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It is obvious that this word is borrowed.
It is obvious that this word is borrowed.
This word is borrowed from our Church, which has pronounced it for almost a thousand years, in spite of all the darkness and ignorant gloom surrounding it on every side, and it knows why it pronounces it.
Слово это взято из нашей церкви, которая уже почти тысячу лет его произносит, несмотря на все мраки и невежественные тьмы, отовсюду ее окружавшие, и знает, зачем произносит .
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40+ Borrowed Words in English and How They Got Into It
11 min
Created: November 24th, 2022Last updated: April 12th, 2023
Contents
You might not believe that, but borrowed words in English constitute almost 80% of a general language vocabulary. It means that the majority of common words you learn at school, hear in songs, or read in books, originally belong to different foreign languages. In this article, we will discuss the most popular English borrowed words, their history, and the ways they got into our daily conversations.
What are loanwords, and where did they come from?
Today, English is one of the most spoken languages in the world. Almost 1.5 billion people use it as their native or second language. But when it just appeared hundreds of years ago, it wasn’t so widespread. And, of course, it wasn’t that rich. Throughout history, English has been highly affected by various cultures, countries, and languages. And that is when the borrowed words came into view.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a loanword is a word taken from one language and used in another during particular circumstances. Most English words emerged under the impact of French and Latin speeches. You can also hear some terms and phrases that initially belonged to Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian, Greek, and even Russian languages. To understand how it happened, we need to dive into history.
Before becoming a major state, England was often subjected to conquests and attacks by other nations. And as we know, society has the most significant influence on vocabulary formation. Thus, Latin loanwords appeared as a consequence of the conquest of England by the Roman Empire and after the Christianization of Central Europe.
The Scandinavian words are connected with the year 870, when the Scandinavian conquerors overpowered England. French loan words in English appeared in the XI century in connection with the Norman Conquest. Now they make up almost 30% of the English vocabulary. Other countries also had their impact – for example, many German words appeared in English vocabulary during the World War.
How did borrowed English words come to be?
Now that you know a little about history, it is time to discuss some grammar details. You might not even realize that some words you’ve been using daily initially appeared in foreign languages. And to understand them better, let’s find out how exactly they’ve become common English words. There are three main ways of vocabulary transitions from one language to another.
- Transcription. It is the phonetic way of borrowing vocabulary units in which the original pronunciation of the word is preserved. Vivid examples of borrowed words created by transcription are the words “bouquet” and “ballet,” which come from French.
- Transliteration. This method means borrowing the word’s written form; English letters replace the original ones, and the word is pronounced according to the English rules. You can see examples of transliteration in “audience” (from the Latin word audio) and “democracy” (from the Greek word demos).
- Loan translation. This borrowing method involves copying foreign words, phrases, and expressions according to their literal meanings. For example, the term below one’s dignity came from the Latin phrase infra dignitatem. Another illustration of this borrowing method is the expression vicious circle – initially, it was the Latin term circulus vitiosus.
These are three main ways of borrowing English words from other languages. They are rare nowadays since most of the modern vocabulary was established hundreds of years ago. But now that you know their origins and ways of creating, it is time to learn the most common loanwords in English.
40+ English borrowed words examples
As we mentioned earlier, English was mostly impacted by French, Latin, and Scandinavian. Below, you will find the most common examples of borrowed words from these languages. So make yourself comfortable, and we are going to start.
French loanwords in English
Almost a thousand years ago, in 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England. Back then, Normans spoke Old French. Therefore, this language became a leading language in the conquered country. People spoke it for two reasons – first, it was necessary because some terms were unknown in Britain.
The second reason appeared later. Occasionally, speaking French became fancier than speaking English – people from high society considered English to be the language of peasants. Fortunately, those times are far behind us. But some expressions we use in our daily speech still remind us of them. Here are some examples of English words from another language.
- Pork, beef, mutton, veal.
It is hard to imagine that these tasty words we use nowadays were highly debated in ancient England. When French became trendy among aristocrats, the traditional word “swin” was replaced by its fancier version, “porc.” This way, “swin” was mainly used to describe what the peasants were breeding, while “porc” defined the food of the aristocrats. Later these two words borrowed from other languages transformed a little to suit English grammar rules – “swin” became “swine,” and “porc” became “pork.”
The same thing happened to other food. To separate themselves from the peasantry, aristocrats began to use different words for animals (cow, sheep, calf) and the meat they provided (beef, mutton, veal). And even though today we don’t have such division into social strata, we still use historical reminders of those times in our speech.
- Carpenter, execute, court, tailor, government.
These words might confuse you since they have very little in common. But in the times of the Norman Conquest, they were widespread among the elite (by the way, this is also a borrowed word.) Once again, people from high society used them to separate themselves from ordinary people, show respect to the new governors, and easily communicate with the conquerors.
Most words were connected to the royal court, shipbuilding, the army, etc. At the same time, the words duke and duchess, battle, cadet, captain, lieutenant, judge, attorney, and others came into use.
- Beautiful, visit, music, rewrite, explore, hour.
These words came into English from French a few centuries later and date back to the Renaissance. People started to travel the world, visit new places, and discover unknown art pieces. New things needed some names, and that is where the loan translation began. Most expressions that describe art come from French. For example, the word “beautiful” is a loan translation of the French word “beau,” and “music” came from “musique.”
- Leisure, gourmand, feudal, brother, garden.
When England again had a monarch in the Stuart era, many new words also came from France. Mostly, it was due to the social strata – the aristocrats learned many new words from the French nobility and used them in their language with minimal modifications.
