Greek borrowings:
the sound [k] is graphically presented by ch: Christ,
character;
the sound [f] – by ph: alphabet, emphasis;
the letter p before s is not pronounced: psychology,
psychiatry;
in the middle of the word y is used instead of i:
sympathy, physics.

32. Scandinavian borrowings

Old Scandinavian
IX – XI centuries
The English
language

33. Scandinavian borrowings

•Nouns: root, wing, anger, fellow, gate, husband, window.
•Verbs: cast, cut, die, hit, take, call, want.
•Adjectives: low, ill, ugly, weak, loose, odd, wrong,
happy.
•Pronouns: they, them, their, both, same.
•Place names: ending in -by (Sc byr – ‘селение’) – Derby, Whitby,
Rugby; -thorp, -torp (Sc torp ‘деревня’) – Althorp, Linthorpe; -toft (Sc
‘участок земли’) – Eastoft, Brimtoft, Nortoft; -thwaite (Sc ‘порубка’) –
Applethwaite, Braithwaite, Langthwaite.
• Markers:
initial combination sk (sc): sky, skin, skull, scant, skill,
scanty, whisk, to scare;
g, k in the combination with the front i, e (in old English
they were palatalized [j], [tЅ]), examples: get, gift, guess.

34. French borrowings

The second layer
The Renaissance period
XIV – XVI centuries
The first layer
The Norman Conquest
XI c.
The English
language

35. The first layer. Norman French borrowings

state, govern, government, country, county, power,
parliament, people, nation;
servant, feudal, prince, duke, count, baron, glory, noble,
fine;
army, enemy, battle, war, peace, defence, conquest, victory,
navy, officer, soldier, captain, sergeant;
court, justice, accuse, judge, jury, attorney, solicitor, crime;
religion, prayer, dean, abbey, saint, to tempt, to blame, vice,
virtue;
literature, art, colour, to paint, to design, story, volume,
chapter, tower;
dress, gown, costume, dinner, supper, soup, to boil, to fry, to
roast, to toast, sport, chase, pleasure, comfort, cards, dice,
trump, ace, luxury, ornament, jewels.

36. The second layer. Parisian borrowings

capital, commerce, investment, bank, machine, manufacture;
memoir, cartoon, lampoon, critique, miniature, symphony,
burlesque, to banter, to ridicule, to remark;
bourgeois, regime, police, currency, capitalism, capitalist,
finance;
aristocrat, democrat, despot, royalist, conscription, section, to
revolutionize, to terrorize, revolution, demagogic, tyranny,
bureaucracy;
platoon, bomb, corps, bayonet, blockade, marine.

37. Celtic borrowings

bannock ‘пресная лепешка’, bin ‘закром’, brock ‘барсук’, crag
‘утес’, dun ‘серовато-коричневый цвет’, down ‘холм’, brat
‘вульг. ребенок’;
place names: rivers - Avon, Dover, Trent, Wye; uisge ‘вода’ gave
name to the rivers – Exe, Esk, Usk; mountains – Barr, Bredon,
Torr;
Celtic roots are preserved in some place names: aber ‘устье
реки’ – Aberdeen; dun ‘крепость’ – Dundee, Dunstable; cum
‘долина, ущелье’ – Duncombe, Helcombe, Wonchcomb; llan
‘церковь’ – Llandaff, Llandovery; inbher ‘устье’ – Inverness,
Inverurie.
London: Llyn + dun; llyn (river) + dun (a fortified hill); the
meaning of the whole being ‘a fortress on the hill over the river.’
Later borrowings from the Celtic languages (Irish, Scottish):
clan, flannel, loch, shamrock, slogan, Tory, whiskey.
Some words of Celtic origin came to English through French:
beak, budge (отсюда budget), gravel, harness, tunnel, carry,
cargo.

38. Italian borrowings

musical terms: adagio, allegro, andante, aria, baritone, basso,
concert, duet, contralto, falsetto, legato, intermezzo;
terms of art: aquarelle, miniature, fresco, studio, stucco, terra
cotta, model, bust;
literature terms: canto, stanza;
architectural terms: colonnade, niche, grotto, gallery,
pedestal, villa, mosaic, facade, corridor, portico, granite,
balcony;
words of military character (they entered English through
French in XVI – XVII centuries): alarm, cartridge, cavalry,
colonel, corporal, infantry, campaign, pistol, brave;
festive terms: confetti, costume, gala, motto, vogue, salon,
tarantella, masquerade, carnival, cortege, paladin, escort;
crime: charlatan, bandit, ruffian, corsair, contraband, vendetta;
banking world: cash, cashier, casino, debit, credit, bank,
banker, bankrupt, accredit, tariff, risk;
food industry: ravioli, spaghetti, vermicelli, macaroni, pizza,
pizzeria, Chianti, bologna.

39. Borrowings

banana
candy
tornado
veranda
sofa

40. Borrowings

taboo
caramel
caramel
muzhik
astrakhan
zebra

41.

Language is the armory of the
human mind, and at once contains
the trophies of its past and the
weapons of its future conquests.
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)