Is a word of greek origin meaning

The Greek language has contributed to the English lexicon in five main ways:

• vernacular borrowings, transmitted orally through Vulgar Latin directly into Old English, e.g., ‘butter’ (butere, from Latin butyrum < βούτυρον), or through French, e.g., ‘ochre’;
• learned borrowings from classical Greek texts, often via Latin, e.g., ‘physics’ (< Latin physica < τὰ φυσικά);
• a few borrowings transmitted through other languages, notably Arabic scientific and philosophical writing, e.g., ‘alchemy’ (< χημεία);
• direct borrowings from Modern Greek, e.g., ‘ouzo’ (ούζο);
• neologisms (coinages) in post-classical Latin or modern languages using classical Greek roots, e.g., ‘telephone’ (< τῆλε + φωνή) or a mixture of Greek and other roots, e.g., ‘television’ (< Greek τῆλε + English vision < Latin visio); these are often shared among the modern European languages, including Modern Greek.

Of these, the neologisms are by far the most numerous.

Indirect and direct borrowings[edit]

Since the living Greek and English languages were not in direct contact until modern times, borrowings were necessarily indirect, coming either through Latin (through texts or through French and other vernaculars), or from Ancient Greek texts, not the living spoken language.^[5][6]

Vernacular borrowings[edit]

Romance languages[edit]

Some Greek words were borrowed into Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. English often received these words from French. Some have remained very close to the Greek original, e.g., lamp (Latin lampas; Greek λαμπάς). In others, the phonetic and orthographic form has changed considerably. For instance, place was borrowed both by Old English and by French from Latin platea, itself borrowed from πλατεία (ὁδός), ‘broad (street)’; the Italian piazza and Spanish plaza have the same origin, and have been borrowed into English in parallel.

The word olive comes through the Romance from the Latin olīva, which in turn comes from the archaic Greek elaíwā (ἐλαίϝᾱ).^[7] A later Greek word, boútȳron (βούτυρον),^[8] becomes Latin butyrum and eventually English butter. A large group of early borrowings, again transmitted first through Latin, then through various vernaculars, comes from Christian vocabulary:

• chair << καθέδρα (cf. ‘cathedra’);
• bishop << epískopos (ἐπίσκοπος ‘overseer’);
• priest << presbýteros (πρεσβύτερος ‘elder’); and

In some cases, the orthography of these words was later changed to reflect the Greek—and Latin—spelling: e.g., quire was respelled as choir in the 17th century. Sometimes this was done incorrectly: ache is from a Germanic root; the spelling ache reflects Samuel Johnson’s incorrect etymology from ἄχος.^[9]

Other[edit]

Exceptionally, church came into Old English as cirice, circe via a West Germanic language. The Greek form was probably kȳriakḗ [oikía] (κυριακή [οἰκία] ‘lord’s [house]’). In contrast, the Romance languages generally used the Latin words ecclēsia or basilica, both borrowed from Greek.

Learned borrowings[edit]

Many more words were borrowed by scholars writing in Medieval and Renaissance Latin. Some words were borrowed in essentially their original meaning, often transmitted through Classical Latin: topic, type, physics, iambic, eta, necromancy, cosmopolite. A few result from scribal errors: encyclopedia < ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία ‘the circle of learning’ (not a compound in Greek); acne < ἀκνή (erroneous) < ἀκμή ‘high point, acme’. Some kept their Latin form, e.g., podium < πόδιον.

Others were borrowed unchanged as technical terms, but with specific, novel meanings:

• telescope < τηλεσκόπος ‘far-seeing’, refers to an optical instrument for seeing far away rather than a person who can see far into the distance;
• phlogiston < φλογιστόν ‘burnt thing’, is a supposed fire-making potential rather than something which has been burned, or can be burned; and
• bacterium < βακτήριον ‘stick (diminutive)’, is a kind of microorganism rather than a small stick or staff.

Usage in neologisms[edit]

But by far the largest Greek contribution to English vocabulary is the huge number of scientific, medical, and technical neologisms that have been coined by compounding Greek roots and affixes to produce novel words which never existed in the Greek language:

• utopia (1516; οὐ ‘not’ + τόπος ‘place’)^[10]
• zoology (1669; ζῷον + λογία)
• hydrodynamics (1738; ὕδωρ + δυναμικός)
• photography (1834; φῶς + γραφικός)
• oocyte (1895; ᾠόν + κύτος)
• helicobacter (1989; ἕλιξ + βακτήριον)

So it is really the combining forms of Greek roots and affixes that are borrowed, not the words. Neologisms using these elements are coined in all the European languages, and spread to the others freely—including to Modern Greek, where they are considered to be reborrowings. Traditionally, these coinages were constructed using only Greek morphemes, e.g., metamathematics, but increasingly, Greek, Latin, and other morphemes are combined. These hybrid words were formerly considered to be ‘barbarisms’, such as:

• television (τῆλε + Latin vision);
• metalinguistic (μετά + Latin lingua + -ιστής + -ικος); and
• garbology (English garbage + -ολογία).

Some derivations are idiosyncratic, not following Greek compounding patterns, for example:^[11]

• gas (< χάος) is irregular both in formation and in spelling;
• hadron < ἁδρός with the suffix -on, itself abstracted from Greek anion (ἀνιόν);
• henotheism < ἑνό(ς) ‘one’ + θεός ‘god’, though heno- is not used as a prefix in Greek;
• taxonomy < τάξις ‘order’ + -nomy (-νομία ‘study of’), where the «more etymological form» is taxinomy,^[1][12] as found in ταξίαρχος, ‘taxiarch’, and the neologism taxidermy. Modern Greek uses ταξινομία in its reborrowing.^[13]
• psychedelic < ψυχή ‘psyche’ + δηλοῦν ‘make manifest, reveal’; the regular formation would be psychodelotic;
• telegram; the regular formation would have been telegrapheme;^[14]
• hecto-, kilo-, myria-, etymologically hecato-, chilio-, myrio-;^[15]
• heuristic, regular formation heuretic;
• chrysalis, regular spelling chrysallis;
• ptomaine, regular formation ptomatine;
• kerosene, hydrant, symbiont.

Many combining forms have specific technical meanings in neologisms, not predictable from the Greek sense:

• -cyte or cyto- < κύτος ‘container’, means biological cells, not arbitrary containers.
• -oma < -ωμα, a generic morpheme forming deverbal nouns, such as diploma (‘a folded thing’) and glaucoma (‘greyness’), comes to have the very narrow meaning of ‘tumor’ or ‘swelling’, on the model of words like carcinoma < καρκίνωμα. For example, melanoma does not come from μελάνωμα ‘blackness’, but rather from the modern combining forms melano- (‘dark’ [in biology]) + -oma (‘tumor’).
• -itis < -ῖτις, a generic adjectival suffix; in medicine used to mean a disease characterized by inflammation: appendicitis, conjunctivitis, …, and now facetiously generalized to mean «feverish excitement».^[16]
• -osis < -ωσις, originally a state, condition, or process; in medicine, used for a disease.^[16]

In standard chemical nomenclature, the numerical prefixes are «only loosely based on the corresponding Greek words», e.g. octaconta- is used for 80 instead of the Greek ogdoeconta- ’80’. There are also «mixtures of Greek and Latin roots», e.g., nonaconta-, for 90, is a blend of the Latin nona- for 9 and the Greek -conta- found in words such as ἐνενήκοντα enenekonta ’90’.^[17] The Greek form is, however, used in the names of polygons in mathematics, though the names of polyhedra are more idiosyncratic.

Many Greek affixes such as anti- and -ic have become productive in English, combining with arbitrary English words: antichoice, Fascistic.

Some words in English have been reanalyzed as a base plus suffix, leading to suffixes based on Greek words, but which are not suffixes in Greek (cf. libfix). Their meaning relates to the full word they were shortened from, not the Greek meaning:

• -athon or -a-thon (from the portmanteau word walkathon, from walk + (mar)athon).
• -ase, used in chemistry for enzymes, is abstracted from diastase, where —ασις is not a morpheme at all in Greek.
• -on for elementary particles, from electron: lepton, neutron, phonon, …
• -nomics refers specifically to economics: Reaganomics.

Through other languages[edit]

Some Greek words were borrowed through Arabic and then Romance. Many are learned:

• alchemy (al- + χημεία or χημία)
  • chemist is a back-formation from alchemist
• elixir (al- + ξήριον)
• alembic (al- + ἄμβιξ)

Others are popular:

• bottarga (ᾠοτάριχον)
• tajine (τάγηνον)
• carat (κεράτιον)
• talisman (τέλεσμα)
• possibly quintal (κεντηνάριον < Latin centenarium (pondus)).

A few words took other routes:^[18]

• seine (a kind of fishing net) comes from a West Germanic form *sagīna, from Latin sagēna, from σαγήνη.
• effendi comes from Turkish, borrowed from Medieval Greek αυθέντης (/afˈθendis/, ‘lord’).
• hora (the dance) comes from Romanian and Modern Hebrew, borrowed from χορός ‘dance’.

Vernacular or learned doublets[edit]

Some Greek words have given rise to etymological doublets, being borrowed both through a later learned, direct route, and earlier through an organic, indirect route:^[19][20]

Other doublets come from differentiation in the borrowing languages:

From modern Greek[edit]

Finally, with the growth of tourism and emigration, some words reflecting modern Greek culture have been borrowed into English—many of them originally borrowings into Greek themselves:

Greek as an intermediary[edit]

Many words from the Hebrew Bible were transmitted to the western languages through the Greek of the Septuagint, often without morphological regularization:

• rabbi (ραββί)
• seraphim (σεραφείμ, σεραφίμ)
• paradise (παράδεισος < Hebrew < Persian)
• pharaoh (Φαραώ < Hebrew < Egyptian)

Written form of Greek words in English[edit]

Many Greek words, especially those borrowed through the literary tradition, are recognizable as such from their spelling. Latin had standard orthographies for Greek borrowings, including, but not limited to:

• Greek υ was written as ‘y’
• η as ‘e’
• χ as ‘ch’
• φ as ‘ph’
• κ as ‘c’
• rough breathings as ‘h’
• both ι and ει as ‘i’

These conventions, which originally reflected pronunciation, have carried over into English and other languages with historical orthography, like French.^[22] They make it possible to recognize words of Greek origin, and give hints as to their pronunciation and inflection.

The romanization of some digraphs is rendered in various ways in English. The diphthongs αι and οι may be spelled in three different ways in English:

1. the Latinate digraphs ae and oe;
2. the ligatures æ and œ; and
3. the simple letter e.

The ligatures have largely fallen out of use worldwide; the digraphs are uncommon in American usage, but remain common in British usage. The spelling depends mostly on the variety of English, not on the particular word. Examples include: encyclopaedia / encyclopædia / encyclopedia; haemoglobin / hæmoglobin / hemoglobin; and oedema / œdema / edema. Some words are almost always written with the digraph or ligature: amoeba / amœba, rarely ameba; Oedipus / Œdipus, rarely Edipus; others are almost always written with the single letter: sphære and hæresie were obsolete by 1700; phænomenon by 1800; phænotype and phænol by 1930. The verbal ending -ίζω is spelled -ize in American English, and -ise or -ize in British English.

Since the 19th century, a few learned words were introduced using a direct transliteration of Ancient Greek and including the Greek endings, rather than the traditional Latin-based spelling: nous (νοῦς), koine (κοινή), hoi polloi (οἱ πολλοί), kudos (κύδος), moron (μωρόν), kubernetes (κυβερνήτης). For this reason, the Ancient Greek digraph ει is rendered differently in different words—as i, following the standard Latin form: idol < εἴδωλον; or as ei, transliterating the Greek directly: eidetic (< εἰδητικός), deixis, seismic. Most plurals of words ending in -is are -es (pronounced [iːz]), using the regular Latin plural rather than the Greek -εις: crises, analyses, bases, with only a few didactic words having English plurals in -eis: poleis, necropoleis, and acropoleis (though acropolises is by far the most common English plural).