Latin loan words list in English
Another significant influence English received from the Latin language. It all started in the times of the Roman Empire and continued during the Christianization. Even though Latin is considered a dead language now, we still use many words that came from it thousands of years ago. And believe us, some of them might really surprise you.
- Alibi.
This Latin word literally means “to be somewhere else.” But when it became a legal term, its definition slightly changed. Now it means that a person couldn’t be charged for committing a crime since they have significant proof of being in another place.
- Labor.
Labor in Latin means hard work, while in English, we usually use it to refer to any kind of physical work. This word has become the producer of other common terms – laboratory, collaboration, and elaborate.
- Agenda.
The word agenda came from the Latin verb agere, which meant performing any action. Today we use this term to describe the list of problems we will discuss at the meeting or the goals we are going to reach. Another way of using this word is to define one’s unclear, hidden motives.
- Visa.
Today we can’t imagine traveling to a foreign country without this document or permission for its absence. In Ancient Rome, this word was also used to define a document – the one that had been checked (charta visa – the document that had been seen).
- Video.
We all know the modern definition of this term. It is one of the best examples of words borrowed from other languages because we use it quite often in our daily lives. The original term is Latin, meaning “I see.”
- Etc.
You regularly see this abbreviation in the Promova blog articles. But have you ever wondered what it means? This shortcut came from the Latin word et cetera, which had the same meaning – and so on.
- AM & PM.
We can see these abbreviations every time we look at the watch or a phone screen to check the time. And we bet you’ve never known that they also came from Latin – ante meridiem and post meridiem, meaning before and after midday.
English words from other languages
You already know that Latin and French had the most significant impact on English vocabulary. But these are not the only languages that affect our daily speeches. Below, you will find the most common terms that came into English from foreign countries. And some of them can be really unexpected.
- Dollar.
Yes, you’ve read it right. Initially, this word appeared in the Czech Republic (Bohemia) in the XVI century. This was due to the fact that the country started to mint its own silver coins. It came to the USA almost three hundred years later, at the end of the XVIII century.
- Anonymous.
Now we use this word to define someone who doesn’t show their identity. In Ancient Greece, where the world was originally used, it had a similar meaning – someone who doesn’t have a name.
- Avatar.
In modern English, this word has two meanings – the famous James Cameron movie we all adore or the profile picture on social media. But initially, it is a Hindi word that means the incarnation of God in the human form.
- Candy.
This sweet word is definitely borrowed, but there are still some debates about its origin. It might be the loan translation of the French word (sucre candi – sugar candy), the Persian word qand (sugar), or the Sanskrit word khanda (sugar).
- Babushka.
This fashion word came to English from the Russian language. Originally, it meant a grandmother. But the modern definition describes a scarf tied on the head with a knot under the chin.
- Robot.
Another common word you didn’t expect to be borrowed. But it is – for the first time, this word appeared in the book R. U. R. written by Czech writer Karel Capek. It was a novel about artificial people called guess what? Robots. The best part about this story is that the book was published in 1921 – long before we started to really make robots.
- Chocolate.
One more tasty borrowed word in our list. It came from an Aztec language that is now considered dead. In the original, it was called xocolatl. You can still hear this word in some central regions of Mexico.
- Kindergarten.
We all use this term when talking about the place where kids go before school. Initially, it is a German word. Its literal translation is the children’s garden. You can hear this word not only in English but also in many other languages.
- Piano.
In English, this expression describes a popular musical instrument. The word came from the Italian term piano-forte. In the original language, it means “softly-loudly.” Also, this musical term means that you need to play a certain fragment of the composition softly.
7
How to learn English words borrowed from other languages with the Promova app?
Learning English borrowed words might be beneficial for language practice. It can help you understand the origin of some terms, find proper pronunciation, and better interpret the definition of some expressions. But this process might be tricky for those who are just starting their English-learning journey. Luckily, we have a solution.
Promova is a modern online language-learning platform that offers many studying options for students worldwide. You can choose from several opportunities according to your proficiency level, studying preferences, etc. For example, if your goal is to practice speaking, you can join our free Conversation Club to discuss various topics with students from different countries.
If you prefer personal lessons, say no more! You can seek help from our team of professional tutors, who will be happy to provide you with all the information you need based on your language level. For those who like company instead, we offer group lessons, where you can make your studying process fun, meet new people, and make friends from all over the world.
Lastly, to those of you who like to study alone, Promova offers a convenient state-of-the-art application available for different devices. Here you can find everything you need to practice English alone, including various topics, interesting lessons, speaking and vocabulary practices (where you can find a complete English loan words list), and much more.
Therefore, don’t waste any more time and visit the Promova website right away to see what it has to offer, whether you are an experienced language speaker or just a beginner, prefer to study alone or in a group.
Conclusion
All in all, what was a loanword a hundred years ago, is now just a regular part of our speeches. Today borrowed words have become an integral part of the English language – we eat chocolate, walk our children to the kindergarten, discuss the agenda at work, and go to bed before 12 PM. But it is important to know the origins; we hope this article will help you with that. Please share your favorite borrowed words in the comments – we will be happy to learn something new!
FAQ
What are borrowed words?
According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, a borrowed word or loanword is a word from a foreign language used in its initial form. Nowadays, almost 80% of all English vocabulary consists of borrowed words. Most of these terms came from French, Latin, German, Scandinavian, Spanish, Italian, Hindi, and Russian languages.
Why are there so many loanwords in English?
Most borrowed words appeared in English during particular historical events. For example, Latin words are connected to the Christianization of England and the times of the Roman Empire. French words came with the Norman Conquest, and German – came with the First and Second World Wars. Some words appeared like loan translations because English vocabulary didn’t have the proper definition (like the Australian word kangaroo – British people never saw this animal, so they called it as the Australian people did).
