What is the word for the study of the origin of words

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«Etymologies» redirects here. For the work by Isidore of Seville, see Etymologiae.

Etymology ( ET-im-OL-ə-jee^[1]) is the study of the origin and evolution of a word’s semantic meaning across time, including its constituent morphemes and phonemes.^[2][3] It is a subfield of historical linguistics, and draws upon comparative semantics, morphology, semiotics, and phonetics.

For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts, and texts about the language, to gather knowledge about how words were used during earlier periods, how they developed in meaning and form, or when and how they entered the language. Etymologists also apply the methods of comparative linguistics to reconstruct information about forms that are too old for any direct information to be available. By analyzing related languages with a technique known as the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In this way, word roots in many European languages, for example, can be traced all the way back to the origin of the Indo-European language family.

Even though etymological research originated from the philological tradition, much current etymological research is done on language families where little or no early documentation is available, such as Uralic and Austronesian.

Etymology[edit]

The word etymology derives from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning «true sense or sense of a truth», and the suffix -logia, denoting «the study of».^[4][5]

The term etymon refers to a word or morpheme (e.g., stem^[6] or root^[7]) from which a later word or morpheme derives. For example, the Latin word candidus, which means «white», is the etymon of English candid. Relationships are often less transparent, however. English place names such as Winchester, Gloucester, Tadcaster share in different modern forms a suffixed etymon that was once meaningful, Latin castrum ‘fort’.

Methods[edit]

Etymologists apply a number of methods to study the origins of words, some of which are:

• Philological research. Changes in the form and meaning of the word can be traced with the aid of older texts, if such are available.
• Making use of dialectological data. The form or meaning of the word might show variations between dialects, which may yield clues about its earlier history.
• The comparative method. By a systematic comparison of related languages, etymologists may often be able to detect which words derive from their common ancestor language and which were instead later borrowed from another language.
• The study of semantic change. Etymologists must often make hypotheses about changes in the meaning of particular words. Such hypotheses are tested against the general knowledge of semantic shifts. For example, the assumption of a particular change of meaning may be substantiated by showing that the same type of change has occurred in other languages as well.

Types of word origins[edit]

Etymological theory recognizes that words originate through a limited number of basic mechanisms, the most important of which are language change, borrowing (i.e., the adoption of «loanwords» from other languages); word formation such as derivation and compounding; and onomatopoeia and sound symbolism (i.e., the creation of imitative words such as «click» or «grunt»).

While the origin of newly emerged words is often more or less transparent, it tends to become obscured through time due to sound change or semantic change. Due to sound change, it is not readily obvious that the English word set is related to the word sit (the former is originally a causative formation of the latter). It is even less obvious that bless is related to blood (the former was originally a derivative with the meaning «to mark with blood»).

Semantic change may also occur. For example, the English word bead originally meant «prayer». It acquired its modern meaning through the practice of counting the recitation of prayers by using beads.

History[edit]

The search for meaningful origins for familiar or strange words is far older than the modern understanding of linguistic evolution and the relationships of languages, which began no earlier than the 18th century. From Antiquity through the 17th century, from Pāṇini to Pindar to Sir Thomas Browne, etymology had been a form of witty wordplay, in which the supposed origins of words were creatively imagined to satisfy contemporary requirements; for example, the Greek poet Pindar (born in approximately 522 BCE) employed inventive etymologies to flatter his patrons. Plutarch employed etymologies insecurely based on fancied resemblances in sounds. Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae was an encyclopedic tracing of «first things» that remained uncritically in use in Europe until the sixteenth century. Etymologicum genuinum is a grammatical encyclopedia edited at Constantinople in the ninth century, one of several similar Byzantine works. The thirteenth-century Legenda Aurea, as written by Jacobus de Varagine, begins each vita of a saint with a fanciful excursus in the form of an etymology.^[8]

Ancient Sanskrit[edit]

The Sanskrit linguists and grammarians of ancient India were the first to make a comprehensive analysis of linguistics and etymology. The study of Sanskrit etymology has provided Western scholars with the basis of historical linguistics and modern etymology. Four of the most famous Sanskrit linguists are:

• Yaska (c. 6th–5th centuries BCE)
• Pāṇini (c. 520–460 BCE)
• Kātyāyana (6th-4th centuries BCE)
• Patañjali (2nd century BCE)

These linguists were not the earliest Sanskrit grammarians, however. They followed a line of ancient grammarians of Sanskrit who lived several centuries earlier like Sakatayana of whom very little is known. The earliest of attested etymologies can be found in Vedic literature in the philosophical explanations of the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads.

The analyses of Sanskrit grammar done by the previously mentioned linguists involved extensive studies on the etymology (called Nirukta or Vyutpatti in Sanskrit) of Sanskrit words, because the ancient Indians considered sound and speech itself to be sacred and, for them, the words of the sacred Vedas contained deep encoding of the mysteries of the soul and God.