Most learned borrowings and coinages follow the Latin system, but there are some irregularities:

• eureka (cf. heuristic);
• kaleidoscope (the regular spelling would be calidoscope^[6])
• kinetic (cf. cinematography);
• krypton (cf. cryptic);
• acolyte (< ἀκόλουθος; acoluth would be the etymological spelling, but acolythus, acolotus, acolithus are all found in Latin);^[23]
• stoichiometry (< στοιχεῖον; regular spelling would be st(o)echio-).
• aneurysm was formerly often spelled aneurism on the assumption that it uses the usual -ism ending.

Some words whose spelling in French and Middle English did not reflect their Greco-Latin origins were refashioned with etymological spellings in the 16th and 17th centuries: caracter became character and quire became choir.

In some cases, a word’s spelling clearly shows its Greek origin:

• If it includes ph pronounced as /f/ or y between consonants, it is very likely Greek, with some exceptions, such as nephew, cipher, triumph.^[24]
• If it includes rrh, phth, or chth; or starts with hy-, ps-, pn-, or chr-; or the rarer pt-, ct-, chth-, rh-, x-, sth-, mn-, tm-, gn- or bd-, then it is Greek, with some exceptions: gnat, gnaw, gneiss.

Other exceptions include:

• ptarmigan is from a Gaelic word, the p having been added by false etymology;
• style is probably written with a ‘y’ because the Greek word στῦλος ‘column’ (as in peristyle, ‘surrounded by columns’) and the Latin word stilus, ‘stake, pointed instrument’, were confused.
• trophy, though ultimately of Greek origin, did not have a φ but a π in its Greek form, τρόπαιον.

Pronunciation[edit]

In clusters such as ps-, pn-, and gn- which are not allowed by English phonotactics, the usual English pronunciation drops the first consonant (e.g., psychology) at the start of a word; compare gnostic [nɒstɪk] and agnostic [ægnɒstɪk]; there are a few exceptions: tmesis [t(ə)miːsɪs].

Initial x- is pronounced z. Ch is pronounced like k rather than as in «church»: e.g., character, chaos. The consecutive vowel letters ‘ea’ are generally pronounced separately rather than forming a single vowel sound when transcribing a Greek εα, which was not a digraph, but simply a sequence of two vowels with hiatus, as in genealogy or pancreas (cf., however, ocean, ωκεανός); zeal (earlier zele) comes irregularly from the η in ζήλος.

Some sound sequences in English are only found in borrowings from Greek, notably initial sequences of two fricatives, as in sphere.^[25] Most initial /z/ sounds are found in Greek borrowings.^[25]

The stress on borrowings via Latin which keep their Latin form generally follows the traditional English pronunciation of Latin, which depends on the syllable structure in Latin, not in Greek. For example, in Greek, both ὑπόθεσις (hypothesis) and ἐξήγησις (exegesis) are accented on the antepenult, and indeed the penult has a long vowel in exegesis; but because the penult of Latin exegēsis is heavy by Latin rules, the accent falls on the penult in Latin and therefore in English.

Inflectional endings and plurals[edit]

Though many English words derived from Greek through the literary route drop the inflectional endings (tripod, zoology, pentagon) or use Latin endings (papyrus, mausoleum), some preserve the Greek endings:

• -ον: phenomenon, criterion, neuron, lexicon;
• —∅: plasma, drama, dilemma, trauma (-ma is derivational, not inflectional);
• -ος: chaos, ethos, asbestos, pathos, cosmos;
• -ς: climax (ξ x = k + s), helix, larynx, eros, pancreas, atlas;
• -η: catastrophe, agape, psyche;
• -ις: analysis, basis, crisis, emphasis;
• -ης: diabetes, herpes, isosceles.

In cases like scene, zone, fame, though the Greek words ended in -η, the silent English e is not derived from it.

In the case of Greek endings, the plurals sometimes follow the Greek rules: phenomenon, phenomena; tetrahedron, tetrahedra; crisis, crises; hypothesis, hypotheses; polis, poleis; stigma, stigmata; topos, topoi; cyclops, cyclopes; but often do not: colon, colons not *cola (except for the very rare technical term of rhetoric); pentathlon, pentathlons not *pentathla; demon, demons not *demones; climaxes, not *climaces.

Usage is mixed in some cases: schema, schemas or schemata; lexicon, lexicons or lexica; helix, helixes or helices; sphinx, sphinges or sphinxes; clitoris, clitorises or clitorides. And there are misleading cases: pentagon comes from Greek pentagonon, so its plural cannot be *pentaga; it is pentagons—the Greek form would be *pentagona (cf. Plurals from Latin and Greek).

Verbs[edit]

A few dozen English verbs are derived from the corresponding Greek verbs; examples are baptize, blame and blaspheme, stigmatize, ostracize, and cauterize. In addition, the Greek verbal suffix -ize is productive in Latin, the Romance languages, and English: words like metabolize, though composed of a Greek root and a Greek suffix, are modern compounds. A few of these also existed in Ancient Greek, such as crystallize, characterize, and democratize, but were probably coined independently in modern languages. This is particularly clear in cases like allegorize and synergize, where the Greek verbs ἀλληγορεῖν and συνεργεῖν do not end in -ize at all. Some English verbs with ultimate Greek etymologies, like pause and cycle, were formed as denominal verbs in English, even though there are corresponding Greek verbs, παῦειν/παυσ- and κυκλεῖν.

Borrowings and cognates[edit]

Greek and English share many Indo-European cognates. In some cases, the cognates can be confused with borrowings. For example, the English mouse is cognate with Greek μῦς /mys/ and Latin mūs, all from an Indo-European word *mūs; they are not borrowings. Similarly, acre is cognate to Latin ager and Greek αγρός, but not a borrowing; the prefix agro- is a borrowing from Greek, and the prefix agri- a borrowing from Latin.

Phrases[edit]

Many Latin phrases are used verbatim in English texts—et cetera (etc.), ad nauseam, modus operandi (M.O.), ad hoc, in flagrante delicto, mea culpa, and so on—but this is rarer for Greek phrases or expressions:

• hoi polloi ‘the many’
• eureka ‘I have found [it]’
• kalos kagathos ‘beautiful and virtuous’
• hapax legomenon ‘once said’
• kyrie eleison ‘Lord, have mercy’

Calques and translations[edit]

Greek technical terminology was often calqued in Latin rather than borrowed,^[26][27] and then borrowed from Latin into English. Examples include:^[26]

• (grammatical) case, from casus (‘an event’, something that has fallen’), a semantic calque of Greek πτώσις (‘a fall’);
• nominative, from nōminātīvus, a translation of Greek ὀνομαστική;
• adverb, a morphological calque of Greek ἐπίρρημα as ad- + verbum;
• magnanimous, from Greek μεγάθυμος (lit. ‘great spirit’);
• essence, from essentia, which was constructed from the notional present participle *essens, imitating Greek οὐσία.^[28]
• Substance, from substantia, a calque of Greek υπόστασις (cf. hypostasis);^[29]
• Cicero coined moral on analogy with Greek ηθικός.^[30]
• Recant is modeled on παλινῳδεῖν.^[31]

Greek phrases were also calqued in Latin, then borrowed or translated into English:

• English commonplace is a calque of locus communis, itself a calque of Greek κοινός τόπος.
• deus ex machina ‘god out of the machine’ was calqued from the Greek apò mēkhanês theós (ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός).
• materia medica is a short form of Dioscorides‘ De Materia Medica, from Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς.
• quod erat demonstrandum (Q.E.D.) is a calque of ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι.
• subject matter is a calque of subiecta māteria, itself a calque of Aristotle’s phrase «ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕλη.»
• wisdom tooth came to English from dentes sapientiae, from Arabic aḍrāsu ‘lḥikmi, from σωϕρονιστῆρες, used by Hippocrates.
• political animal is from πολιτικὸν ζῷον (in Aristotle’s Politics).
• quintessence is post-classical quinta essentia, from Greek πέμπτη οὐσία.

The Greek word εὐαγγέλιον has come into English both in borrowed forms like evangelical and the form gospel, an English calque (Old English gód spel ‘good tidings’) of bona adnuntiatio, itself a calque of the Greek.

Statistics[edit]

The contribution of Greek to the English vocabulary can be quantified in two ways, type and token frequencies: type frequency is the proportion of distinct words; token frequency is the proportion of words in actual texts.

Since most words of Greek origin are specialized technical and scientific coinages, the type frequency is considerably higher than the token frequency. And the type frequency in a large word list will be larger than that in a small word list. In a typical English dictionary of 80,000 words, which corresponds very roughly to the vocabulary of an educated English speaker, about 5% of the words are borrowed from Greek.^[32]

Most common[edit]

Of the 500 most common words in English, 18 (3.6%) are of Greek origin: place (rank 115), problem (121), school (147), system (180), program (241), idea (252), story (307), base (328), center (335), period (383), history (386), type (390), music (393), political (395), policy (400), paper (426), phone (480), economic (494).^[33]

See also[edit]

• List of Greek and Latin roots in English
• List of Greek morphemes used in English
• List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
• Transliteration of Greek into English
• Classical compound
• Hybrid word
• Latin influence in English

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Baugh, Albert C., Thomas Cable. 2002. A History of the English Language, 5th edition. ISBN 0415280990
• Gaidatzi, Theopoula. July 1985. «Greek loanwords in English» (M.A. thesis). University of Leeds
• Konstantinidis, Aristidis. 2006. Η Οικουμενική Διάσταση της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας [The Universal Reach of the Greek Language]. Athens: self-published. ISBN 960-90338-2-2.
• Krill, Richard M. 1990. Greek and Latin in English Today. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. ISBN 0-86516-241-7.
• March, F. A. 1893. «The Influence of the Greeks on the English Language.» The Chautauquan 16(6):660–66.
• —— 1893. «Greek in the English of Modern Science.» The Chautauquan 17(1):20–23.
• Scheler, Manfred. 1977. Der englische Wortschatz [English vocabulary]. Berlin: Schmidt.
• Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.)

External links[edit]

• Mathematical Words: Origins and Sources (John Aldrich, University of Southampton)

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.

греческого происхождения

греческое происхождение

грек по происхождению

греческому происхождению

греки по происхождению

древнегреческого происхождения

They were likely of Greek origin.

Such global notions of humanity as democracy, the constitution is also of Greek origin.

Some believe that it has Greek origin, others support its Armenian provenance.

Некоторые полагают, что она имеет греческое происхождение, другие поддерживают точку зрения о её армянских корнях.

Both names have Greek origin and we have a huge internal energy.

Of Greek origin, he studied painting in Italy, in the studio of the great Titian.

The design of the medals normally reflects the Greek origin of the games.

A similar compromise is proposed for the letter f in words of Greek origin.

Подобное компромисное решение предлагается и для буквы «ф» в словах, имеющих греческого происхождения.

Derma is a word of Greek origin, meaning skin.

The system used in the west today, dividing instruments into wind, strings, and percussion, is of Greek origin.

Система, используемая на западе сегодня, делит инструменты на духовые, струнные и ударные, и имеет греческое происхождение.

The word «ode» itself is of Greek origin, meaning «sung».

The etymology of the peaks are mainly of Greek origin.

Take the much-maligned ‘cemetery’, a word whose Greek origin means ‘a place of sleep’.

Возьмите много-клеветническое «кладбище», слово, чье греческое происхождение означает «место сна».

Foreigners of Greek origin are not obliged to pay the deposit.

It is suspected to be of Greek origin.

The prefix phyto is of Greek origin and means plant, and it’s used because phytonutrients are obtained only from plants.

Префикс фито имеет греческое происхождение и означает растение, фитонутриенты получают только из растений.

Both of these words are of Greek origin.

A dialogue, which has the Greek origin dialogos, is a conversation between two or more people.

The term «diabetes» itself has a Greek origin.

It is also of Greek origin.

The word «hujayra» has a Greek origin — kytos.

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 264. Точных совпадений: 264. Затраченное время: 101 мс

Documents

Корпоративные решения

Спряжение

Синонимы

Корректор

Справка и о нас

Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

After French, Latin and Viking (and Old English of course, but that is English), the Greek language has contributed more words to modern English than any other – perhaps 5%.

Many Greek words sprang from Greek mythology and history. Knowing those subjects was evidence that a person was educated, so dropping a reference to Greek literature was encouraged even into the 20th century. From Greek mythology, we get words such as atlas, chaos, chronological, erotic, herculean, hypnotic, muse, nectar, promethean, and even cloth.