What are the most common English words borrowed from French?
During different historical periods, English vocabulary was replenished with various words. For example, the times of William the Conqueror brought the words battle, army, soldier, lieutenant, captain, cadet, duke, and duchess. The Renaissance came with the words beautiful, art, and music, and in times of the Stuart Era, the words leisure, gourmand, and garden appeared.
What are the most common English words borrowed from Latin?
The most common English words borrowed from the Latin language are agenda (from the verb agere), alibi (from the Latin alibi – to be somewhere else), labor (Latin – hard work), and visa (charta visa – a document that had been seen). Some of the most popular borrowed Latin terms are vicious circle (circulus vitiosus) and Carpe Diem (seize the moment).
Loanwords are words adopted by the speakers of one language from
a different language (the source language). A
loanword can also be called a borrowing.
The abstract noun borrowing refers to the process of speakers
adopting words
from a source language into their native language. «Loan» and
«borrowing» are of course metaphors, because there is no literal
lending process. There is no transfer from
one language to another, and no «returning» words to
the source language. The words simply come to be used by a speech
community that speaks a different language from the one these words
originated in.
Borrowing is a consequence of cultural contact between two language
communities. Borrowing of words can go in both directions between the
two languages in contact, but often there is an asymmetry, such that more words
go from one side to the other. In this case the source language
community has some advantage of power, prestige and/or wealth that
makes the objects and ideas it brings desirable and useful to the borrowing
language community. For example, the Germanic tribes in the first few
centuries A.D. adopted numerous loanwords from Latin as they
adopted new products via trade with the Romans. Few Germanic words, on
the other hand, passed into Latin.
The actual process of borrowing is complex and involves many usage
events (i.e. instances of use of the new word). Generally, some
speakers of the borrowing language know the source language too, or at
least enough of it to utilize the relevant word. They (often
consciously) adopt the new word when
speaking the borrowing language, because it most exactly fits the idea
they are trying to express. If they are bilingual in the source
language, which is often the case, they might pronounce the words the
same or similar to the way they are pronounced in the source language.
For example, English speakers adopted the word garage from
French, at first with a pronunciation nearer to the French
pronunciation than is now usually found. Presumably the very first
speakers who used the word in English knew at least some French and
heard the word used by French speakers, in a French-speaking context.
Those who first use the new word might use it at first only with
speakers of the source language who know the word, but at some point
they come to use the word with those to whom the word was not
previously known.
To these speakers the word may sound ‘foreign’. At this stage, when
most speakers do not know the word and if they hear it think it is
from another language, the word
can be called a foreign word. There are many foreign words
and phrases used in English such as bon vivant (French),
mutatis mutandis (Latin), and Fahrvergnuegen (German).
However, in time more speakers can become familiar with a new foreign
word or expression.
The community of users of this word can
grow to the point where even people who know little or nothing of the
source language understand, and even use, the novel word
themselves. The new word becomes
conventionalized: part of the conventional ways of speaking in
the borrowing language. At this point we call it a borrowing or loanword.
(It should be noted that not all foreign words do become loanwords; if they fall out of use
before they become widespread, they do not reach the loanword stage.)
Conventionalization is a gradual process in which a word progressively
permeates a larger and larger speech community, becoming part of ever
more people’s linguistic repetoire.
As part of its becoming more familiar to more people,
a newly borrowed word gradually adopts sound and other characteristics
of the borrowing language as speakers who do not know the source
language accommodate it to their own linguistic systems. In time,
people in the borrowing community do not perceive the word as a loanword at all. Generally, the longer a borrowed word
has been in the language, and the more frequently it is used, the more
it resembles the native words of the language.
English has gone through many periods in which large numbers of words
from a particular language were borrowed. These periods coincide with
times of major cultural contact between English speakers and those
speaking other languages. The waves of borrowing during periods
of especially strong cultural contacts are not sharply delimited, and
can overlap. For example, the Norse influence on English began already
in the 8th century A.D. and continued strongly well after the Norman
Conquest brought a large influx of Norman French to the language.
It is part of the cultural history of English speakers that they have
always adopted loanwords from the languages of whatever cultures they have
come in contact with. There have been few periods when borrowing
became unfashionable, and there has never been a national academy in
Britain, the U.S., or other English-speaking countries to
attempt to restrict new loanwords, as there has been in many continental
European countries.
The following list is a small sampling of the loanwords that came into
English in different periods and from different languages.
Latin
The forms given in this section are the Old English ones. The original Latin source word is given in parentheses where significantly different. Some Latin words were themselves originally borrowed from Greek. It can be deduced that these borrowings date from the time before the Angles and Saxons left the continent for England, because of very similar forms found in the other old Germanic languages (Old High German, Old Saxon, etc.). The source words are generally attested in Latin texts, in the large body of Latin writings that were preserved through the ages.