Ancient Greco-Roman[edit]

One of the earliest philosophical texts of the Classical Greek period to address etymology was the Socratic dialogue Cratylus (c. 360 BCE) by Plato. During much of the dialogue, Socrates makes guesses as to the origins of many words, including the names of the gods. In his Odes Pindar spins complimentary etymologies to flatter his patrons. Plutarch (Life of Numa Pompilius) spins an etymology for pontifex, while explicitly dismissing the obvious, and actual «bridge-builder»:

The priests, called Pontifices…. have the name of Pontifices from potens, powerful because they attend the service of the gods, who have power and command overall. Others make the word refer to exceptions of impossible cases; the priests were to perform all the duties possible; if anything lays beyond their power, the exception was not to be cavilled. The most common opinion is the most absurd, which derives this word from pons, and assigns the priests the title of bridge-makers. The sacrifices performed on the bridge were amongst the most sacred and ancient, and the keeping and repairing of the bridge attached, like any other public sacred office, to the priesthood.

Medieval[edit]

Isidore of Seville compiled a volume of etymologies to illuminate the triumph of religion. Each saint’s legend in Jacobus de Varagine’s Legenda Aurea begins with an etymological discourse on the saint’s name:

Lucy is said of light, and light is beauty in beholding, after that S. Ambrose saith: The nature of light is such, she is gracious in beholding, she spreadeth over all without lying down, she passeth in going right without crooking by right long line; and it is without dilation of tarrying, and therefore it is showed the blessed Lucy hath beauty of virginity without any corruption; essence of charity without disordinate love; rightful going and devotion to God, without squaring out of the way; right long line by continual work without negligence of slothful tarrying. In Lucy is said, the way of light.^[9]

Modern era[edit]

Etymology in the modern sense emerged in the late 18th-century European academia, within the context of the wider «Age of Enlightenment,» although preceded by 17th century pioneers such as Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Gerardus Vossius, Stephen Skinner, Elisha Coles, and William Wotton. The first known systematic attempt to prove the relationship between two languages on the basis of similarity of grammar and lexicon was made in 1770 by the Hungarian, János Sajnovics, when he attempted to demonstrate the relationship between Sami and Hungarian (work that was later extended to the whole Finno-Ugric language family in 1799 by his fellow countryman, Samuel Gyarmathi).^[10]

The origin of modern historical linguistics is often traced to Sir William Jones, a Welsh philologist living in India, who in 1782 observed the genetic relationship between Sanskrit, Greek and Latin. Jones published his The Sanscrit Language in 1786, laying the foundation for the field of Indo-European linguistics.^[11]

The study of etymology in Germanic philology was introduced by Rasmus Christian Rask in the early 19th century and elevated to a high standard with the German Dictionary of the Brothers Grimm. The successes of the comparative approach culminated in the Neogrammarian school of the late 19th century. Still in the 19th century, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche used etymological strategies (principally and most famously in On the Genealogy of Morals, but also elsewhere) to argue that moral values have definite historical (specifically, cultural) origins where modulations in meaning regarding certain concepts (such as «good» and «evil») show how these ideas had changed over time—according to which value-system appropriated them. This strategy gained popularity in the 20th century, and philosophers, such as Jacques Derrida, have used etymologies to indicate former meanings of words to de-center the «violent hierarchies» of Western philosophy.

Notable etymologists[edit]

• Ernest Klein (1899-1983), Hungarian-born Romanian-Canadian linguist, etymologist
• Marko Snoj (born 1959), Indo-Europeanist, Slavist, Albanologist, lexicographer, and etymologist
• Anatoly Liberman (born 1937), linguist, medievalist, etymologist, poet, translator of poetry and literary critic
• Michael Quinion (born c. 1943)

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Alfred Bammesberger. English Etymology. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1984.
• Philip Durkin. «Etymology», in Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edn. Ed. Keith Brown. Vol. 4. Oxford: Elsevier, 2006, pp. 260–7.
• Philip Durkin. The Oxford Guide to Etymology. Oxford/NY: Oxford University Press, 2009.
• William B. Lockwood. An Informal Introduction to English Etymology. Montreux, London: Minerva Press, 1995.
• Yakov Malkiel. Etymology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
• Alan S. C. Ross. Etymology, with a special reference to English. Fair Lawn, N.J.: Essential Books; London: Deutsch, 1958.
• Michael Samuels. Linguistic Evolution: With Special Reference to English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.
• Bo Svensén. «Etymology», chap. 19 of A Handbook of Lexicography: The Theory and Practice of Dictionary-Making. Cambridge/NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Walther von Wartburg. Problems and Methods in Linguistics, rev. edn. with the collaboration of Stephen Ullmann. Trans. Joyce M. H. Reid. Oxford: Blackwell, 1969.

External links[edit]

• Media related to Etymology at Wikimedia Commons
• Etymology at Curlie.
• List of etymologies of words in 90+ languages.
• Online Etymology Dictionary.

Becoming Interested in the Origin of Words

Words, like facts, are difficult to remember out of context.  Remembering is greatly
facilitated when you have a body of information with which to associate either a word
or a fact.  For words, interesting origins or histories will help provide a context. 
For example, a hippopotamus is a «river horse,» from the Greek hippos, meaning «horse,» and potamos, meaning «river.»

Indiana is called the Hoosier state, and its people Hoosiers.  Why?  In the early days, the pioneers were gruff in manner; when someone knocked
at the front door, a pioneer’s voice would often boom, «Who’s yere?»