But most Greek-origin words in English did not come straight from ancient Greek. Many are modern, not ancient, combinations of Greek root words. For example, you probably know the telephone was not used by the ancient Greeks. But the word itself is all Greek, made up of the Greek words for “distant” and “sound.” Besides tele and phon, common Greek roots include anti, arch, auto, bio, centro, chromo, cyclo, demo, dys, eu, graph, hydro, hypo, hyper, logo, macro, mega, meta, micro, mono, paleo, para, philo, photo, poly, pro, pseudo, psycho, pyro, techno, thermo and zoo. Among others.

Comparing the original and the modern meanings of Greek words that became English words sometimes shows not only how much language has changed, but how much culture has changed.

1. idiot
   Someone of very low intelligence. For the ancient Greeks, an idiot was a private citizen, a person not involved in civil government or politics. Related: idiosyncracy, idiom, and other individualistic words.
2. metropolis
   The Greek roots of this word are “mother” and “city.” Socrates, convicted in court of corrupting the youth with his philosophy, was given a choice between drinking poison or exile from his mother city of Athens. He chose poison because he wasn’t an idiot, in the ancient sense. If you chose exile, you might be an idiot in the ancient sense, but you would be a live idiot.
3. acrobat
   This circus performer who demonstrates feats of physical agility by climbing to the very top of the rope gets his name from the Greek words “high” and “walk,” with the sense of “rope dancer” and “tip-toe.”
4. bacterium
   From a Greek word that means “stick” because under a microscope (another Greek word), some bacteria look like sticks.
5. cemetery
   The Greek word koimeterion meant “sleeping place, dormitory.” Early Christian writers adopted the word for “burial ground,” and that’s why college students stay in the dormitory and not in the cemetery.
6. dinosaur
   You may have heard this one before. Our word for these ancient reptiles is a modern (1841) combination of the Greek words for “terrible” and “lizard.
7. hippopotamus
   The ancient Greeks called this large, moist African animal a hippopótamos, from the words for “horse” and “river.” In other words, river horse.
8. rhinoceros
   Continuing our African theme, this large, dry African animal is named after the Greek words for “nose” and “horn.” Horns usually don’t grow on noses.
9. history
   The Greek word historía meant “inquiry, record, narrative.”
10. dialogue
    A monologue has one speaker, but a dialogue doesn’t necessarily have two speakers (that would be a “di-logue,” but there’s no such word). Dialogue comes from Greek words that mean “across-talk,” and more than two people can do that if they take turns.
11. economy
    The Greek word for “household administration” has been expanded to mean the management of money, goods, and services for an entire community or nation. But “economical” still refers to personal thrift.
12. metaphor
    In ancient times, this word meant “transfer” or “carrying over.” When my grandfather called my grandmother a peach, metaphorically speaking, he used a figure of speech that transferred the sweetness of the fruit to his sweet wife.
13. planet
    The ancient Greeks get blamed for everything wrong with astronomy before the Renaissance, but they were astute enough to notice that while most stars stood still, some wandered from year to year. The word planet comes from the Greek word for “wandering.”
14. schizophrenia
    People with this mental disorder have been described as having a “split personality,” and the name comes from Greek words for “split” and “mind.” Symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized speech.
15. technology
    This word was not limited to industry or science until the mid-19th century, during the Industrial Revolution. Originally it referred to “technique” (same Greek root) or the systematic study of an art or craft – the art of grammar, at first, and later the fine arts.
16. grammatical
    Speaking of grammar, the Ancient Greek word grammatike meant “skilled in writing.” Now it means “correct in writing.”
17. syntax
    A combination of Ancient Greek words that mean “together” and “arrangement.” Syntax is how words are arranged together.
18. sarcasm
    Though it was used to describe bitter sneering, the Greek word sarkazein literally meant “to cut off flesh,” which you might feel has happened to you when subjected to cutting sarcasm or critical humor.
19. sycophant
    Not a word that I’ve ever used, but you might like it. It means “servile, self-seeking flatterer.” In ancient Greek, it meant “one who shows the fig.” That referred to an insulting hand gesture that respectable Greek politicians wouldn’t use against their opponents, but whose shameless followers could be encouraged to do so.
20. telescope
    Another all-Greek word that wasn’t invented by the Greeks, but perhaps by the Dutch around 1600. Its roots mean “far-seeing” and Galileo Galilei was one of the first astronomers to use a telescope to see faraway things.

As you can see, Greek is deeply woven into modern English. To prove it, in the late 1950s, Greek economist Xenophon Zolotas gave two speeches in English, but using only Greek words, except for articles and prepositions. The results were rather high-sounding, but mostly comprehensible. As you become more familiar with Greek words, English will be easier to understand. And probably, more colorful.

In English grammar, a root is a word or portion of a word from which other words grow, usually through the addition of prefixes and suffixes. By learning root words, you can decipher unfamiliar words, expand your vocabulary, and become a better English speaker. 

The Roots of Words

Most words in the English language are based on words from ancient Greek and Latin. The root of the word «vocabulary,» for example, is ​voc, a Latin root meaning «word» or «name.» This root also appears in such words as «advocacy,» «convocation,» «evocative,» «vocal,» and «vowel.» By dissecting words such as these, etymologists can study how a word has evolved over time and tell us about the cultures they came from.

In some cases, root words might be slightly transformed en route to becoming part of words that we’re familiar with. In the above example, «vowel» is a word that’s clearly related to the voc root and its family of derivative words, and yet the «c» in «voc» is not present. There are several reasons for this sort of pattern, and the changes often depend on what language each individual word comes from, but it serves as a reminder that not every word with the same root will look exactly the same.

Root words are also useful for creating new words, especially in technology and medicine, where new innovations occur frequently. Think of the Greek root word tele, which means «far,» and inventions that traverse long distances, such as the telegraph, telephone, and television. The word «technology» itself is a combination of two other Greek root words, techne, meaning «skill» or «art,» and logos, or «study.»

Because several modern languages share some of the same ancestor languages, it’s not entirely uncommon for several related languages to share root words. For instance, the Latin root voc, described above, is shared by several Romance languages. Connections between languages can be found in the shared roots between them, although one always has to be wary of false cognates — that is, words that sound like they have the same roots (and thus related meanings) but actually don’t.

Greek Root Words

The table below defines and illustrates 25 of the most common Greek roots.

Latin Root Words

The table below defines and illustrates 25 of the most common Latin roots.

​Understanding the meanings of the common word roots can help us deduce the meanings of new words that we encounter. But be careful: root words can have more than one meaning as well as various shades of meaning. In addition, words that look similar may derive from different roots.

In addition, a handful of root words can stand on their own as whole words in and of themselves. This list includes words such as photo, kinesis, chrome, port, and script. Words like this tend to have related meanings on their own, then can also act as roots for longer, more complex words.

Sources

• Bryant, Alice, and Robbins, Jill. «Grow Your Vocabulary by Learning Root Words.» VOANews.com, 28 November 2017.
• Grammarly staff. «Why You Should Learn Roots.» Grammarly.com, 6 February 2016.
• McCammon, Ellen. «50 GRE Words You Should Know.» PrepScholar.com, 8 February 2017.

The Greek language has contributed to the English lexicon in five main ways:

• vernacular borrowings, transmitted orally through Vulgar Latin directly into Old English, e.g., ‘butter’ (from Latin <), or through French, e.g., ‘ochre’;
• learned borrowings from classical Greek texts, often via Latin, e.g., ‘physics’ (< Latin <);
• a few borrowings transmitted through other languages, notably Arabic scientific and philosophical writing, e.g., ‘alchemy’ (<);
• direct borrowings from Modern Greek, e.g., ‘ouzo’ ;
• neologisms (coinages) in post-classical Latin or modern languages using classical Greek roots, e.g., ‘telephone’ (< +) or a mixture of Greek and other roots, e.g., ‘television’ (< Greek + English vision < Latin); these are often shared among the modern European languages, including Modern Greek;

Of these, the neologisms are by far the most numerous.

Indirect and direct borrowings

Since the living Greek and English languages were not in direct contact until modern times, borrowings were necessarily indirect, coming either through Latin (through texts or through French and other vernaculars), or from Ancient Greek texts, not the living spoken language.^{[1] [2]}

Vernacular borrowings

Romance languages

Some Greek words were borrowed into Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. English often received these words from French. Some have remained very close to the Greek original, e.g. lamp (Latin ; Greek). In others, the phonetic and orthographic form has changed considerably. For instance, place was borrowed both by Old English and by French from Latin Latin: platea, itself borrowed from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πλατεία (ὁδός), ‘broad (street)’; the Italian Italian: piazza and Spanish Spanish; Castilian: plaza have the same origin, and have been borrowed into English in parallel.

The word olive comes through the Romance from the Latin Latin: olīva, which in turn comes from the archaic Greek elaíwā (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐλαίϝᾱ).^[3] A later Greek word, boútȳron (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βούτυρον),^[4] becomes Latin Latin: butyrum and eventually English butter. A large group of early borrowings, again transmitted first through Latin, then through various vernaculars, comes from Christian vocabulary:

• chair << Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καθέδρα (cf. ‘cathedra’);
• bishop << epískopos (‘overseer’);
• priest << presbýteros (‘elder’); and

In some cases, the orthography of these words was later changed to reflect the Greek—and Latin—spelling: e.g., quire was respelled as choir in the 17th century. Sometimes this was done incorrectly: ache is from a Germanic root; the spelling ache reflects Samuel Johnson’s incorrect etymology from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἄχος.^[5]

Other

Exceptionally, church came into Old English as cirice, circe via a West Germanic language. The Greek form was probably kȳriakḗ [»oikía»] (‘lord’s [house]’). In contrast, the Romance languages generally used the Latin words or, both borrowed from Greek.

Learned borrowings

Many more words were borrowed by scholars writing in Medieval and Renaissance Latin. Some words were borrowed in essentially their original meaning, often transmitted through Classical Latin: topic, type, physics, iambic, eta, necromancy, cosmopolite. A few result from scribal errors: encyclopedia < ‘the circle of learning’ (not a compound in Greek); acne < Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀκνή (erroneous) < ‘high point, acme’. Some kept their Latin form, e.g., podium < .

Others were borrowed unchanged as technical terms, but with specific, novel meanings:

• telescope < ‘far-seeing’, refers to an optical instrument for seeing far away rather than a person who can see far into the distance;
• phlogiston < ‘burnt thing’, is a supposed fire-making potential rather than something which has been burned, or can be burned; and
• bacterium < ‘stick (diminutive)’, is a kind of microorganism rather than a small stick or staff.

Usage in neologisms

See main article: Classical compound.

But by far the largest Greek contribution to English vocabulary is the huge number of scientific, medical, and technical neologisms that have been coined by compounding Greek roots and affixes to produce novel words which never existed in the Greek language:

• utopia (1516; ‘not’ + ‘place’)^[6]
• zoology (1669; Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ζῷον + Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: λογία)
• hydrodynamics (1738; +)
• photography (1834; +)
• oocyte (1895; +)
• helicobacter (1989; +)

So it is really the combining forms of Greek roots and affixes that are borrowed, not the words. Neologisms using these elements are coined in all the European languages, and spread to the others freely—including to Modern Greek, where they are considered to be reborrowings. Traditionally, these coinages were constructed using only Greek morphemes, e.g., metamathematics, but increasingly, Greek, Latin, and other morphemes are combined. These hybrid words were formerly considered to be ‘barbarisms’, such as:

• television (+ Latin);
• metalinguistic (+ Latin + +); and
• garbology (English garbage +).