| ancor | ‘anchor’ |
| butere | ‘butter’ (L < Gr. butyros) |
| cealc | ‘chalk’ |
| ceas | ‘cheese’ (caseum) |
| cetel | ‘kettle’ |
| cycene | ‘kitchen’ |
| cirice | ‘church’ (ecclesia < Gr. ecclesia) |
| disc | ‘dish’ (discus) |
| mil | ‘mile’ (milia [passuum] ‘a thousand paces’) |
| piper | ‘pepper’ |
| pund | ‘pound’ (pondo ‘a weight’) |
| sacc | ‘sack’ (saccus) |
| sicol | ‘sickle’ |
| straet | ‘street’ ([via] strata ‘straight way’ or stone-paved road) |
| weall | ‘wall’ (vallum) |
| win | ‘wine’ (vinum < Gr. oinos) |
Latin
| apostol | ‘apostle’ (apostolus < Gr. apostolos) |
| casere | ‘caesar, emperor’ |
| ceaster | ‘city’ (castra ‘camp’) |
| cest | ‘chest’ (cista ‘box’) |
| circul | ‘circle’ |
| cometa | ‘comet’ (cometa < Greek) |
| maegester | ‘master’ (magister) |
| martir | ‘martyr’ |
| paper | ‘paper’ (papyrus, from Gr.) |
| tigle | ’tile’ (tegula) |
Celtic
| brocc | ‘badger’ |
| cumb | ‘combe, valley’ |
(few ordinary words, but thousands of place and river names: London, Carlisle,
Devon, Dover, Cornwall, Thames, Avon…)
Scandinavian
Most of these first appeared in the written language in Middle English; but many were no doubt borrowed earlier, during the period of the Danelaw (9th-10th centuries).
- anger, blight, by-law, cake, call, clumsy, doze, egg, fellow, gear, get, give, hale, hit, husband, kick, kill, kilt, kindle, law, low, lump, rag, raise, root, scathe, scorch, score, scowl, scrape, scrub, seat, skill, skin, skirt, sky, sly, take, they, them, their, thrall, thrust, ugly, want, window, wing
- Place name suffixes: -by, -thorpe, -gate
French
- Law and government—attorney, bailiff, chancellor, chattel, country, court, crime, defendent, evidence, government, jail, judge, jury, larceny, noble, parliament, plaintiff, plea, prison, revenue, state, tax, verdict
- Church—abbot, chaplain, chapter, clergy, friar, prayer, preach, priest, religion, sacrament, saint, sermon
- Nobility—baron, baroness; count, countess; duke, duchess; marquis, marquess; prince, princess; viscount, viscountess; noble, royal (contrast native words: king, queen, earl, lord, lady, knight, kingly, queenly)
- Military—army, artillery, battle, captain, company, corporal, defense,enemy,marine, navy, sergeant, soldier, volunteer
- Cooking—beef, boil, broil, butcher, dine, fry, mutton, pork, poultry, roast, salmon, stew, veal
- Culture and luxury goods—art, bracelet, claret, clarinet, dance, diamond, fashion, fur, jewel, oboe, painting, pendant, satin, ruby, sculpture
- Other—adventure, change, charge, chart, courage, devout, dignity, enamor, feign, fruit, letter, literature, magic, male, female, mirror, pilgrimage, proud, question, regard, special
Also Middle English French loans: a huge number of words in age, -ance/-ence, -ant/-ent, -ity, -ment, -tion, con-, de-, and pre- .
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a given word came from French or whether it was taken straight from Latin. Words for which this difficulty occurs are those in which there were no special sound and/or spelling changes of the sort that distinguished French from Latin
The effects of the renaissance begin to be seriously felt in England. We see the beginnings of a huge influx of Latin and Greek words, many of them learned words imported by scholars well versed in those languages. But many are borrowings from other languages, as words from European high culture begin to make their presence felt and the first words come in from the earliest period of colonial expansion.
Latin
- agile, abdomen, anatomy, area, capsule, compensate, dexterity, discus, disc/disk, excavate, expensive, fictitious, gradual, habitual, insane, janitor, meditate, notorious, orbit, peninsula, physician, superintendent, ultimate, vindicate
Greek (many of these via Latin)
- anonymous, atmosphere, autograph, catastrophe, climax, comedy, critic, data, ectasy, history, ostracize, parasite, pneumonia, skeleton, tonic, tragedy
- Greek bound morphemes: -ism, -ize
Arabic
- via Spanish—alcove, algebra, zenith, algorithm, almanac, azimuth, alchemy, admiral
- via other Romance languages—amber, cipher, orange, saffron, sugar, zero, coffee
Period of major colonial expansion, industrial/technological revolution, and American immigration.
Words from European languages
French
French continues to be the largest single source of new words outside of very specialized vocabulary domains (scientific/technical vocabulary, still dominated by classical borrowings).