If you were offered a Hobson’s choice, would you know what was meant?  Thomas Hobson owned a livery stable in seventeenth-century
England.  He loved his horses, and to prevent any one horse from being overworked,
he hired them out in turn, beginning with stall number one.  Customers had to take
the horses they were given.  Thus Hobson’s choice means no choice at all. (Pauk, p. 314)

Etymology is the study of the origins of words.  The English language is living and growing. 
Although many of our words have been part of our language for many years, new words
are added all the time.  Following are various ways our language is influenced.

• Derived from Foreign Words — English, in many cases, has been commonly expanded by incorporating foreign words
  into it.  Most of our language has ancient Anglo-Saxon or Latin origins.  Other languages
  have also added to our vocabularies.

• Additions through Technology & Products — Our words often reflect current interests, trends, and innovations.  One of the
  most recent contributors to our language has been computer technology, which has created
  words such as bytes, monitor, and disk.

  Another way new words come into our language is through the development of products. 
  Some examples include: Kleenex, Walkman, Scotch tape, Xerox, and Linoleum.

• People’s Names — sometimes when a person invents or introduces something, that thing becomes associated
  with the person’s name.  The person, through time, is forgotten while the name lives
  on in our language.  Examples include:

  • mesmerize — F.A. Mesmer, an Austrian doctor and hypnotist.
  • sideburns — an American English alteration of burnsides, Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union general.

• Words from Letters — The initials for the names of things may actually come to replace the names.  The
  initials become the words that represent the thing, concept, or group.  The following
  are examples of words that have developed from initials.

  • TV — TeleVision
  • DWI — Driving While Intoxicated
  • COD — Cash On Delivery
  • ZIP — Zone Improvement Plan

• Word Histories — Some words also have interesting histories.  Learning the stories behind the meanings
  is a good way to learn those words.  The following examples will give you an idea
  of how history can affect language.

  • footman — It was once thought to bring bad luck if a person stepped on the door threshold
    when entering a house.  Rich people hired a servant to stand at their doors.  His
    job was to guard against a guest’s stepping on the threshold.  The guard became known
    as a footman.
  • hooker — A synonym for prostitute.  The term became popular during the Civil War.  The women
    involved were camp followers.  General «Fighting Joe» Hooker approved their presence
    in order to boost the morale of his men.

We can imagine words as travelers: they start off young and one-dimensional in one part of the world, and travel around linguistic families, gaining and shedding meaning as they go. Their spelling and pronunciation morph and change, but they’re usually still recognizable as their younger selves. Sometimes, they get so old they stop traveling and drop off the map. Sometimes, they’re bold and they jump from one linguistic family to another. The history and journey of words is pretty fascinating, so read on to find out more about etymology in English, the study of the origin of words.

• What is etymology?
• Etymology in the English language
• 8 English words with an interesting etymology

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What is etymology?

Ever wondered why some languages have a lot of words in common? Etymology can tell you why. Etymology is the study of the history of words, or the study of word origins. It traces a word from its earliest beginnings to where it is now and looks at all the places it stopped in between.  

Etymology in the English language

A lot of English words come from Latin, often via French. Similar words can be found in other Latin-based languages like Italian and Romanian. Many other English words come from Germanic languages, and similar words appear in languages like Dutch and German. 

How can etymology help me?

Etymology can help you understand your native language better. It can also teach you about the common root of words in several languages. That often means that you can recognize words in other languages without being told exactly what they mean. 

Take the word ‘robot’ which comes from the Czech word robotnik meaning ‘laborer’. You can see variations of the word robotnik in lots of other Slavic languages meaning ‘worker’ or ‘manual laborer’, as well as the word robota, meaning ‘work’. Learning the root of one word allows you to understand words in a host of different languages. Etymology can help you take some shortcuts in language learning and who doesn’t want that? 

8 English words with an interesting etymology

1. Dungarees

The word ‘dungarees’ comes from the Hindi word dungri. The meaning of dungri is ‘coarse calico’ (the material dungarees were originally made of) and it comes from the village of Dungri, which was just outside Mumbai, and was where dungarees were originally made. 

2. Whiskey

The origin of the word ‘whiskey’ is, not surprisingly, Gaelic, a language used in Ireland and Scotland. Uisge beatha or usquebaugh is the Gaelic word for whiskey and it was corrupted into English as ‘whiskey’. It translates as ‘water of life’, which is fitting for when you’re drinking it but maybe not so much for the day after.  

3. Clue

This word is a different spelling of the Germanic word clew which means a ball of thread or yarn. It originally comes from the ‘clew of thread’ which was to Theseus to use as a guide out of the Labyrinth in Greek mythology. This is a good example of a word gaining meaning, because nowadays, when you say “Give me a clue”, you don’t want a ball of yarn, you want some helpful information. 

4. Tattoo

Tattoo comes from the Polynesian words ta-tau or ta-tu, both of which mean ‘mark on the skin’. It first popped up in English in the late 18th century after Captain Cook returned to England from Tahiti, where he had seen people with lots of tattoos. 

5. Safari

The Arabic word for ‘journey’ or ‘expedition’ is safar, and this is the origin of the word ‘safari’. The word travelled from Arabic into Swahili, and then on into English in the mid 19th century. It’s now used in English to talk about a journey into the wild to see animals in their natural environments. 