Some derivations are idiosyncratic, not following Greek compounding patterns, for example:^[7]

Notes and References

1. Ayers, Donald M. 1986. English Words from Latin and Greek Elements. (2nd ed.). p. 158.
2. Tom McArthur, ed., The Oxford companion to the English language, 1992,, s.v. ‘Greek’, p. 453-454
3. This must have been an early borrowing, since the Latin v reflects a still-pronounced digamma; the earliest attested form of it is the Mycenaean Greek , e-ra₃-wo ‘elaiwo(n)’, attested in Linear B syllabic script. (see C.B. Walker, John Chadwick, Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet, 1990,, p. 161) The Greek word was in turn apparently borrowed from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean substrate; cf. Greek substrate language.
4. [Carl Darling Buck]
5. [Arika Okrent|Okrent, Arika]
6. The 14th-century Byzantine monk Neophytos Prodromenos independently coined the word in Greek in his Against the Latins, with the meaning ‘absurdity’.
7. Both are used in French; see: Jean-Louis Fisher, Roselyne Rey, «De l’origine et de l’usage des termes taxinomie-taxonomie», Documents pour l’histoire du vocabulaire scientifique, Institut national de la langue française, 1983, 5:97-113
8. Andriotis et al., Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής = Triantafyllidis Dictionary, s.v.
9. Oxford English Dictionary, s.v.
10. [Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]
11. Simeon Potter, Our language, Penguin, 1950, p. 43
12. N. Lozac’h, «Extension of Rules A-1.1 and A-2.5 concerning numerical terms used in organic chemical nomenclature (Recommendations 1986)», Pure and Applied Chemistry 58:12:1693-1696, under «Discussion», p. 1694-1695 full textdeep link to WWW version
13. Skeat gives more on p. 605-606, but the Oxford English Dictionary does not agree with his etymologies of cobalt, nickel, etc.
14. Walter William Skeat, A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, «List of Doublets», p. 599ff (full text)
15. Edward A. Allen, «English Doublets», Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 23:2:184-239 (1908)
16. Etymology is disputed; perhaps from Latin Christianus, as a euphemism; perhaps from Latin crista, referring to a symptom of iodine deficiency
17. [Henry Lamar Crosby|Crosby, Henry Lamar]
18. Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, s.v.
19. Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, 1897, s.v., p. 4432
20. [Raymond Hickey|Hickey, Raymond]
21. Fruyt, Michèle. «Latin Vocabulary.» In A Companion to the Latin Language, edited by J. Clackson. p. 152.
22. Eleanor Detreville, «An Overview of Latin Morphological Calques on Greek Technical Terms: Formation and Success», M.A. thesis, University of Georgia, 2015, full text
23. Joseph Owens, Étienne Henry Gilson, The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics, 1963, p. 140
24. F.A.C. Mantello, Medieval Latin, 1996,, p. 276
25. [Wilhelm Wundt]
26. A.J. Woodman, «O MATRE PVLCHRA: The Logical Iambist: To the memory of Niall Rudd«, The Classical Quarterly 68:1:192-198 (May 2018), footnote 26
27. Scheler, Manfred. 1977. Der englische Wortschatz. Berlin: Schmidt.
28. [New General Service List]
29. These are all listed as «irregularly formed» in the »Oxford English Dictionary».
    • gas (<) is irregular both in formation and in spelling;
    • hadron < with the suffix -on, itself abstracted from Greek anion ;
    • henotheism < ‘one’ + ‘god’, though eno- is not used as a prefix in Greek;
    • taxonomy < ‘order’ + -nomy (‘study of’), where the «more etymological form» is taxinomy,^[7] as found in, ‘taxiarch’, and the neologism taxidermy. Modern Greek uses in its reborrowing.^[8]
    • psychedelic < ‘psyche’ + ‘make manifest, reveal’; the regular formation would be psychodelotic;
    • telegram; the regular formation would have been telegrapheme;^[9]
    • hecto-, kilo-, myria-, etymologically hecato-, chilio-, myrio-;^[10]
    • heuristic, regular formation heuretic;
    • chrysalis, regular spelling chrysallis;
    • ptomaine, regular formation ptomatine;
    • kerosene, hydrant, symbiont.

    Many combining forms have specific technical meanings in neologisms, not predictable from the Greek sense:

    • -cyte or cyto- < ‘container’, means biological cells, not arbitrary containers.
    • -oma <, a generic morpheme forming deverbal nouns, such as diploma (‘a folded thing’) and glaucoma (‘greyness’), comes to have the very narrow meaning of ‘tumor’ or ‘swelling’, on the model of words like carcinoma < . For example, melanoma does not come from ‘blackness’, but rather from the modern combining forms melano- (‘dark’ [in biology]) + -oma (‘tumor’).
    • -itis <, a generic adjectival suffix; in medicine used to mean a disease characterized by inflammation: appendicitis, conjunctivitis, …, and now facetiously generalized to mean «feverish excitement».^[11]
    • -osis <, originally a state, condition, or process; in medicine, used for a disease.

    In standard chemical nomenclature, the numerical prefixes are «only loosely based on the corresponding Greek words», e.g. octaconta- is used for 80 instead of the Greek ogdoeconta- ’80’. There are also «mixtures of Greek and Latin roots», e.g., nonaconta-, for 90, is a blend of the Latin nona- for 9 and the Greek found in words such as ἐνενήκοντα enenekonta ’90’.^[12] The Greek form is, however, used in the names of polygons in mathematics, though the names of polyhedra are more idiosyncratic.

    Many Greek affixes such as anti- and -ic have become productive in English, combining with arbitrary English words: antichoice, Fascistic.

    Some words in English have been reanalyzed as a base plus suffix, leading to suffixes based on Greek words, but which are not suffixes in Greek (cf. libfix). Their meaning relates to the full word they were shortened from, not the Greek meaning:

    • -athon or (from the portmanteau word walkathon, from walk + (mar)athon).
    • -ase, used in chemistry for enzymes, is abstracted from diastase, where —ασις is not a morpheme at all in Greek.
    • -on for elementary particles, from electron: lepton, neutron, phonon, …
    • -nomics refers specifically to economics: Reaganomics.

    Through other languages

    Some Greek words were borrowed through Arabic and then Romance. Many are learned:

    • alchemy (al- + or)
      • chemist is a back-formation from alchemist
    • elixir (al- +)
    • alembic (al- +)

    However, others are popular:

    • bottarga
    • tajine
    • carat
    • talisman
    • possibly quintal (< Latin Latin: [[centenarium]] (pondus)).

    A few words took other routes:^[13]

    • seine (a kind of fishing net) comes from a West Germanic form *sagīna, from Latin Latin: sagēna, from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σαγήνη.
    • effendi comes from Turkish, borrowed from Medieval Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: αυθέντης (/afˈθendis/, ‘lord’).
    • hora (the dance) comes from Romanian and Modern Hebrew, borrowed from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: χορός ‘dance’.

    Vernacular or learned doublets

    Some Greek words have given rise to etymological doublets, being borrowed both through a later learned, direct route, and earlier through an organic, indirect route:^{[14] [15]}

    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀδάμας adamant, diamond;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀμυγδάλη amygdala, almond;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀντίφωνα antiphon, anthem;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀποθήκη apothec(ary), boutique via French, bodega via Spanish
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀσϕόδελος asphodel, daffodil;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: αὐθεντικός authentic, effendi (αὐθέντης via Turkish);
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βάλσαμον (probably itself a borrowing from Semitic) balsam, balm;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βάσις basis, base, bass (voice);
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βλάσφημος blasphemy, blame;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βούτυρον butyr(ic), butter;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: διάβολος diabol(ic), devil;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: δραχμή drachma, dram, dirhem via Arabic;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἔλαιον elaeo-, oil, olive, oleum, latke via Russian and Yiddish;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐλεημοσύνη eleemosynary, alms;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐπίσκοπος episcop(al), bishop;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ζῆλος zeal, jealous;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἡμικρανία hemicrania, migraine;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: θησαυρός thesaurus, treasure
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἰῶτα iota, jot;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καθέδρα cathedra(l), chair, chaise;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κέρας/Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κέρατ- ‘horn’ keratin, carat via Arabic;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κόλπος ‘lap, womb, hollow, bay’ colp(itis), gulf
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κυβερνᾶν cybernetics, govern
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πάπυρος papyrus, paper;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πόδιον podium, pew;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πρεσβύτερος presbyter, priest;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πυξίς pyx(is), box;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σκάνδαλον scandal, slander;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τρίπους/Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τρίποδ- tripod, tripos (both learned);
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: τύμπανον ‘drum’ tympanum ‘eardrum’, timbre, timpani;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: φρενετικός frenetic, frantic;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: χειρουργός chirurgical, surgeon;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: χορός chorus, choir;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: χρῖσμα chrism, cream;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: χρῑστιᾱνός Christian, christen, cretin^[16]
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ὥρα horo(scope), hour.

    Other doublets come from differentiation in the borrowing languages:

    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: γραμματική grammatic(al): grammar, glamor, grimoire;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: δίσκος discus: disc, dish, dais, and desk;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κιθάρα cither: guitar, zither, gittern, cittern, etc.;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κρύπτη crypt: grotto, (under)croft;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: παραβολή parabola: parable; additional doublets in Romance give palaver, parol, and parole;
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ϕαντασία phantasy: fantasy; fancy in 15th-century English.

    From modern Greek

    Finally, with the growth of tourism and emigration, some words reflecting modern Greek culture have been borrowed into English—many of them originally borrowings into Greek themselves:

    • retsina
    • ouzo
    • souvlaki (< Latin)
    • taverna (< Italian)
    • moussaka (< Turkish < Arabic)
    • baklava (< Turkish)
    • feta (< Italian)
    • bouzouki (< Turkish)
    • gyro (the food, a calque of Turkish döner).

    Greek as an intermediary

    Many words from the Hebrew Bible were transmitted to the western languages through the Greek of the Septuagint, often without morphological regularization:

    • rabbi
    • seraphim
    • paradise (< Hebrew < Persian)
    • pharaoh (< Hebrew < Egyptian)

    Written form of Greek words in English

    Many Greek words, especially those borrowed through the literary tradition, are recognizable as such from their spelling. Latin had standard orthographies for Greek borrowings, including, but not limited to:

    • Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[υ]] was written as ‘y’
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[η]] as ‘e’
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[χ]] as ‘ch’
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[φ]] as ‘ph’
    • Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[κ]] as ‘c’
    • rough breathings as ‘h’
    • both Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[ι]] and Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[Greek orthography#Digraphs and diphthongs|ει]] as ‘i’

    These conventions, which originally reflected pronunciation, have carried over into English and other languages with historical orthography, like French.^[17] They make it possible to recognize words of Greek origin, and give hints as to their pronunciation and inflection.

    The romanization of some digraphs is rendered in various ways in English. The diphthongs Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: αι and Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: οι may be spelled in three different ways in English:

    1. the Latinate digraphs ae and oe;
    2. the ligatures æ and œ; and
    3. the simple letter e.

    The ligatures have largely fallen out of use worldwide; the digraphs are uncommon in American usage, but remain common in British usage. The spelling depends mostly on the variety of English, not on the particular word. Examples include: encyclopaedia / encyclopædia / encyclopedia; haemoglobin / hæmoglobin / hemoglobin; and oedema / œdema / edema. Some words are almost always written with the digraph or ligature: amoeba / amœba, rarely ameba; Oedipus / Œdipus, rarely Edipus; others are almost always written with the single letter: sphære and hæresie were obsolete by 1700; phænomenon by 1800; phænotype and phænol by 1930. The verbal ending Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: -ίζω is spelled -ize in American English, and -ise or -ize in British English.

    Since the 19th century, a few learned words were introduced using a direct transliteration of Ancient Greek and including the Greek endings, rather than the traditional Latin-based spelling: nous (νοῦς), koine (κοινή), hoi polloi (οἱ πολλοί), kudos (κύδος), moron (μωρόν), kubernetes (κυβερνήτης). For this reason, the Ancient Greek digraph Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ει is rendered differently in different words — as i, following the standard Latin form: idol < εἴδωλον; or as ei, transliterating the Greek directly: eidetic (< εἰδητικός), deixis, seismic. Most plurals of words ending in -is are -es (pronounced [iːz]), using the regular Latin plural rather than the Greek -εις: crises, analyses, bases, with only a few didactic words having English plurals in -eis: poleis, necropoleis, and acropoleis (though acropolises is by far the most common English plural).

    Most learned borrowings and coinages follow the Latin system, but there are some irregularities:

    • eureka (cf. heuristic);
    • kaleidoscope (the regular spelling would be calidoscope)
    • kinetic (cf. cinematography);
    • krypton (cf. cryptic);
    • acolyte (< ; would be the etymological spelling, but Latin: acolythus, Latin: acolotus, Latin: acolithus are all found in Latin);^[18]
    • stoichiometry (< ; regular spelling would be).
    • aneurysm was formerly often spelled aneurism on the assumption that it uses the usual -ism ending.