- High culture—ballet, bouillabaise, cabernet, cachet, chaise longue, champagne, chic, cognac, corsage, faux pas, nom de plume, quiche, rouge, roulet, sachet, salon, saloon, sang froid, savoir faire
- War and Military—bastion, brigade, battalion, cavalry, grenade, infantry, pallisade, rebuff, bayonet
- Other—bigot, chassis, clique, denim, garage, grotesque, jean(s), niche, shock
- French Canadian—chowder
- Louisiana French (Cajun)—jambalaya
Spanish
- armada, adobe, alligator, alpaca, armadillo, barricade, bravado, cannibal, canyon, coyote, desperado, embargo, enchilada, guitar, marijuana, mesa, mosquito, mustang, ranch, taco, tornado, tortilla, vigilante
Italian
- alto, arsenal, balcony, broccoli, cameo, casino, cupola, duo, fresco, fugue, gazette (via French), ghetto, gondola, grotto, macaroni, madrigal, motto, piano, opera, pantaloons, prima donna, regatta, sequin, soprano, opera, stanza, stucco, studio, tempo, torso, umbrella, viola, violin
- from Italian American immigrants—cappuccino, espresso, linguini, mafioso, pasta, pizza, ravioli, spaghetti, spumante, zabaglione, zucchini
Dutch, Flemish
- Shipping, naval terms—avast, boom, bow, bowsprit, buoy, commodore, cruise, dock, freight, keel, keelhaul, leak, pump, reef, scoop, scour, skipper, sloop, smuggle, splice, tackle, yawl, yacht
- Cloth industry—bale, cambric, duck (fabric), fuller’s earth, mart, nap (of cloth), selvage, spool, stripe
- Art—easel, etching, landscape, sketch
- War—beleaguer, holster, freebooter, furlough, onslaught
- Food and drink—booze, brandy(wine), coleslaw, cookie, cranberry, crullers, gin, hops, stockfish, waffle
- Other—bugger (orig. French), crap, curl, dollar, scum, split (orig. nautical term), uproar
German
- bum, dunk, feldspar, quartz, hex, lager, knackwurst, liverwurst, loafer, noodle, poodle, dachshund, pretzel, pinochle, pumpernickel, sauerkraut, schnitzel, zwieback, (beer)stein, lederhosen, dirndl
- 20th century German loanwords—blitzkrieg, zeppelin, strafe, U-boat, delicatessen, hamburger, frankfurter, wiener, hausfrau, kindergarten, Oktoberfest, schuss, wunderkind, bundt (cake), spritz (cookies), (apple) strudel
Yiddish (most are 20th century borrowings)
- bagel, Chanukkah (Hanukkah), chutzpah, dreidel, kibbitzer, kosher, lox, pastrami (orig. from Romanian), schlep, spiel, schlepp, schlemiel, schlimazel, gefilte fish, goy, klutz, knish, matzoh, oy vey, schmuck, schnook,
Scandinavian
- fjord, maelstrom, ombudsman, ski, slalom, smorgasbord
Russian
- apparatchik, borscht, czar/tsar, glasnost, icon, perestroika, vodka
Words from other parts of the world
Sanskrit
- avatar, karma, mahatma, swastika, yoga
Hindi
- bandanna, bangle, bungalow, chintz, cot, cummerbund, dungaree, juggernaut, jungle, loot, maharaja, nabob, pajamas, punch (the drink), shampoo, thug, kedgeree, jamboree
Dravidian
- curry, mango, teak, pariah
Persian (Farsi)
- check, checkmate, chess
Arabic
- bedouin, emir, jakir, gazelle, giraffe, harem, hashish, lute, minaret, mosque, myrrh, salaam, sirocco, sultan, vizier, bazaar, caravan
African languages
- banana (via Portuguese), banjo, boogie-woogie, chigger, goober, gorilla, gumbo, jazz, jitterbug, jitters, juke(box), voodoo, yam, zebra, zombie
American Indian languages
- avocado, cacao, cannibal, canoe, chipmunk, chocolate, chili, hammock, hominy, hurricane, maize, moccasin, moose, papoose, pecan, possum, potato, skunk, squaw, succotash, squash, tamale (via Spanish), teepee, terrapin, tobacco, toboggan, tomahawk, tomato, wigwam, woodchuck
- (plus thousands of place names, including Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatchewan and the names of more than half the
states of the U.S., including Michigan, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois)
Chinese
- chop suey, chow mein, dim sum, ketchup, tea, ginseng, kowtow, litchee
Japanese
- geisha, hara kiri, judo, jujitsu, kamikaze, karaoke, kimono, samurai, soy, sumo, sushi, tsunami
Pacific Islands
- bamboo, gingham, rattan, taboo, tattoo, ukulele, boondocks
Australia
- boomerang, budgerigar, didgeridoo, kangaroo (and many more in Australian English)
The larger part of English
vocabulary consists of loan words. Borrowing is one of the ways of
enriching the vocabulary. Words can be borrowed through all kinds of
contacts between nations: wars, invasions, occupation, cultural and
trade relations between countries. It is natural, therefore, in
discussing the problem of loan words in any language to give a
survey of certain historical facts from the life of the people
speaking that language.
3.1. Latin borrowings
The
earliest borrowings came into English from Latin. In the 1st
century B.C. the Germanic tribes lived in Central Europe, they spoke
numerous Germanic languages which contained Indo-European and Common
Germanic elements. As most of Europe was occupied by the Roman Empire
at that time The Germanic tribes came into constant contacts with the
Romans. There were both military conflicts and trade relations. The
Germanic tribes were primitive cattle-breeders who knew next to
nothing about land cultivation. The only products known to them were
meat and milk. So, from the more civilized Romans they learnt how to
make butter and cheese. Since there were no words to name the new
foodstuffs in their tribal languages they had to use Latin words for
them. The Latin names of some fruits and vegetables new to the
Germanic tribes also entered their vocabulary: cherry,
pear, plum, pea, pepper, peach, beet. The
very word plant
is
also of Latin origin. Other Latin borrowings of this period are: cup,
dish, mill, kitchen, wine, mule, pound, inch, mile, kettle.
As Britain
was also part of the Roman Empire at that time, such words as street
(strata
via), wall
(vallum),
camp
(campus),
port
(portus),
chester
(as
in Manchester)
(castra) remaine in the language.
Historically,
all Latin loan words in English can be divided into 3 layers. The
borrowings described above belong to the
first layer.
The second
stream of Latin borrowings came into English with the
Christianization of the British Isles in the 7th
century A.D. The language of the Christian church was Latin and,
naturally,
the second layer
of Latin borrowings consists mostly of different religious terms:
pope,
bishop, monk, nun, priest, altar, devil, creed, angel, psalm, candle,
hymn, apostle, disciple. The
priests were educated people who began to establish church schools
and the words school,
master, verse, scholar, chalk came
into the language. Of words other than religious and educational
terms we may name such as lion,
copper, marble, gem, palm-tree, cap, spade, fork
(вилы).
The
third layer
of Latin borrowings refers to the epoch of Renaissance (in England it
came in the 16th
century, later than in Italy). This period was marked by the
prospering of art, science and culture in all European countries.