6. Hooch

‘Hooch’ is a slang word for alcohol in English, especially strong alcohol which is brewed illegally at home. It’s a shortened form of Hoochinoo, which was the name of an indigenous Alaskan group who made liquor. This so-called hooch (which was apparently pretty nasty tasting) became popular with miners during the 1898 Klondike gold rush and the word has remained in English since. 

7. Barbarian

This word comes from Ancient Greek; originally barbaros, it was used to talk about anyone who didn’t speak Greek. This is because the sounds made by foreigners sounded like ‘ba-ba-ba’ to Greek ears. Its negative meaning was added by the Romans, who called any foreigners who didn’t follow Roman traditions ‘barbarians’. 

8. Berserk 

Quite a few words in English also come from the Viking language of Old Norse. ‘Berserk’ is one of these words. It is used in modern English to mean ‘furiously violent or angry’. It’s probably from the Norse words ber ‘bear’ and serkr ‘shirt’, literally ‘a warrior clothed in bearskin’. 

Which words in your language do you think share etymological roots with English ones?

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Laura is a freelance writer and was an ESL teacher for eight years. She was born in the UK and has lived in Australia and Poland, where she writes blogs for Lingoda about everything from grammar to dating English speakers. She’s definitely better at the first one. She loves travelling and that’s the other major topic that she writes on. Laura likes pilates and cycling, but when she’s feeling lazy she can be found curled up watching Netflix. She’s currently learning Polish, and her battle with that mystifying language has given her huge empathy for anyone struggling to learn English. Find out more about her work in her portfolio.

Библиографическое описание:

Жумакулова, Ш. К. The etymology concept in linguistics / Ш. К. Жумакулова. — Текст : непосредственный // Молодой ученый. — 2020. — № 51 (341). — С. 56-57. — URL: https://moluch.ru/archive/341/76828/ (дата обращения: 14.04.2023).



This article discusses the etymology of linguistics. Along with the department of etymology, special attention is paid to the concept of etymology, the history of the origin of words, their original meaning and significance.

Keywords:



etymology, etymon, etymological analysis, diachronic, synchronous.

In linguistics etymology is the study of the origin of a word and is based on the laws of historical changes in word structure and its meanings, sound changes, and morphological changes in words.

Etymology is one of the oldest branches of linguistics and deals with the history of the origin of words, as well as the meanings of words learned from artificial, compound and foreign languages. Etymology takes into account both aspects of a word, its form and meaning. Etymology is the study of the origin of words. The word is a combination of the Greek etymology, etymon — «truth» and logos — «word». [3]

According to encyclopedic dictionaries, etymology originated in ancient Greece in Plato’s Cratilus, where the term «etymology» was coined in connection with the Stoics. [2]

According to Karpenko, V. A. Zvegintsev defined the history of the science of etymology, returning to Plato’s Cratilus, arguing that the «natural» or conditional nature of words and the dispute over their observance were primarily true, i.e. the point of view that reflects the essence of what they mean, the Stoics put forward a new task before the ancient linguistics — the discovery of the true essence or nature of words. Thus, etymology implied that a new linguistic discipline, or the science of the true meaning of a word, was encouraged for its birth. [4]

Etymology is a very ancient branch of linguistics, and BC philosophers and philologists also studied the early history of the origin of words. The term «etymology» is probably associated with the names of the ancient Roman scholars Chrysippus and Varron. The true and original meanings and forms of words are determined by comparing them with words in other languages ​​and dialects that have the same root as the history of the language. [1] It explores the previous meanings and forms of words.

According to I. A. Buduen de Courtenay, etymology is defined as a science that deals with historical relations in terms of the structure of words and their essential parts. The scholar argues that the application of the concept of chronological sequence to individual parts of the grammar of any language should take into account the history of the language when comparing the state of a single material in different periods.

O. N. Trubachev explains that the etymology of almost every word is related to comparative grammar, and that this relationship is almost always complex and multifaceted, as etymology is a set of actions based on a set of data derived from comparative grammar. The etymology is provided by comparative grammar, and it can still add clarity and add much. Each etymology works with comparative phonetics, morphology, and word formation facts.

A. S. Karimov calls etymology the «biography» of words, the study of the history of their origin. [5] The true and original meanings and forms of words are determined by comparing them with words in other languages ​​and dialects that have the same root. In this case, the previous meanings and forms of words are studied in depth.

The term «etymology» is used in linguistics in two senses: lexicology, the study of the history of the origin of words in a particular language, and the first meaning and form of the word.

It is easy to identify the origin of new words, but it is much harder to know when an old word appeared and from which language or dialect it was derived. In determining the origin of a word, the word is compared with the sound structure and meaning of words in related languages.

The subject of etymology as a branch of linguistics is the study of the sources and processes of formation of the vocabulary of a language, including the earliest stages of its existence. [2] Over time, the words of a language change according to certain historical patterns, which obscures the original form of the word. The etymologist must create this form, relying on the materials of the relevant languages, and explain how the word came to be in the modern form.

Historical changes in words often distort the original form and meaning of the word, and the character of the word undermines the underlying motivation, that is, it determines the difficulty of reconstructing the relationship between the original form and the meaning of the word.

The purpose of the etymological analysis of a word is to determine when, in what language, on the basis of which word formation model, on the basis of which linguistic material, in what form and in what sense the word appeared, as well as on its initial form and meaning determines what historical changes have defined the present form and meaning. Reconstruction of the original form and meaning of the word is actually the subject of etymological analysis.