    Some words whose spelling in French and Middle English did not reflect their Greco-Latin origins were refashioned with etymological spellings in the 16th and 17th centuries: caracter became character and quire became choir.

    In some cases, a word’s spelling clearly shows its Greek origin:

    • If it includes ph pronounced as /f/ or y between consonants, it is very likely Greek, with some exceptions, such as nephew, cipher, triumph.^[19]
    • If it includes rrh, phth, or chth; or starts with hy-, ps-, pn-, or chr-; or the rarer pt-, ct-, chth-, rh-, x-, sth-, mn-, tm-, gn- or bd-, then it is Greek, with some exceptions: gnat, gnaw, gneiss.

    Other exceptions include:

    • ptarmigan is from a Gaelic word, the p having been added by false etymology;
    • style is probably written with a ‘y’ because the Greek word ‘column’ (as in peristyle, ‘surrounded by columns’) and the Latin word stilus, ‘stake, pointed instrument’, were confused.
    • trophy, though ultimately of Greek origin, did not have a Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[φ]] but a Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[Pi (letter)|π]] in its Greek form, .

    Pronunciation

    In clusters such as ps-, pn-, and gn- which are not allowed by English phonotactics, the usual English pronunciation drops the first consonant (e.g., psychology) at the start of a word; compare gnostic [nɒstɪk] and agnostic [ægnɒstɪk]; there are a few exceptions: tmesis [t(ə)miːsɪs].

    Initial x- is pronounced z. Ch is pronounced like k rather than as in «church»: e.g., character, chaos. The consecutive vowel letters ‘ea’ are generally pronounced separately rather than forming a single vowel sound when transcribing a Greek εα, which was not a digraph, but simply a sequence of two vowels with hiatus, as in genealogy or pancreas (cf., however, ocean, ωκεανός); zeal (earlier zele) comes irregularly from the η in ζήλος.

    Some sound sequences in English are only found in borrowings from Greek, notably initial sequences of two fricatives, as in sphere. Most initial /z/ sounds are found in Greek borrowings.^[20]

    The stress on borrowings via Latin which keep their Latin form generally follows the traditional English pronunciation of Latin, which depends on the syllable structure in Latin, not in Greek. For example, in Greek, both ὑπόθεσις (hypothesis) and ἐξήγησις (exegesis) are accented on the antepenult, and indeed the penult has a long vowel in exegesis; but because the penult of Latin exegēsis is heavy by Latin rules, the accent falls on the penult in Latin and therefore in English.

    Inflectional endings and plurals

    Though many English words derived from Greek through the literary route drop the inflectional endings (tripod, zoology, pentagon) or use Latin endings (papyrus, mausoleum), some preserve the Greek endings:

    • -ον: phenomenon, criterion, neuron, lexicon;
    • —∅: plasma, drama, dilemma, trauma (-ma is derivational, not inflectional);
    • -ος: chaos, ethos, asbestos, pathos, cosmos;
    • -ς: climax (ξ x = k + s), helix, larynx, eros, pancreas, atlas;
    • -η: catastrophe, agape, psyche;
    • -ις: analysis, basis, crisis, emphasis;
    • -ης: diabetes, herpes, isosceles.

    In cases like scene, zone, fame, though the Greek words ended in -η, the silent English e is not derived from it.

    In the case of Greek endings, the plurals sometimes follow the Greek rules: phenomenon, phenomena; tetrahedron, tetrahedra; crisis, crises; hypothesis, hypotheses; polis, poleis; stigma, stigmata; topos, topoi; cyclops, cyclopes; but often do not: colon, colons not *cola (except for the very rare technical term of rhetoric); pentathlon, pentathlons not *pentathla; demon, demons not *demones; climaxes, not .

    Usage is mixed in some cases: schema, schemas or schemata; lexicon, lexicons or lexica; helix, helixes or helices; sphinx, sphinges or sphinxes; clitoris, clitorises or clitorides. And there are misleading cases: pentagon comes from Greek pentagonon, so its plural cannot be ; it is pentagons—the Greek form would be *pentagona (cf. Plurals from Latin and Greek).

    Verbs

    A few dozen English verbs are derived from the corresponding Greek verbs; examples are baptize, blame and blaspheme, stigmatize, ostracize, and cauterize. In addition, the Greek verbal suffix -ize is productive in Latin, the Romance languages, and English: words like metabolize, though composed of a Greek root and a Greek suffix, are modern compounds. A few of these also existed in Ancient Greek, such as crystallize, characterize, and democratize, but were probably coined independently in modern languages. This is particularly clear in cases like allegorize and synergize, where the Greek verbs ἀλληγορεῖν and συνεργεῖν do not end in -ize at all. Some English verbs with ultimate Greek etymologies, like pause and cycle, were formed as denominal verbs in English, even though there are corresponding Greek verbs, παῦειν/παυσ- and κυκλεῖν.

    Borrowings and cognates

    Greek and English share many Indo-European cognates. In some cases, the cognates can be confused with borrowings. For example, the English mouse is cognate with Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μῦς /mys/ and Latin Latin: mūs, all from an Indo-European word *mūs; they are not borrowings. Similarly, acre is cognate to Latin Latin: ager and Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: αγρός, but not a borrowing; the prefix agro- is a borrowing from Greek, and the prefix agri- a borrowing from Latin.

    Phrases

    Many Latin phrases are used verbatim in English texts—et cetera (etc.), ad nauseam, modus operandi (M.O.), ad hoc, in flagrante delicto, mea culpa, and so on—but this is rarer for Greek phrases or expressions:

    • hoi polloi ‘the many’
    • eureka ‘I have found [it]’
    • kalos kagathos ‘beautiful and virtuous’
    • hapax legomenon ‘once said’
    • kyrie eleison ‘Lord, have mercy’

    Calques and translations

    Greek technical terminology was often calqued in Latin rather than borrowed,^{[21] [22]} and then borrowed from Latin into English. Examples include:

    • (grammatical) case, from casus (‘an event’, something that has fallen’), a semantic calque of Greek πτώσις (‘a fall’);
    • nominative, from nōminātīvus, a translation of Greek ὀνομαστική;
    • adverb, a morphological calque of Greek ἐπίρρημα as ad- + verbum;
    • magnanimous, from Greek μεγάθυμος (lit. ‘great spirit’);
    • essence, from essentia, which was constructed from the notional present participle *essens, imitating Greek οὐσία.^[23]
    • Substance, from substantia, a calque of Greek υπόστασις (cf. hypostasis);^[24]
    • Cicero coined moral on analogy with Greek ηθικός.^[25]
    • Recant is modeled on παλινῳδεῖν.^[26]

    Greek phrases were also calqued in Latin, then borrowed or translated into English:

    • English commonplace is a calque of Latin: locus communis, itself a calque of Greek κοινός τόπος.
    • Latin: [[deus ex machina]] ‘god out of the machine’ was calqued from the Greek apò mēkhanês theós (ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός).
    • Latin: [[materia medica]] is a short form of Dioscorides‘ De Materia Medica, from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς.
    • Latin: [[Q.E.D.|quod erat demonstrandum]] (Q.E.D.) is a calque of Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι.
    • subject matter is a calque of Latin: subiecta māteria, itself a calque of Aristotle’s phrase «Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕλη.»
    • wisdom tooth came to English from Latin: dentes sapientiae, from Arabic Arabic: aḍrāsu ‘lḥikmi, from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σωϕρονιστῆρες, used by Hippocrates.
    • political animal is from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πολιτικὸν ζῷον (in Aristotle’s Politics).
    • quintessence is post-classical Latin: quinta essentia, from Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πέμπτη οὐσία.

    The Greek word Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εὐαγγέλιον has come into English both in borrowed forms like evangelical and the form gospel, an English calque (Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: gód spel ‘good tidings’) of Latin: bona adnuntiatio, itself a calque of the Greek.

    Statistics

    The contribution of Greek to the English vocabulary can be quantified in two ways, type and token frequencies: type frequency is the proportion of distinct words; token frequency is the proportion of words in actual texts.

    Since most words of Greek origin are specialized technical and scientific coinages, the type frequency is considerably higher than the token frequency. And the type frequency in a large word list will be larger than that in a small word list. In a typical English dictionary of 80,000 words, which corresponds very roughly to the vocabulary of an educated English speaker, about 5% of the words are borrowed from Greek.^[27]

    Most common

    Of the 500 most common words in English, 18 (3.6%) are of Greek origin: place (rank 115), problem (121), school (147), system (180), program (241), idea (252), story (307), base (328), center (335), period (383), history (386), type (390), music (393), political (395), policy (400), paper (426), phone (480), economic (494).^[28]

    See also

    • List of Greek and Latin roots in English
    • List of Greek morphemes used in English
      • List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names Transliteration of Greek into English
    • Classical compound
    • Hybrid word
    • Latin influence in English

    References

    Sources

    • Gaidatzi, Theopoula. July 1985. «Greek loanwords in English» (M.A. thesis). University of Leeds
    • Konstantinidis, Aristidis. 2006. Η Οικουμενική Διάσταση της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας [»The Universal Reach of the Greek Language»]. Athens: self-published. .
    • Krill, Richard M. 1990. Greek and Latin in English Today. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. .
    • March, F. A. 1893. «The Influence of the Greeks on the English Language.» The Chautauquan 16(6):660–66.
    • —— 1893. «Greek in the English of Modern Science.» The Chautauquan 17(1):20–23.
    • Scheler, Manfred. 1977. Der englische Wortschatz [»English vocabulary»]. Berlin: Schmidt.
    • Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.)

    External links

    • Mathematical Words: Origins and Sources (John Aldrich, University of Southampton)

Греческий язык внес свой вклад в Английский словарный запас пятью основными способами:

• народные заимствования, передаваемые устно через вульгарную латынь непосредственно в древнеанглийский, например, «масло» (древнеанглийский : butere, от латинского : butyrum <греческого : βούτυρον) или через французский, например, «охра».
• заимствовал из классические греческие тексты, часто на латыни, например, «физика» (< Latin: physica < Greek: τὰ φυσικά);
• несколько заимствований, переданных через другие языки, особенно арабские научные и философские тексты, например, «алхимия» (< Greek: χημεία);
• монеты в постклассической латыни или современных языках с использованием классических греческих корней, например, «телефон» (< Greek: τῆλε + φωνή) or a mixture of Greek and other roots, e.g., ‘television’ (< Greek: τῆλε + English: vision < Latin: visio); these are often shared among the modern European languages, including Modern Greek;
• прямые заимствования из новогреческого, например, узо.

постклассические монеты, безусловно, самые многочисленные из них.

Содержание

• 1 Косвенные и прямые заимствования
  • 1.1 Верна регулярные заимствования из романских языков
  • 1.2 Выученные заимствования
  • 1.3 Использование в неологизмах
  • 1.4 Через другие языки
  • 1.5 Народные или выученные дублеты
  • 1.6 Из современного греческого
• 2 Греческий как посредник
• 3 Письменная форма греческих слов в английском языке
• 4 Произношение
• 5 Флективные окончания и множественные числа
• 6 Глаголы
• 7 Заимствования и родственные слова
• 8 Фразы
• 9 Кальки и переводы
• 10 Статистика
  • 10.1 Наиболее распространенные
• 11 См. Также
• 12 Ссылки
  • 12.1 Цитаты
  • 12.2 Источники
• 13 Внешние ссылки

Косвенные и прямые заимствования

Поскольку живые Греческий и английский языки не находились в прямом контакте до настоящего времени, заимствования были обязательно косвенными, происходящими либо через латинский (через тексты, либо через различные наречия ), или из древнегреческих текстов, а не из живого разговорного языка.

Народные заимствования через романские языки

Некоторые греческие слова были заимствованы из латыни и его потомки, романские языки. Англичане часто получали эти слова от французского. Некоторые остались очень близки к греческому оригиналу, например лампа (латинское: lampas; греческое: λαμπάς). В других формах фонетическая и орфографическая значительно изменились. Например, место было заимствовано как древнеанглийским, так и французским из латинского плато, которое само заимствовано из греческого πλατεία (ὁδός), «широкая (улица)»; итальянская площадь и испанская площадь имеют одно и то же происхождение и были заимствованы из английского языка параллельно.