There also came a revival of interest in ancient civilizations of
Greece and Rome. The words that came into English during this period
differ greatly from earlier Latin borrowings. Now the borrowing was
done from literature and scientific works that were written in Latin
and the loan words, in contrast to the previous two layers, were
mostly abstract in meaning and many of them were scientific terms.
There were many verbs and adjectives among them and comparatively few
nouns: introduce,
execute, collect, decorate, senior, solar, triangular, evident,
cordial, obvious, union, relation, etc. The
words of the first and second layers were mostly nouns and the
borrowing was from oral everyday communication, not from written
sources.
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Languages freely borrow terms from each other. This usually occurs when a new object or institution is created for which the borrowing language lacks a word. If you are searching for what those words maybe, you are on the right page.
In this post, we will be providing you with answers to the question “What are loanwords?” and how loanwords came to be.
We will also be enumerating the different loanwords from other languages and explaining the importance of getting ourselves acquainted with them. Please continue reading.
Loanwords are words that have been borrowed from other languages and utilized by speakers of that language (the source language). A ‘borrowing’ is another term for a loan word. The process by which speakers incorporate words from a foreign language into their native tongue is referred to as abstract noun borrowing.
The terms ‘loan’ and ‘borrowing’ are both metaphors, as there is no such thing as a literal lending procedure. There is no translation from one language to another, and there are no words that ‘return’ to the originating language. They simply became popular within a linguistic community that spoke a language other than the one in which they originated.
Borrowing occurs when two language populations come into contact culturally. Word borrowing can occur in both ways between two languages in touch, although there is generally an asymmetry, with more words flowing from one side to the other. The source language community has some influence, reputation, and wealth in this situation, which makes the goods and ideas it brings appealing and beneficial to the borrowed language group.
Borrowing is a complicated procedure that requires numerous usage occurrences. In most cases, some speakers of the borrowed language are also fluent in the source language or at least know enough to use the appropriate words. When speaking the borrowed language, they use them. They may speak the words the same or similar to how they are pronounced in the source language if they are bilingual in the source language, which is typically the case.
Those who first use the new word may do so solely with speakers of the parent language who are already familiar with it, but eventually, they will use it with those who are unfamiliar with it. The word may appear ‘strange’ to these speakers. The word can be classified as a foreign word at this stage when the majority of speakers are unfamiliar with it and believe it comes from another language.
However, a novel foreign word might become more familiar to more speakers over time. The user community can expand to the point that even those with little or no knowledge of the original language can understand and utilize the new word. The new term becomes established.
What Is the Purpose of Borrowing Words from Other Languages?
Loanwords exist in all languages. What is the reason for this? The answer is complicated, involving past and current history, location, language size and power, and linguistic structure. Languages are generally influenced by their surroundings.
There is no language – or component of language – that is completely ‘loan-proof’. Any term in one language might theoretically be replaced with a word from another.
Here are the reasons and explanations why we borrow words from other languages.
- Loanwords contribute to the enrichment, expansion, and development of the language.
- Other languages may better convey a concept, such as ‘schadenfreude’ which means pleasure in the misery of others.
- To introduce a new idea/product/sport/food/etc. for which no English word exists, borrowing is required.
- There has never been a formally acknowledged national academy in an English-speaking country to oversee the terms of entering and leaving the language.
How Do Borrowed Words Work in English?
Words are borrowed and lent due to cultural contact between two communities that speak different languages. The dominant culture (or the culture seen to have more prestige) frequently donates more words than it borrows, resulting in an uneven exchange mechanism.
Many of the words that are borrowed are part of the dominant group’s material culture. Food, plants, animals, and tools travel with the people who use them, and the words used to describe them do as well.
It is no surprise that physical and linguistic exchanges occur when other cultures come into contact with those new people, their goods, and their language. Since these objects have corresponding names already, the borrowing culture prefers to use them rather than create new ones.
The new loanwords that the receiving language integrates into its lexicon frequently sound foreign at first. They may only be used by a small group of people until they gradually spread to more speakers over time. Pronunciation changes occur as a foreign word gets phonologically transformed to make it easier to utter in the language where it was borrowed from, a process known as naturalization or assimilation.
A loanword has been conventionalized when a large percentage of the population utters it on a regular basis, and what it is no longer needs to be defined and explained. Loanwords can either maintain traces of their former self (i.e., they can still be seen as foreign in some sense) or totally disappear into the new language. It is a loanword once the word no longer appears foreign.
Semantic Loan (Borrowing)
A semantic loan is related to the generation of calques in that it involves borrowing semantic meaning (rather than lexical objects) from another language.
However, in this scenario, the whole word in the borrowing language already exists; the difference is that its meaning is expanded to accommodate another meaning in the lending language that its existing translation contains.
When two languages are in close proximity, semantic loans are common and can take several forms. The source and target words could be cognates, which may or may not share any current meaning in common; they could be a loan translation or parallel construction (composite of matching terms); or they could be unrelated words with a shared meaning.
Loan Translation (Calque)
A calque (or loan translation) is a word-for-word translation from one language to another in linguistics. A calque is when you take a phrase in French and literally translate it into English root-for-root or word-for-word.
To calque, as a verb, means to take a phrase or word from another language and reassemble it into a new lexeme in the chosen language. It is a type of loan in which words or phrases are taken from another language and then translated into the target language. It means adhering to the target language’s syntactical structures.
By avoiding using foreign terms directly, calque contributes to the richness of a target language. Calque is a construction, not a loan, which is a phonological and morphologic modification.
The French term ‘souris’, which means ‘mouse’ (the animal), is a good example. When French speakers began speaking of computer mice after the English term mouse acquired the additional sense of ‘computer mouse’, they did so by expanding the meaning of their own word ‘souris’ in the same way that English speakers had extended the meaning of mouse.