Etymological analysis allows the speaker to restore the meaning of a word that was previously unknown to him, reveals its origin, allows to restore the origin of words in a foreign language. History from any moment of life helps maintain the account. The history of language as a scientific history is the study of the history of social thought without a general basis for the history of discipline, material and spiritual culture, and, above all, the imagination.

Linguist V. I. Abaev described the main functions of scientific etymological analysis as follows:

− to compare the basic, non-derivative words of a given language with the words of these opposite languages and to study the history of the form and meaning of the word according to the main language;

− to designate for Latin words within a given language and their components (roots, stems, affixes) in the language parts;

− to determine the source of borrowing for borrowed words.

The etymology of linguistics is very complex and requires a lot of time and patience. Historically, we have to admit that there is a connection between words and things from a diachronic point of view. But their history is so deep that the ability to identify all of them is practically impossible. The main reason for this conclusion is that just as everything in the world is changing and evolving, as well as words. With this in mind, it is concluded that there is no connection between words and things, given the current state of language development, that is, from a synchronic point of view.

As can be seen from the above, etymology is closely related to areas of linguistics such as lexicology. But for an etymologist to be successful, he must have in-depth knowledge in almost all areas of linguistics. He must compare the data of different languages, both modern and ancient, with his own methods in comparative historical linguistics.

References:

1. Abduazizov A. A. Tilshunoslik nazariyasiga kirish. — Sharq, Toshkent — 2010. — 81p.
2. Варбот Ж. Ж. Этимология. Большая российская энциклопедия. Том 35. Москва, 2017. — 489–490с.
3. Irisqulov M. T. Tilshunoslikka kirish. Yangi asr avlodi., 2009. — 96–101p.
4. Карпенко У. А. Трансляция смысла и трансформация значений первокорня: монография. — Киев: Освита Украины, 2013. — 496 с.
5. Karimov S. A. Tilshunoslik nazariyasi. Samarqand — 2012. — 21p.

13 —
Etymology. What
makes it important for contemporary lexicology? The role and place of
borrowings in English word-stock.

Etymology
(Gr) — etymon («true science») + legein («speak»)

Etymology is the branch of Lexicology which studies the source of
borrowing and the origin of Ws, the processes of adopting new Ws.

Motivation for studying etymology: the memory can not be overloaded
with Ws, you may learn by associations.

The etymology of a word refers
to its origin and the historical roots of the term as a linguistic
form. Etymology, in general, is the theory and study of the origins
and history of linguistic form., it’s a science of true sense of a
w, studies the origin, history and changes in the meaning of the
word.

Studies the following
problems:

1) native ws and borrowings

2)
assimilation& its types and degrees

3) ways of enriching E
w-stock.

English
wordstock is rich and of mixed character: 70% of words are
borrowings!

e.g.
money < OFr monei < Latin. moneta

Chronological
periods of English:

—
Old English 5-11 c AD (Anglo-Saxon)

—
Middle English 1066 (The Norman conquest)* — 15 c AD

—
The New English (1475) — Modern English

According
to origin all the words are divided into 2 sets: native and borrowed.

Native
words fall into 3 layrs:

1)
wors of Indo-European stock have cognates (words of the same origin)
in different Indo-European languages

e.g.
members of family (mother, brother, son, daughter), parts of body
(arm, eye, foot, heart), periods of time (night, day), animals (cat,
wolf, goose), numerals.

2)
words of Germanic origin have parallels in German, Norwegian, Sweish,
Dutch, Icelandic… (cow, horse, fox, winter, summer, shop, iron,
deep, good, green..)

3)
words of Anglo-Saxon origin (later than the 5th century AD) have NO
cognates: bird (OE bridd), dog (OE dogca), boy, girl, daisy, lord,
lady, always.

These
are basic words in English, most frequent: 80% (be, have, i, you,
she, should..)

BORROWING
is the process and result of adopting words, word-groups and parts of
words always within the words

Borrowings can be classified according to different criteria:

a) according to the aspect which is borrowed,

b) according to the degree of assimilation,

c) according to the language from which the word was borrowed.

English
is called the recipient language as it «receives» the word
the «giving» language is sourse.

paper
(E) < papier (Fr.) < papyrus (Lat.) < papyros (Gr.) The
sourse of borrowing is French. The origin is Greek.

Loan
translations — words and expressions formed in the recepient language
acc to the pattern of the sourse:

mother
tongue < lingua materna (Lat)

sweet
life < dolce vita (It)

hand-to-hand
< mano a mano (Sp)

WHY
ARE WORDS BORROWED?

1)
to fill the gaps in the vocabulary (butter, plum, beet, karaoki,
sushi)

2)
to show a new shade of meaning > synonyms: love, like + admire,
adore (Fr)

3)
blind borrowings (no one knows why)

WHAT
HAPPENS TO BORROWINGS?