Слово оливковое происходит через романс от латинского olīva, которое, в свою очередь, происходит от греческого elaíwā (ἐλαίϝᾱ). Позднее греческое слово boútȳron (βούτυρον) становится латинским butyrum и, в конечном итоге, английским маслом. Большая группа ранних заимствований, снова переданных сначала через латынь, а затем через различные народные языки, происходит из христианского словаря:

• Chair << καθέδρα (cf. ‘cathedra ‘);
• епископ << epískopos (ἐπίσκοπος, ‘overseer’);
• священник << presbýteros (πρεσβύτερος, ‘elder’); and
• церковь < Old English cirice, circe < probably kȳriakḗ [oikía] (κυριακή [οἰκία], ‘lord’s [house]’).

В некоторых случаях орфография этих слов была позже изменена, чтобы отразить греческое и латинское написание: например, quire был заменен хором в 17 веке. Иногда это делалось неправильно: боль от германского корня; орфографическая боль отражает неправильную этимологию Сэмюэля Джонсона с греческого ἄχος.

Выученные заимствования

Многие другие слова были заимствованы учеными, писавшими в Средневековье и Латинский ренессанс. Некоторые слова были заимствованы в своем первоначальном значении, часто передаваемом через классическую латынь : тема, тип, физика, ямб, эта, некромантия, космополит. Некоторые из них связаны с ошибками переписчиков : энциклопедия < Greek: ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία, ‘the circle of learning’ (not a compound in Greek); угри < ἀκνή (erroneous) < ἀκμή, ‘high point, acme’. Some kept their Latin form, e.g., podium < Greek πόδιον.

Другие были заимствованы без изменений как технические термины, но с особым новым значением:

• телескоп < Greek τηλεσκόπος, ‘far-seeing’, refers to an оптический инструмент для наблюдения вдаль, а не человек, который может видеть далеко вдаль;
• флогистон < φλογιστόν, ‘burnt thing’, is a supposed потенциал разжигания огня, а не то, что было сожжено или может быть сожжено; и
• бактерия < βακτήριον, ‘stick (миниатюрная ) ‘, является разновидностью микроорганизма, а не маленькой палочкой или посохом.

Это также относится к комбинированным формам используется в неологизмах :

• -цит или цито — < Greek κύτος, ‘container’, means биологические клетки, а не произвольные контейнеры.
• -ома < -ωμα, a generic формирование морфемы девербальные существительные, такие как диплом («сложенная вещь») и глаукома («серость»), имеют очень узкое значение «опухоль» или « опухоль »по образцу таких слов, как карцинома < καρκίνωμα. For example, меланома, происходит не от греческого μελάνωμα,« чернота », а скорее от современных сочетаний форм мелано- (« темный »[в биологии ]) + -oma (‘опухоль’).
• -аза, используемая в химии для ферментов, абстрагируется от диастазы, где — ασ ις не является морфемы вообще.

Использование в неологизмах

Но, безусловно, самый большой вклад греческого языка в английский словарь — это огромное количество научных, медицинских и технических неологизмов, которые были придуманы соединение греческих корней и аффиксов для получения новых слов, которых никогда не было в греческом языке:

• утопия (1516; οὐ, «не» + τόπος, «место»)
• зоология (1669; ζῷον + λογία)
• гидродинамика (1738; ὕδωρ + δυναμικός)
• фотография (1834; φῶς + γραφικός)
• ооцит (1895; ᾠόν + κύτος)
• геликобактер (1989; ἕλιξ + βακτήριον)

Так что на самом деле заимствованы сочетания греческих корней и аффиксов а не слова. Такие термины введены во всех европейских языках и свободно распространяются на другие — включая новогреческий как заимствования. Традиционно эти монеты создавались с использованием только греческих морфем, например, метаматематики, но все чаще греческие, латинские и другие морфемы комбинируются. Эти гибридные слова ранее считались «варварством », например:

• телевидение (греч.: τῆλε + латинское: видение);
• металингвистический (греч. : μετά + латинский: lingua + греческий: -ιστής + греческий: -ικος); и
• гарбология (английский: мусор + греч.: -ολογία).

Некоторые производные носят идиосинкразический характер, например:

• утопия и газ (< Greek: χάος) are irregular both in formation and in spelling;
• адрон < Greek: ἁδρός with the suffix -on, itself abstracted from Greek anion (ἀνιόν);
• генотеизм < Greek: ἑνό(ς), ‘one’ + θεός, ‘god’, though eno- is not used as a prefix in Greek; and
• таксономия < Greek: τάξις, ‘order’ + -nomy (-νομία, ‘study of’), where the «more etymological form» is taxinomy, as found in the Greek ταξίαρχος, ‘таксиарх ‘и неологизм таксидермия. Современный греческий язык использует ταξινομία в своем заимствовании.

В стандартной химической номенклатуре числовые префиксы «лишь слабо основаны на соответствующих греческих словах», например, octaconta- используется для 80 вместо греческого ogdoeconta- ’80’. Есть также «смеси греческих и латинских корней», например, nonaconta- для 90 — это смесь латинского нона- для 9 и греческого -conta-, встречающегося в таких словах, как ἐνενήκοντα enenekonta ’90’. Однако греческая форма используется в названиях многоугольников в математике, хотя имена многогранников более своеобразны.

Многие греческие аффиксы, такие как anti- и -ic, стали продуктивными в английском языке в сочетании с произвольными Английские слова: antichoice, Fascistic. Some portmanteau слова в английском языке привели к суффиксам, основанным на греческих словах, но которые не являются суффиксами в греческом языке, например, -athon или -a-thon (walkathon, от walk + (mar) athon ) и -номика (Reaganomics, от Reagan + (eco) nomics).

Через другие языки

Некоторые греческие слова были заимствованы через арабский, а затем романский. Многие из них изучены:

• алхимия (al- + греч.: χημεία или χημία)
• эликсир (al- + ξήριον)
• алембик (al- + ἄμβιξ)

Однако другие популярны:

• botargo (ᾠοτάριχον)
• tajine (τάγηνον)
• возможно quintal (κεντηνάριον < Latin: centenarium 67>(pondus)).

Любопытно, что химик, кажется, бэк-формация от алхимика.

Несколько слов пошли по другому пути:

• Сена (своего рода рыболовная сеть) происходит от западногерманской формы * sagīna, от латинского: sagēna, от греческого: σαγήνη.
• Эффенди происходит от турецкого, заимствовано из средневекового греческого : αυθέντης (/ afˈθendis /, ‘господин’).

Народные или выученные дублеты

Некоторые греческие слова дали начало этимологическим дублетам, заимствованным как позже изученным прямым путем, так и ранее через органический, косвенный путь:

ἀμυγδάλη amygdala, almond; ἀντίφωνα антифон, гимн; ἀσϕόδελος асфодель, нарцисс; αὐθεντικός аутентичный, эфенди (αὐθέντης по-турецки); βάλalsσα, вероятно, заимствованный из семитского языка бальзам; βάσις основа, база, бас (голос); βλάσφημος богохульство, обвинение; βούτυρον butyr (ic), масло; διάβολος diabol (ic), дьявол; δραχμή drachma, dram, также dirhem через арабский; ἔλαιον elaeo-, масло, оливковое, олеум; λεημοσύνη eleemosynary, милостыня; πίσκοπος епископ (al), епископ; ζῆλος рвение, ревность; καθέδρα, кафедра, кафедра ; κέρας / κέρατ- ‘рог’ кератин, карат по-арабски;

κόλπος ‘колени, матка, полость, залив’ colp (itis), залив κυβερνᾶν кибернетика, править πάπυρος папирус, бумага; πόδιον podium, pew; πρεσβύτερος пресвитер, священник; πυξίς pyx (is), ящик; 324>σκάνδαλον скандал, клевета; τρίπους / τρίποδ- штатив, подставка; τύμπανον ‘drum’ tympanum ‘eardrum’, тембр, литавры; ιρινεν. ; χειρουργός хирургический, хирург; χορός chorus, choir; χρῖσμα chrism, cream; χρῑστιᾱνός Christian, christen278, cretin? ὥρα horo (объем), час.

Другие дублеты происходят от дифференциации в языках заимствований:

γραμματική грамматика (ал): грамматика, гламур, гримуар; δίσκος Discus: диск, блюдо, помост и письменный стол; κιθάρα cithe r: гитара, cithren, цитра, gittern, cittern и т.д.;

κρύπτη crypt: грот, (под) croft; παραβολή парабола: притча; дополнительные дуплеты в Romance дают болтовню, пароль и условно-досрочное освобождение; ϕαντασία phantasy: fantasy; фантазии на английском языке XV века.

Из современного греческого

Наконец, с ростом туризма и эмиграции, некоторые слова, отражающие современную греческую культуру, были заимствованы в английском языке — многие из них изначально были заимствованы из греческого языка:

• рецина, сувлаки, таверна (< Italian)
• узо (спорная этимология)
• мусака (< Turkish < Arabic)
• пахлава (< Turkish)
• фета (< Italian)
• бузуки (< Turkish)
• гироскоп (еда, кальк турецкого döner ).

греческий как посредник

Многие слова из еврейской Библии были переданы в западные языки через греческий язык Септуагинты, часто без морфологической регуляризации :

• раввин (ραββί)
• серафим (σεραφείμ, σεραφίμ)
• рай (παράδεισος < иврит < персидский )
• фараон (Φαραώ < Hebrew < египетский )

письменная форма греческих слов на английском языке

Многие греческие слова, особенно заимствованные через литературные традиции, узнаваемы как таковые по их написанию. Латинский язык имел стандарт орфографии для греческих заимствований, включая, но не ограничиваясь:

• греческий υ был записан как ‘y’
• η как ‘e’
• χ как ‘ch’
• φ как ‘ph’
• κ как ‘c’
• грубое дыхание как ‘h’
• и ι и ει как ‘i’

Эти соглашения, которые первоначально отражали произношение, были перенесены на английский и другие языки с исторической орфографией, например французский. Они позволяют распознавать слова греческого происхождения и дают подсказки относительно их произношения и перегиба.

латинизация некоторых диграфов передается в английском по-разному.. Древнегреческие дифтонги αι и οι могут быть написаны в английском языке тремя разными способами:

1. латинскими диграфами ae и oe ;
2. лигатурами æ и œ ; и
3. простая буква е.

Лигатуры в значительной степени вышли из употребления во всем мире; диграфы необычны в американском использовании, но остаются обычным явлением в британском использовании. Правописание в основном зависит от разновидности английского языка, а не от конкретного слова. Примеры включают: энциклопедию / энциклопедию / энциклопедию; гемоглобин / гемоглобин / гемоглобин; и отек / отек / отек. Некоторые слова почти всегда пишутся с помощью диграфа или лигатуры: амеба / амеба, реже амеба; Эдип / Эдип, реже Эдип; другие почти всегда пишутся одной буквой: sphære и hæresie устарели к 1700 году; явление к 1800 году; phænotype и phænol к 1930 году. Глагольное окончание -ίζω пишется -ize в американском английском, и -ise or -ize в британском английском.

С XIX века несколько заученных слов были введено с использованием прямой транслитерации древнегреческого языка и включая греческие окончания, а не традиционного написания на основе латыни: nous (νοῦς), koine (κοινή), hoi polloi (οἱ πολλοί), слава (κύδος), дебил (μωρόν), кубернетес (κυβερνήτης). По этой причине древнегреческий диграф ει передается по-разному в разных словах — как i, следуя стандартной латинской форме: idol < εἴδωλον; or as ei, транслитерирует непосредственно греческий язык: eidetic (< εἰδητικός), deixis, seismic. Most plurals of words ending in -is are -es (pronounced [iːz]), using the regular Latin plural rather than the Greek -εις: crises, analyses, bases, with only a few didactic words having English plurals in -eis: poleis, necropoleis, and acropoleis (though acropolises is by far the most common English plural).