It would have been a borrowing if French speakers had started using the term ‘mouse’; it would have been a calque if they had developed a new lexeme out of various French morphemes, as with ‘disque’ dur for ‘hard disk’.
Some Fun Facts About Loanwords
The people of the British Isles did not need borrowed terms before 1066. They spoke an Old English dialect of German. It has something to do with what we are talking about right now. France’s William the Conqueror invaded Britain in 1066. The nobles’ language became French. The common people, on the other hand, the common people continued to speak Old English.
As a result, English has acquired a dual vocabulary. Pork, for example, was a hit with everyone. The nobles referred to it as ‘porc’, while the common people referred to it as swine. In modern English, both words exist, although ‘pork’ is more prevalent. More words from various European countries seeped into English as Christianity flourished.
Here are some fun facts about borrowed words:
- The English language has borrowed words from up to 350 other languages.
- Although all languages borrow words, many of them alter the rules to meet their phonetics.
- Latin (29%), French (29%), Greek (6%), other languages (6%), and proper names (4%) are the languages from which present English is derived, meaning only 26% of today’s English is actually English.
- According to Dictionary.com, nearly 80% of the terms in an English dictionary were borrowed from another language.
- Overall, Latin is the most common source of loanwords, but French is the most important provider of new loanwords.
- When the alphabets are different, English transliterations normally rely on the source language to provide a starting point.
- Since World War II, English has surpassed all other languages as the largest exporter of loanwords, including ubiquitous terms like ‘OK’, ‘Internet’, and ‘hamburger’.
- Languages having richer grammar, such as German or Icelandic, are more hesitant to borrow because their grammar systems risk collapsing if there is an excessive flood of loans.
What are Some of the Common Loanwords?
Language is, at its core, a means of communication. It is an all-encompassing human phenomenon. It is a way to convey our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and messages. A language must be capable of expressing these phenomena.
However, a language may not always have all of the words necessary to represent all of one’s experiences. It will have to borrow words and phrases from various languages.
Here are the most common ‘loan words’:
African
The majority of African-derived words in English are nouns that describe creatures, plants, or cultural traditions that originated in Africa, mostly sub-Saharan African.
apartheid banana banjo basenji
bongo buckra chimpanzee cola
dengue fandango goober jambalaya
jive jukebox jumbo mamba
mambo samba voodoo zebra
Arabic
The following terms were learned either directly from Arabic or indirectly through the translation of Arabic into other languages and subsequently into English.
alcohol algebra average caravan
gazelle giraffe harem kebab
lemon magazine mattress mosque
oud safari shawarma sofa
sugar sultan tariff zenith
Australian
Some of the words of Australian Aboriginal origin, such as kangaroo and boomerang, are commonly used in Australian English. Many of these words have been leased into languages other than English, while others are unique to Australian English.
aborigine ballarat billabong bombora
boomerang bunyip dingo gymea
humpy kangaroo koala mallee
nugget swagman waddy walkabout
wallaby willy willy wombat wonga
Chinese
The English language, as well as many other European languages, has adopted certain Chinese words. The majority of them were loanwords from Chinese, a phrase that refers to members of the Sino-Tibetan language family who speak Chinese.
china chopsticks chow mein cumquat
dim sum feng shui ketchup kowtow
kung fu lychee soy tai chi
tea tofu typhoon wok
Dutch
Both English and Dutch are West Germanic languages. However, in most cases, English spellings of Dutch loanwords suppress vowel combinations from the source term that do not exist in English and substitute them with existing vowel combinations.
bamboo blister boulevard brandy
cashier commodore dapper decoy
elope filibuster geek iceberg
knapsack mannequin onslaught pickle
pump school sketch stove
French
Many French words have found their place in the English language, just as many Latin ones have.
ballet casserole chancery cinema
croissant embassy entrepreneur faux pas
genre helicopter limousine parachute
pastry porridge renaissance rendezvous
silhouette stew television thermometer
Greek
Because the living Greek and English languages did not come into direct touch until modern times, borrowings had to be indirect, coming via Latin (through texts or French and other vernaculars) or Ancient Greek texts, rather than the living spoken language.
alchemy bacterium bishop chair
elixir garbology gas helicobacter
hydrant hydrodynamics kerosene metalinguistic
photography priest symbiont taxonomy
telegram telescope television zoology
German
Many of these terms may be traced back to a Germanic source (typically Frankish), making them cognate with a large number of native English words from Old English, resulting in etymological twins. Many of these are Franco-German words or words with Germanic roots in French.
attaché blitz bourgeoise delicatessen
fest flak gesundheit kindergarten
lager noodle poodle pretzel
rucksack sauerkraut schadenfreude schnitzel
strudel waltz zeitgeist zeppelin
Hebrew
It is not unexpected that Hebrew had an influence on English. Because European languages lacked a decent equivalent, or the translators weren’t sure what the word meant, many early translators took words directly from Hebrew.
abacus amen cherub cider
corban glitch golem jacket
jubilee macabre pascal pharaoh
pharisee rabbi sabbatical schmoose
schwa shalom shivah torah
Hindi/Sanskrit
Many old Greco-Roman words that are now part of modern English can be traced back to Sanskrit.
candy cashmere cough crimson
daughter dental grass ignite
jungle karma lilac mantra
neem nirvana pepper rice
shampoo shawl tank yoga
Italian
Many words from the Italian language and its Latin-derived relatives have made their way into English, particularly those related to art, music, and cuisine.