• Assimilation

the
adaptation of borrowed words to the new linguistic environment

It
is determined by 3 factors:

1)
the nature of contacts

2)
the time of adoption

3)
the degree of genetic proximity

Type
of assimilation:

—
complete (perfectly assimilated)

—
partial

(name
objects which dont exist)

(not
assimilated grammatically: datum-data, nucleus — nucleai)

(not
assimilated phonetically: garage-party)

(not
graphically assimilated: cafe, queue, picturesque)

—
Barbarisms (not assimilated at all): curriculum vitae (Lat), carte
blanche (Fr), siloviki (R), ciao (It)

English continues to take in foreign words , but now the quantity of
borrowings is not so abundunt as it was before. All the more so,
English now has become a «giving» language, it has become Lingva
franca of the twentieth century.

1.                 
Etymology
is a
branch of lexicology studying the origin of words. Etymologically, the
English vocabulary is divided into native and loan words, or borrowed words.
A native word is a word which belongs to the original English word stock and
is known from the earliest available manuscripts of the Old English period. A
borrowed word is a word taken over from another language and modified
according to the standards of the English language.

2.                 
 

3.                 
The
etymological linguistic analysis showed that the borrowed stock of words is
larger than the native stock of words. In fact native words comprise only 30%
of the total number of words in the English vocabulary. A native word is a
word which belongs to the original English stock, which belongs to
Anglo-Saxon origin.

4.                 
 

5.                 
Many
linguists consider foreign influence plays the most important role in the
history of the English language. But the grammar and phonetic system are very
stable (unchangeable) and are not often influenced by other languages.
Besides when we speak about the role of native and borrowed words in the
English language we must not take into consideration only the number of them
but their semantic, stylistic character, their word building ability,
frequency value, collocability (valency) and the productivity of their word
building patterns. If we approach the study of the role of native borrowed
words from this point of view we see, though the native words are not
numerous they play an important role in the English language. They have high
frequency value, great word-forming power, wide collocability, many meanings
and they are stylistically neutral.

6.                 
Almost
all words of native origin belong to very important semantic groups. They
include most of the auxiliary and model verbs: shall, will, should, must,
can, may; pronouns: I, he, my, your, his, who, whose; prepositions: in, out,
on, under, for, of; numerals: one two three, four, five, six, etc;
conjunctions: and, but, till, as etc; words denoting parts of body: head,
hand, arm, back, foot, eye etc; members of a family: father, mother, brother,
son, wife; natural phenomena and planets: snow, rain, wind, sun, moon,
animals: horse, cow, sheep, cat; common actions: do, make, go, come, hear,
see, eat, speak, talk etc. All these words are very frequent words, we use
them every day in our speech. Many words of native origin possess large
clusters of derived and compound words in the present-day language.

7.                 
Such
affixes of native origin as er, -ness, -ish, -ed, un, -mis, -dom, -hood, -ly,
-over, -out, -under, — are of native origin.

Этимология — это ветвь лексикологии,
изучающая происхождение слов. Этимологически, английский словарь разделен на
родные и заемные слова или заимствованные слова. Родное слово — это слово,
которое принадлежит оригинальному английскому языку и известно из самых
ранних доступных рукописей древнеанглийского периода. Заимствованное слово —
это слово, взятое с другого языка и измененное в соответствии со стандартами
английского языка.

Этимологический лингвистический анализ показал, что заимствованный
запас слов больше, чем собственный запас слов. Фактически, родные слова
составляют только 30% от общего числа слов в английской лексике. Родным
словом является слово, которое принадлежит оригинальному английскому запасу,
принадлежащему англо-саксонскому происхождению.

Многие лингвисты считают, что иностранное влияние играет самую важную
роль в истории английского языка. Но грамматика и фонетическая система очень
стабильны (неизменяемы), и на них часто не влияют другие языки. Кроме того,
когда мы говорим о роли родных и заимствованных слов в английском языке, мы
не должны принимать во внимание только их число, но их семантический,
стилистический характер, их способность к построению, частотность,
способность колликации (валентность) и производительность их. Шаблоны
словообразования. Если мы подходим к изучению роли коренных заимствованных
слов с этой точки зрения, мы видим, хотя родные слова не многочисленны, они
играют важную роль на английском языке. Они имеют высокую частотную ценность,
большую словообразующую силу, широкую совместимость, много значений, и они
стилистически нейтральны.

       Почти все слова родного происхождения принадлежат к очень
важным семантическим группам. Они включают большинство вспомогательных и
модельных глаголов: они должны, должны, должны, должны, могут; Местоимения:
Я, он, мой, ваш, его, кто, чей; Предлоги: in, out, on, under, for, of; Цифры:
одна два три, четыре, пять, шесть и т. Д .; Союзы: и, но, до, как и т. Д .;
Слова, обозначающие части тела: голова, рука, рука, спина, стопа, глаз и т. Д
.; Члены семьи: отец, мать, брат, сын, жена; Природные явления и планеты:
снег, дождь, ветер, солнце, луна, животные: лошадь, корова, овца, кошка; Общие
действия: делать, делать, идти, приходить, слышать, видеть, есть, говорить,
говорить и т. Д. Все эти слова — очень частые слова, мы используем их каждый
день в нашей речи. Многие слова родного происхождения обладают большими
кластерами производных и сложных слов на современном языке.

Такие аффиксы родного происхождения, как er, -ness, -ish, -ed, un,
-mis, -dom, -hood, -ly, -over, -out, -under, — имеют коренное происхождение.

1.Etymological structure of the English vocabulary.