Наиболее изученные заимствования и монеты следуют латинским системы, но есть некоторые неточности :

• eureka (cf. эвристический );
• кинетический (ср. кинематография);
• криптон (ср. загадочный);
• послушник (< ἀκόλουθος; acoluth would be the etymological spelling, but acolythus, acolotus, acolithus are all found in Latin);
• стехиометрия (< στοιχεῖον; regular spelling would be st(o)echio-).
• Аневризма раньше часто называли аневризмой, исходя из предположения, что оно использует обычное окончание -изм.

Некоторые слова, написание которых на французском языке и Среднеанглийский не отражал их греко-латинское происхождение, был переработан этимологическим написанием в XVI и XVII веках: caracter стал символом, а quire стал хором.

В некоторых случаях написание слова ясно показывает. его греческое происхождение:

• Если оно включает ph или включает y между согласными, это, скорее всего, греческое, за некоторыми исключениями, такими как племянник, шифр, триумф.
• Если он включает rrh, phth или chth; или начинается с hy-, ps-, pn- или chr-; или, реже, pt-, ct-, chth-, rh-, x-, sth-, mn-, tm-, gn- или bd-, то это греческий язык, за некоторыми исключениями: gnat, gnaw, gneiss.

Другие исключения включают:

• куропатка происходит от гэльского слова, буква p, добавленная стилем ложной этимологии ;
• , вероятно, написана с буквой «y», потому что греческое слово στῦλος, «столбец» (как в перистиль, «окруженный столбцами») и латинское слово stilus, «кол, остроконечный инструмент», были перепутаны.
• трофей, хотя, в конечном итоге, греческого происхождения, не имеет φ, но π в его греческой форме τρόπαιον.

Произношение

В таких кластерах, как ps-, pn- и gn- которые не разрешены английской фонотактикой, обычное английское произношение пропускает первую согласную (например, психология) в начале слова; сравните гностик [nɒstɪk] и агностик [ægnɒstɪk]; есть несколько исключений: tmesis [t (ə) miːsɪs].

Начальное x- произносится как z. Ch произносится как k, а не как «церковь»: например, характер, хаос. Последовательные гласные буквы «еа» обычно произносятся отдельно, а не образуют один гласный звук при транскрибировании греческого εα, который не был диграфом, а просто последовательностью двух гласных с перерывом, как в генеалогии или поджелудочной железы (ср., однако, океан, ωκεανός); «еа» в рвении нерегулярно происходит от η в ζήλος.

Некоторые звуковые последовательности в английском языке встречаются только в заимствованиях из греческого языка, особенно в начальных последовательностях двух фрикативов, например, в сфере. Большинство начальных звуков / z / встречается в греческих заимствованиях.

Акцент на заимствованиях через латынь, которые сохраняют свою латинскую форму, обычно следует традиционному английскому произношению латинского, который зависит от структуры слогов в латыни, а не в греческом. Например, в греческом языке и ὑπόθεσις (гипотеза), и ἐξήγησις (экзегезис) акцентируются на antepenult, и действительно, penult в экзегезе имеет долгую гласную; но поскольку предпоследнее слово в латинском экзегезисе тяжело по латинским правилам, в латинском, а значит, и в английском, ударение падает на предпоследнее.

Флективные окончания и множественные числа

Хотя многие английские слова, полученные из греческого языка в литературном пути, не имеют флективных окончаний (тренога, зоология, пятиугольник) или используют латинские окончания (папирус, мавзолей), некоторые сохраняют греческие окончания:

• -ον : феномен на, критерий на, нейр на, лексика on;
• -μα : плазма (- ∅ ; ср. протоплазма), драма, дилемма, травма;
• -ος : cha os, eth os, asbest os, путь os, cosm os;
• -ς: климакс (ξ x = k + s), спираль, гортань, ero s, поджелудочная железа s, atla s;
• -η: catastroph e, agap e, mental e;
• -ις : анализ is, bas is, cris is, подчеркните is;
• ης: diabet es, herp es, isoscel es.

В таких случаях, как сцена, зона, слава, хотя греческие слова оканчивались на -η, молчаливое английское e не образовано от него.

В случае греческих окончаний множественное число иногда следует греческим правилам : явление, явления; тетраэдр, тетраэдры; кризис, кризисы; гипотеза, гипотезы; полис, полис; клеймо, стигматы; топос, топои; циклопы, циклопы; но часто этого не делают: двоеточие, двоеточие, а не * кола (за исключением очень редкого технического термина риторики ); пятиборье, пятиборье не * pentathla; демон, демоны, а не демоны; климакс, а не климакс.

В некоторых случаях использование бывает смешанным: схема, схемы или схемы; лексика, лексиконы или лексика; спирали, спирали или спирали; сфинкс, сфинкс или сфинкс; клитор, клитор или клитор. И есть случаи, вводящие в заблуждение: пятиугольник происходит от греческого pentagonon, поэтому его множественное число не может быть * pentaga; это пятиугольники — греческая форма будет * pentagona (ср. Множественное число от латинского и греческого ).

Глаголы

Несколько десятков английских глаголов произошли от соответствующих греческих глаголов; Примеры: крестить, обвинять и богохульствовать, клеймить, подвергать остракизму и прижигать. Кроме того, греческий глагольный суффикс -ize является продуктивным в латыни, романских языках и английском: такие слова, как метаболизация, хотя и состоят из греческого корня и греческого суффикса, являются современными соединениями. Некоторые из них также существовали в древнегреческом языке, например, «кристаллизовать, характеризовать и демократизировать», но, вероятно, были созданы независимо в современных языках. Это особенно ясно в таких случаях, как allegorize и synergize, где греческие глаголы ἀλληγορεῖν и συνεργεῖν вообще не заканчиваются на -ize. Некоторые английские глаголы с окончательной греческой этимологией, такие как пауза и цикл, были сформированы как именные глаголы в английском языке, хотя есть соответствующие греческие глаголы, παῦειν / παυσ- и κυκλεῖν.

Заимствования и родственные слова

Греческий и английский языки имеют много общих индоевропейских родственных слов. В некоторых случаях родственные слова можно спутать с заимствованиями. Например, английская мышь родственна греческому μῦς / mys / и латинскому mūs, все из индоевропейского слова * mūs; они не заимствования. Точно так же слово acre родственно латинскому ager и греческому αγρός, но не заимствованию; префикс agro- заимствован из греческого языка, а префикс agri- заимствован из латыни.

Фразы

Многие латинские фразы используются дословно в английских текстах — et cetera (и т. Д.), ad nauseam, modus operandi (MO), ad hoc, in flagrante delicto, mea culpa и т. Д., Но это встречается реже для греческие фразы или выражения :

• hoi polloi, многие «
• эврика,« я нашел [это] »
• калос кагатос,« красивый и добродетельный »
• hapax legomenon, «однажды сказал»
• kyrie eleison, «Господи, помилуй»

Кальки и переводы

Греческая техническая терминология часто использовалась На латыни, а не заимствовано, а потом заимствовано с латыни на английский. Примеры включают:

• (грамматический) падеж, от латинского casus («событие», что-то, что упало), семантическая калька греческого πτώσις («падение»);
• именительный падеж, от латинского nōminātīvus, перевод греческого ὀνομαστική;
• наречие, морфологическая калька греческого πίρρημα как ad- + verbum;
• великодушный, с греческого μεγάθυμος (букв. «великий дух»);
• сущность, от латинского essentia, которая была образована из условного причастия настоящего времени * essens, имитирующего греческое οὐσία. 278>
• Субстанция, от латинского субстанции, кальки греческого υπόστασις (ср. hypostasis );
• Цицерон придумал мораль по аналогии с греческим ηθικός.
• Рекант создан по образцу παλινῳδεῖν.

Греческие фразы также были вычислены на латыни, а затем заимствованы или переведены на английский язык:

• commonplace — это английская калька латинского locus communis, которая сама является калькой греческого κοινός τόπος.
• латинским : deus ex machina («бог из машины») был вычислен из греческое apò mēkhanês theós (ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός).
• materia medica — это сокращенная форма Dioscorides ‘De Materia Medica, латинского перевода Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς.
• quod erat manifestrandum (QED) представляет собой кальку из ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι.
• предмет является калькой латинского subiecta māteria, которая сама по себе является калькой из фразы Аристотеля «ἡ ὑποκειμένη ὕλη.»
• зуб мудрости пришел в английский язык от латинского dentes sapientiae, от арабского aḍrāsu ‘lḥikmi, от греческого σωϕρονιστῆρες, употребляемого Гиппократом.
• политическим животным от греч. ιιονλ Квинтэссенция политики Аристотеля ).
• — это постклассическая латынь quinta essentia, от греческого πέμπτη οὐσία.

Греческое слово εὐαγγέλιον вошло в английский язык как в заимствованных формах, таких как евангелическая, так и в форме евангелия, английская калька (древнеанглийский: gód spel, «хорошая весть») латинского bona adnuntiatio, которая сама по себе является калькой греческого языка.

Статистика

Вклад греческого языка в словарный запас английского языка можно количественно оценить двумя способами: тип и частота знаков : частота типа — это доля отдельных слов; токен частота — это доля слов в реальных текстах.

Поскольку большинство слов греческого происхождения являются специализированными техническими и научными монетами, частота шрифтов значительно выше, чем частота знаков. И частота шрифтов в большом списке слов будет больше, чем в маленьком списке слов. В типичном английском словаре, состоящем из 80 000 слов, что примерно соответствует лексике образованного носителя английского языка, около 5% слов заимствованы из греческого языка.

Наиболее распространенные

Из 500 18 самых распространенных слов в английском языке имеют греческое происхождение: место (115), проблема (121), школа (147), система (180), программа (241), идея (252), история (307), основа ( 328), центр (335), период (383), история (386), тип (390), музыка (393), политика (395), политика (400), бумага (426), телефон (480), экономика ( 494).

См. Также

• Список греческих и латинских корней в английском языке
• Список греческих морфем, используемых в английском языке
• Список латинских и греческих слов, обычно используемых в систематических названиях
• Транслитерация греческого языка на английский
• Классическое соединение
• Гибридное слово
• Латинское влияние в английском языке

Ссылки

Цитаты

Источники

• Гайдаци, Феопула. Июль 1985 г. «Греческие заимствования в английском » (диплом магистра). Университет Лидса
• Константинидис, Аристидис. 2006. Η ικουμενική Διάσταση της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας [Универсальный охват греческого языка]. Афины: самопубликация. ISBN 960-90338-2-2 .
• Крилл, Ричард М. 1990. Греческий и латынь на английском сегодня. Издательство Bolchazy-Carducci. ISBN 0-86516-241-7 .
• Март, Ф.А. 1893. «Влияние греков на английский язык. The Chautauquan 16 (6): 660–66.
• —— 1893. «Греческий язык в английском современной науки ». The Chautauquan 17 (1): 20–23.
• Шелер, Манфред. 1977. Der englische Wortschatz [Английский словарь]. Берлин: Шмидт.
• Oxford English Dictionary (3-е изд.)

Внешние ссылки

Список слов, относящихся к древнегреческому языку происхождению, см. В Английские термины, производные от древнегреческих категории слов в Wiktionary, бесплатном словаре.

Для списка слов, относящихся к греческому языку origin, см. английские термины, производные от греческого категории слов в Wiktionary, бесплатном словаре.

• Mathematical Words: Origins and Sources ( Джон Олдрич, Саутгемптонский университет)

The
term «lexicology» is of Greek origin / from «lexis» — «word»
and «logos» — «science»/ . Lexicology is the part of linguistics
which deals with the vocabulary and characteristic features of words
and word-groups.

The
term «vocabulary» is used to denote the system of words and
word-groups that the language possesses.

The
term «word» denotes the main lexical unit of a language resulting
from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning. This unit
is used in grammatical functions characteristic of it. It is the
smallest unit of a language which can stand alone as a complete
utterance.

The
term «word-group» denotes a group of words which exists in the
language as a ready-made unit, has the unity of meaning, the unity of
syntactical function, e.g. the word-group «as loose as a goose»
means «clumsy» and is used in a sentence as a predicative / He is
as loose as a goose/.

Lexicology
can study the development of the vocabulary, the origin of words and
word-groups, their semantic relations and the development of their
sound form and meaning. In this case it is called historical
lexicology.