balcony coda extravaganza fresco
maestro motto novel piano
presto quarantine regatta solo
soprano stanza studio tempo
trio umbrella violin zucchini
Japanese
Japanese words have made their way into a wide range of languages. Some of the words are simply transliterations of Japanese language words for cultural concepts, but others are words of Chinese origin that were first introduced to English through Japan.
anime bento bonsai geisha
kamikaze karaoke karate katsu
mochi ninja nori origami
samurai shoyu sudoku sumo
sushi tsunami tycoon wasabi
Latin
Even though no one speaks Latin anymore, many aspects of the language can still be found in word components. Many languages have taken vocabulary from Latin, particularly in the areas of arithmetic, science, and medicine.
affidavit agenda alias alibi
alma mater alter ego alumni bonus
etcetera exit fact maximum
post mortem post-partum propaganda spectrum
Portuguese
The majority of loanwords and derivations stem from the Age of Discovery, when the Portuguese spoken at sea was widely regarded as the most widely understood vernacular (lingua franca) of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, according to several studies.
albino buffalo caramel cashew
caste cobra creole embarrass
flamingo indigo Labrador lingo
marmalade massage molasses mulatto
palaver port potato tapioca
Spanish
The impact of Spanish, being one of the major Romance or Latin languages, can be heard all over the world, particularly in English. Because of the Spanish colonization of a substantial section of the Americas from 1492 until 1832, the influence of Spanish on the English language is particularly noticeable in American English.
alligator avocado barrio breeze
burrito cafeteria canyon cargo
cigar fiesta hacienda hurricane
macho mosquito oregano patio
ranch stampede tequila tornado
Where Can We Usually Find Loanwords?
Everyday words are popular loanwords. You may not even be aware that some of them are from a different language.
The majority of well-known loanwords are the outcome of cross-cultural encounters. There are a plethora of methods to highlight English’s global ingredients, but it would take as many years to do so properly as it did for English to develop into the rich stew it is now.
Loanwords in Academics
Loanwords have been discussed and explained by academics like Lyle Campbell, together with Ugandan-born British linguist Francis Katamba and even author and linguistic researcher Kerry Maxwell. Continue reading to see what they had to say about it.
Lyle Campbell
“One reason terms from another language are adopted is for prestige, as the foreign phrase is held in high regard for whatever reason. ‘Luxury’ loans are used to describe loans used to gain prestige. For example, English could have done just fine with only native terms for ‘pig flesh/pig meat’ and ‘cow flesh/cow meat,’ but pork (from French porc) and beef (from French boeuf), as well as many other terms of ‘cuisine,’ were borrowed from French; ‘cuisine’ itself is from French cuisine ‘kitchen’, because French had a higher social status and was considered more prestigious than English during the Norman French dominance of England (1066-13).”
Francis Katamba
“Bilingual speakers may be expressing something about themselves and how they want to relate to their interlocutor by using a specific language. For example, if a patient initiates a Yiddish conversation with a doctor in the doctor’s office, it could be a show of solidarity, implying that you and I belong to the same sub-group. Instead of selecting between languages, these two people would prefer code-switching. They may produce sentences that are partially written in English and partially written in Yiddish. If foreign terms are often employed in code-switching, they may gradually flow from one language to another, becoming fully integrated and no longer being considered foreign. That is most likely how Yiddish phrases like chutzpah (brazen impudence), schlemiel (a clumsy, bungling person who is constantly a victim), schmaltz (cloying, bland sentimentality), and goyim (gentile) came to be. The fact that these Yiddish words have no graceful English equivalent was undoubtedly a factor in their acceptance.”
Loanwords in Pop Culture
As the following comment from the late British actor Geoffrey Hughes, who also played Paul McCartney in the film “Yellow Submarine,” demonstrates, loanwords function in a range of languages.
Geoffrey Hughes
“Scholars use a three-part distinction drawn from German to classify loanwords according to their degree of assimilation in the new host language. The sound, spelling, and meaning of a Gastwort (‘guest word’) are all preserved. Examples are ‘passe’ – a French word, ‘diva’ – an Italian word, and ‘leitmotiv’ – a German word. A Fremdwort (‘foreign term’), like the French ‘garage’ and ‘hotel’, has experienced partial assimilation. ‘Hotel,’ which was initially pronounced with a silent ‘h’, has been spoken like an English word for some time, with the ‘h’ sounded; ‘garage,’ which has evolved a secondary, Anglicized pronunciation (‘garrij’) and can be employed as a verb. Finally, a Lehnwort (‘loan word’) has assimilated into the new language and has no distinguishing features. As a result, the loan word is an example of itself.”
Kerry Maxwell
“Fauxcellarm, a clever blend of the French loan term faux, meaning ‘false’, ‘cell’, from ‘cellphone’, and ‘alarm’, which when pronounced out loud sounds similar to ‘false alarm’, is a tongue-in-cheek alternative to ringxiety.”
Why Should We Be Familiar With ‘Loanwords’?
You are now aware that English has many words that have been borrowed from other languages.
In reality, the majority of English terms are from other languages. Many of the words in the English language have cognates in different languages. Knowing what many of these common word components signify will help you expand your English vocabulary.
As such, it is a must that you familiarize yourself with these terms and where they are from as this will surely come in handy not just in academic settings but also in social settings.
Additional FAQs — Loanwords
How Many Loanwords are There in the English Language?
Out of the (approximately) 171 476 words in the English language, 80% are borrowed or loaned from other languages. Studies show that these loanwords are from 350 different languages, most of which are from Latin and French.
How do Loanwords Happen?
Borrowing of words usually occurs when a new object or institution is created for which the borrowing language lacks a word.
In some instances, the word’s spelling is altered to fit in a country’s standard spelling. Other times, the borrowed words stay as they are, with no modifications and alterations.