2 Native word-stems (man, pan).

3. Borrowings from latin (fanaticus — fan).

4. Scandinavian borrowings (sky) – 9th-10th century.

5. Borrowings from French (beggar, fiancé) -Norman Conquest, 11th
century.

 6.Borrowings from other languages (European, Oriental — feng shui,
American Indians).

1.Этимологическая структура английской
лексики.

2 Родные словосочетания (человек, кастрюля).

3. Заимствования из латинского (fanaticus — fan).

4. Скандинавские заимствования (небо) — 9-10
в.

5. Заимствования с французского (нищий,
жених) во время завоевания Нормана, 11 век.

6.Заимствования с других языков (европейские,
восточные — фэн-шуй, американские  индейцев)

1.                 
 Words of native origin

The origin of English words.

The most characteristic feature of English is its mixed
character. While it is wrong to speak of the mixed character of the language
as a whole, the composite nature of the English vocabulary cannot be denied.

1.     
Native
words — words of Anglo-Saxon origin brought to the British Isles from the
continent in the 5th century by the Germanic tribes — the Angles, the Saxons
and the Jutes.

2.
Native words are subdivided into two groups:

1) words of the Common Indo-European word stock

2) words of the Common Germanic origin

3.Words of the Indo-European stock have cognates (parallels) in
different Indo-European languages: Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Polish,
Russian and others: father (OE fder, Gothic fadar, Swedish fader,
German Vater, Greek patйr, Latin pбter, French pere, Persian pedжr, Sanscrit pitr)

4.Words
of the Common Germanic stock have cognates only in the Germanic group: in
German, Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic, etc.: to sing (OE singan, Gothic
siggwan, German singen)

5. Numerically the Germanic group is larger. Thematically these
two groups do not differ very much. Words of both groups denote parts of the
human body, animals, plants, phenomena of nature, physical properties, basic
actions, etc. Terms of kinship, the most frequent verbs and the majority of
numerals belong to the Common Indo-European word stock. Many adverbs and
pronouns are of Germanic origin.

6.Native words constitute about 30 percent of the English
vocabulary, but they make up 80 percent of the 500 most frequent words.
Almost all native words belong to very important semantic groups. They
include most of the auxiliary and modal verbs (shall, will, should, would,
must, can, may), pronouns (I, you, he, my, your, his, who, whose),
prepositions (in, out, on, under), numerals (one, two, three, four, etc),
conjunctions (and, but, till, as), articles.

7.Besides high frequency value words of the native word stock
are characterised by the following features:

— simple structure (they are often monosyllabic)

— developed polysemy

— great word-building power

— an ability to enter a great number of phraseological units

— a wide range of lexical and grammatical valency

— stability

8.Notional words of Anglo-Saxon origin:

— parts of the body: head, hand, arm, back;

— members of the family and closest relatives: father, mother,
brother, son, wife;

— natural phenomena and planets: snow, rain, wind, frost, sun,
moon, star;

— animals: horse, cow, sheep, cat;

— qualities and properties: old, young, cold, hot, heavy, light,
dark, white, long;

— common actions: do, make, go, come, see, hear, eat.

Native words are highly polysemantic, stylistically neutral,
enter a number of phraseological units. We see that the role
of native words in the language is great. Many authors use native words more
than foreign ones. Thus Shakespeare used 90% native words and 10% foreign
words. Swift used 75% native words.

1. Слова родного происхождения

Происхождение английских слов.

Наиболее характерной чертой английского
является его смешанный характер. Хотя ошибочно говорить о смешанном характере
языка в целом, несоответствующий характер английского словаря нельзя
отрицать.

1. Родные слова — слова англосаксонского
происхождения, привезенные на Британские острова с континента в 5 веке
германскими племенами — англами, саксами и ютами.

2.Родные слова подразделяются на две группы:

 1) слова общего индоевропейского словарного
запаса

2) слова общего германского происхождения

3.Слова индоевропейского фонда имеют родственные (параллели) в разных
индоевропейских языках: греческий, латинский, французский, итальянский,
польский, русский и другие: отец (СА f fder, готический
фадар, шведский фейдер, немецкий фатер, греческий Patrr,
латинский pbter, французский pere,
персидский педжр, Sanscrit pitr)

4.Слова общегерманского происхождения имеют
родственные отношения только в германской группе: на немецком, норвежском,
голландском, исландском и т. д .: петь (СА singan,
готический сиггван, немецкий singen)

5.Численно германская группа больше.
Тематически эти две группы не очень сильно отличаются. Слова обеих групп
обозначают части человеческого тела, животных, растений, явления природы,
физические свойства, основные действия и т. Д. Сроки родства, самые частые
глаголы и большинство цифр относятся к общему индоевропейскому слову. Многие
наречия и местоимения имеют германское происхождение.

6.Родные слова составляют около 30 процентов
английской лексики, но они составляют 80 процентов из 500 наиболее часто
встречающихся слов. Почти все родные слова принадлежат к очень важным
семантическим группам. Они включают в себя большинство вспомогательных и
модальных глаголов (должно, должно, должно, должно, должно быть, может),
местоимения (я, вы, он, мой, ваш, его, кто, чей), предлоги (в, На, внизу),
цифры (один, два, три, четыре и т. Д.), Союзы (и, но, до, как), артикли.