Another
branch of lexicology is called descriptive and studies the vocabulary
at a definite stage of its development.

Language units

The
main unit of the lexical system of a language resulting from the
association of a group of sounds with a meaning is a
word.
This unit is used in grammatical functions characteristic of it. It
is the smallest language unit which can stand alone as a complete
utterance.

A
word, however, can be divided into smaller sense units — morphemes.
The morpheme is the smallest meaningful language unit. The morpheme
consists of a class of variants, allomorphs, which are either
phonologically or morphologically conditioned, e.g. please,
pleasant, pleasure.

Morphemes
are divided into two large groups: lexical
morphemes
and grammatical
(functional) morphemes.
Both lexical and grammatical morphemes can be free and bound. Free
lexical morphemes
are roots of words which express the lexical meaning of the word,
they coincide with the stem of simple words. Free grammatical
morphemes are function words: articles, conjunctions and prepositions
( the, with, and).

Bound
lexical morphemes
are affixes: prefixes (dis-), suffixes (-ish) and also blocked
(unique) root morphemes (e.g. Fri-day, cran-berry). Bound grammatical
morphemes are inflexions (endings), e.g. -s for the Plural of nouns,
-ed for the Past Indefinite of regular verbs, -ing for the Present
Participle, -er for the Comparative degree of adjectives.

In
the second half of the twentieth century the English wordbuilding
system was enriched by creating so called splinters
which scientists include in the affixation stock of the Modern
English wordbuilding system. Splinters are the result of clipping
the end or the beginning of a word and producing a number of new
words on the analogy with the primary word-group. For example, there
are many words formed with the help of the splinter mini- (apocopy
produced by clipping the word «miniature»), such as «miniplane»,
«minijet», «minicycle», «minicar», «miniradio» and many
others. All of these words denote obects of smaller than normal
dimensions.

On
the analogy with «mini-» there appeared the splinter «maxi»-
(apocopy produced by clipping the word «maximum»), such words as
«maxi-series», «maxi-sculpture», «maxi-taxi» and many others
appeared in the language.

When
European economic community was organized quite a number of
neologisms with the splinter Euro- (apocopy produced by clipping the
word «European») were coined, such as: «Euratom» «Eurocard»,
«Euromarket», «Europlug», «Eurotunnel» and many others. These
splinters are treated sometimes as prefixes in Modern English.

There
are also splinters which are formed by means of apheresis, that is
clipping the beginning of a word. The origin of such splinters can be
variable, e.g. the splinter «burger» appeared in English as the
result of clipping the German borrowing «Hamburger» where the
morphological structure was the stem «Hamburg» and the suffix -er.
However in English the beginning of the word «Hamburger» was
associated with the English word «ham», and the end of the word
«burger» got the meaning «a bun cut into two parts». On the
analogy with the word «hamburger» quite a number of new words were
coined, such as: «baconburger», «beefburger», «cheeseburger»,
«fishburger» etc.

The
splinter «cade» developed by clipping the beginning of the word
«cavalcade» which is of Latin origin. In Latin the verb with the
meaning «to ride a horse» is «cabalicare» and by means of the
inflexion -ata the corresponding Participle is formed. So the element
«cade» is a combination of the final letter of the stem and the
inflexion. The splinter «cade» serves to form nouns with the
meaning «connected with the procession of vehicles denoted by the
first component», e.g. «aircade» — «a group of airplanes
accompanying the plane of a VIP» , «autocade» — «a group of
automobiles escorting the automobile of a VIP», «musicade» — «an
orchestra participating in a procession».

In
the seventieths of the twentieth century there was a political
scandal in the hotel «Watergate» where the Democratic Party of the
USA had its pre-election headquarters. Republicans managed to install
bugs there and when they were discovered there was a scandal and the
ruling American government had to resign. The name «Watergate»
acquired the meaning «a political scandal», «corruption». On
the analogy with this word quite a number of other words were formed
by using the splinter «gate» (apheresis of the word «Watergate»),
such as: «Irangate», »Westlandgate», »shuttlegate»,
»milliongate» etc. The splinter «gate» is added mainly to Proper
names: names of people with whom the scandal is connected or a
geographical name denoting the place where the scandal occurred.

The
splinter «mobile» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word
«automobile» and is used to denote special types of automobiles,
such as: «artmobile», «bookmobile», «snowmobile»,
«tourmobile» etc.

The
splinter «napper» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word
«kidnapper» and is used to denote different types of crimesters,
such as : «busnapper», «babynapper», «dognapper» etc. From
such nouns the corresponding verbs are formed by means of
backformation, e.g. «to busnap», «to babynap», «to dognap».

The
splinter «omat» was formed by clipping the beginning of the word
«automat» (a cafe in which meals are provided in slot-machines).
The meaning «self-service» is used in such words as «laundromat»,
«cashomat» etc.

Another
splinter «eteria» with the meaning «self-service» was formed by
clipping the beginning of the word «cafeteria». By means of the
splinter «eteria» the following words were formed: «groceteria»,
«booketeria», «booteteria» and many others.

The
splinter «quake» is used to form new words with the meaning of
«shaking», «agitation». This splinter was formed by clipping
the beginning of the word «earthquake». Ther following words were
formed with the help of this splinter: «Marsquake», «Moonquake»,
«youthquake» etc.

The
splinter «rama(ama)» is a clipping of the word «panorama» of
Greek origin where «pan» means «all» and «horama» means
«view». In Modern English the meaning «view» was lost and the
splinter «rama» is used in advertisements to denote objects of
supreme quality, e.g. «autorama» means «exhibition-sale of
expensive cars», «trouserama» means «sale of trousers of supreme
quality» etc.

The
splinter «scape» is a clipping of the word «landscape» and it is
used to form words denoting different types of landscapes, such as:
«moonscape», «streetscape», «townscape», «seascape» etc.

Another
case of splinters is «tel» which is the result of clipping the
beginning of the word «hotel». It serves to form words denoting
different types of hotels, such as: «motel» (motor-car hotel),
«boatel» (boat hotel), «floatel» (a hotel on water, floating),
«airtel» (airport hotel) etc.

The
splinter «theque» is the result of clipping the beginning of the
word «apotheque» of Greek origin which means in Greek «a store
house». In Russian words: «библиотека», «картотека»,
«фильмотека» the element «тека» corresponding to
the English «theque» preserves the meaning of storing something
which is expressed by the first component of the word. In English the
splinter «theque» is used to denote a place for dancing, such as:
«discotheque», «jazzotheque».

The
splinter «thon» is the result of clipping the beginning of the word
«marathon». «Marathon» primarily was the name of a battle-field
in Greece, forty miles from Athens, where there was a battle
between the Greek and the Persian. When the Greek won a victory a
Greek runner was sent to Athens to tell people about the victory.
Later on the word «Marathon» was used to denote long-distance
competitions in running. The splinter «thon(athon)» denotes
«something continuing for a long time», «competition in endurance»
e.g. «dancathon», «telethon», «speakathon», «readathon»,
«walkathon», «moviethon», «swimathon», «talkathon»,
«swearthon» etc.

Splinters
can be the result of clipping adjectives or substantivized
adjectives. The splinter «aholic» (holic) was formed by clipping
the beginning of the word «alcoholic» of Arabian origin where
«al» denoted «the», «koh’l» — «powder for staining lids».
The splinter «(a)holic» means «infatuated by the object
expressed by the stem of the word» , e.g. «bookaholic»,
«computerholic», «coffeeholic», «cheesaholic», «workaholic»
and many others.

The
splinter «genic» formed by clipping the beginning of the word
«photogenic» denotes the notion «suitable for something denoted
by the stem», e.g. «allergenic», «cardiogenic», «mediagenic»,
«telegenic» etc.

As
far as verbs are concerned it is not typical of them to be clipped
that is why there is only one splinter to be used for forming new
verbs in this way. It is the splinter «cast» formed by clipping
the beginning of the verb «broadcast». This splinter was used to
form the verbs «telecast» and «abroadcast».

Splinters
can be called pseudomorphemes because they are neither roots nor
affixes, they are more or less artificial. In English there are
words which consist of two splinters, e.g. «telethon», therefore it
is more logical to call words with splinters in their structure
«compound-shortened
words consisting of two clippings of words».

Splinters
have only one function in English: they serve to change the lexical
meaning of the same part of speech, whereas prefixes and suffixes can
also change the part-of-speech meaning , e.g. the prefix «en-»
and its allomorph «em» can form verbs from noun and adjective stems
(«embody», «enable», «endanger»), «be-» can form verbs from
noun and adjective stems («becloud», «benumb»), «post-» and
«pre-» can form adjectives from noun stems («pre-election
campaign», «post-war events»). The main function of suffixes is
to form one part of speech from another part of speech, e.g. «-er»,
«-ing», «-ment» form nouns from verbal stems («teacher»,
«dancing», «movement»), «-ness», «-ity» are used to form
nouns from adjective stems («clannishnes», «marginality»).

According
to the nature and the number of morphemes constituting a word there
are different structural
types of words in
English: simple, derived, compound, compound-derived.

Simple
words
consist of one root morpheme and an inflexion (in many cases the
inflexion is zero), e.g. «seldom», «chairs», «longer»,
«asked».

Derived
words
consist of one root morpheme, one or several affixes and an inlexion,
e.g. «deristricted», «unemployed».

Compound
words
consist of two or more root morphemes and an inflexion, e.g.
«baby-moons», «wait-and-see (policy)».

Compound-derived
words
consist of two or more root morphemes, one or more affixes and an
inflexion, e.g. «middle-of-the-roaders», «job-hopper».

When
speaking about the structure of words stems
also should be mentioned. The stem is the part of the word which
remains unchanged throughout the paradigm of the word, e.g. the stem
«hop» can be found in the words: «hop», «hops», «hopped»,
«hopping». The stem «hippie» can be found in the words:
«hippie», «hippies», «hippie’s», «hippies’». The stem
«job-hop» can be found in the words : «job-hop», «job-hops»,
«job-hopped», «job-hopping».

So
stems, the same as words, can be simple, derived, compound and
compound-derived. Stems have not only the lexical meaning but also
grammatical (part-of-speech) meaning, they can be noun stems («girl»
in the adjective «girlish»), adjective stems («girlish» in the
noun «girlishness»), verb stems («expell» in the noun
«expellee») etc. They differ from words by the absence of
inflexions in their structure, they can be used only in the
structure of words.

Sometimes
it is rather difficult to distinguish between simple and derived
words, especially in the cases of phonetic borrowings from other
languages and of native words with blocked (unique) root morphemes,
e.g. «perestroika», «cranberry», «absence» etc.

As
far as words with splinters are concerned it is difficult to
distinguish between derived words and compound-shortened words. If a
splinter is treated as an affix (or a semi-affix) the word can be
called derived , e.g.-, «telescreen», «maxi-taxi» ,
«shuttlegate», «cheeseburger». But if the splinter is treated as
a lexical shortening of one of the stems , the word can be called
compound-shortened word formed from a word combination where one of
the components was shortened, e.g. «busnapper» was formed from «
bus kidnapper», «minijet» from «miniature jet».

In
the English language of the second half of the twentieth century
there developed so called block
compounds,
that is compound words which have a uniting stress but a split
spelling, such as «chat show», «pinguin suit» etc. Such
compound words can be easily mixed up with word-groups of the type
«stone wall», so called nominative
binomials.
Such linguistic units serve to denote a notion which is more specific
than the notion expressed by the second component and consists of two
nouns, the first of which is an attribute to the second one. If we
compare a nominative binomial with a compound noun with the structure
N+N we shall see that a nominative binomial has no unity of stress.
The change of the order of its components will change its lexical
meaning, e.g. «vid kid» is «a kid who is a video fan» while
«kid vid» means «a video-film for kids» or else «lamp oil»
means «oil for lamps» and «oil lamp» means «a lamp which
uses oil for burning».

Among
language units we can also point out word combinations of different
structural
types of idiomatic and non-idiomatic character,
such as «the first fiddle», «old salt» and «round table»,
«high road». There are also sentences which are studied by
grammarians.

Thus,
we can draw the conclusion that in Modern English the following
language units can be mentioned: morphemes, splinters, words,
nominative binomials, non-idiomatic and idiomatic word-combinations,
sentences.

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