7.Помимо высокочастотных значений слова
исходного словарного запаса характеризуются следующими особенностями:

— простая структура (они часто односложные)

— развитая полисемия

 — отличная сила слова

— способность вводить большое количество
фразеологических единиц

— широкий диапазон лексической и
грамматической валентности

 — стабильность

8.Условные слова англосаксонского
происхождения:

— части тела: голова, рука, рука, спина;

— члены семьи и ближайшие родственники: отец,
мать, брат, сын, жена;

— природные явления и планеты: снег, дождь,
ветер, мороз, солнце, луна, звезда;

 — животные: лошадь, корова, овца, кошка;

— качества и свойства: старые, молодые,
холодные, горячие, тяжелые, светлые, темные, белые, длинные;

— общие действия: делать, делать, идти,
приезжать, видеть, слышать, есть.

Родные слова очень многозначны,
стилистически нейтральны, входят в число фразеологических единиц. Мы видим, что роль родных слов в языке велика. Многие авторы
используют родные слова больше, чем иностранные. Таким образом, Shekespear
использовал 90% родных слов и 10% иностранных слов. Swift использовал 75%
родных слов.

Borrowings enter the language in two ways: though oral
speech (by immediate contact between the people) and though written speech
(by indirect contact though books). Words borrowed orally (inch, mill,
street, map) are usually short and they undergo more change in the act of
adopter. Written borrowings (communique, belles — letters naivete,
psychology, pagoda etc) are often rather long and they are unknown to many
people, speaking English

Заимствования входят в язык двумя способами:
через устную речь (непосредственным контактом между людьми) и через
письменную речь (косвенным контактом, через книги). Слова, заимствованные
устно (дюймы, мельница, улица, карта), обычно коротки, и они подвергаются
большему изменению в акте усыновителя. Письменные заимствования (коммуна,
стиль переписки беллас — письма , психология, пагода и т. Д.) Часто довольно
длинные, и они неизвестны многим людям, говорящим по-английски

Borrowed words have been called “the milestones of
philology” — said O. Jeperson — because they permit us (show us ) to fix approximately
the dates of linguistic changes. They show us the course of civilization and
give us information of the nations”.

Заимствованные слова были названы «вехами
филологии», — сказал О. Джеперсон, — потому что они позволяют нам (показать)
приблизить даты лингвистических изменений. Они показывают нам курс
цивилизации и дают нам информацию о народах ».

The well-known linguist Shuchard said “No language is entirely
pure”, that all the languages are mixed. Borrowed words enter the language as
a result of influence of two main causes or factors; linguistic and
extra-linguistic. Economic, cultural, industrial, political relations of speakers
of the language with other countries refer to extra-linguistic factors. The
historical development of England also influenced the language. Due to the
great influence of the Roman civilization Latin was for a long time used in
England as the language of learning and religion. Old Norse of the
Scandinavian tribes was the language of the conquerors (9th, 10th and 11th
centuries). French (Norman dialect) was the language of the other conquerors
who brought with them a lot new notions of a higher social system, developed
fuedalizm. It was the language of upper classes, of official documents and
school (11th-14^th centuries). These factors are
extra-linguistic ones.

Известный лингвист Шухард сказал: «Нет языка
в чистоте», что все языки смешаны. Заимствованные слова входят в язык в
результате влияния двух основных причин или факторов; Лингвистической и
внеязыковой. Экономические, культурные, промышленные, политические отношения
носителей языка с другими странами относятся к экстралингвистическим
факторам. Историческое развитие Англии также повлияло на язык. Из-за большого
влияния римской цивилизации латынь долгое время использовалась в Англии как
язык обучения и религии. Древнескандинавские скандинавские племена были
языком завоевателей (9-10-11 столетий). Французский (норманнский диалект) был
языком других завоевателей, которые принесли с собой много новых
представлений о высшей социальной системе, развили фьюдализм. Это был язык
высших классов, официальных документов и школы (11-14 с). Эти факторы являются
экстралингвистическими.

The absence of equivalent words in the language to express
new subjects or phenomena makes people borrow words. Eg. football,
volleyball, midshipman in Russian; to economize the linguistic means, i.e. to
use a foreign word instead of long native expressions and others is called
linguistic cause.

The closer the two interacting languages are in structure
the easier it is for words of one language to penetrate into the other. The
fact that Scandinavian borrowings have penetrated into such grammatical
classes as prepositions and pronouns (they, them, their, both, same, till)
can only be attributed to a similarity in the structure of the two languages.

.

Отсутствие эквивалентных слов в языке для
выражения новых предметов или явлений заставляет людей заимствовать слова.
Ex. Слова футбол, волейбол, мичман на русском языке; Чтобы экономить
лингвистические средства, то есть использовать иностранное слово вместо
длинных родных выражений, а другие называются лингвистическими причинами.

Чем ближе эти два взаимодействующих языка
находятся в структуре, тем легче для слов одного языка проникать в другой.
Тот факт, что скандинавские заимствования проникли в такие грамматические
классы, как предлоги и местоимения (они, их, их, оба, то же, до), могут быть
отнесены только к сходству в структуре этих двух языков.

Lecture №1. The Object of Lexicology. Words of Native Origin and their Characteristic

Modern English Lexicology aims at giving a systematic description of the word-stock of Modern English. Words, their component parts – morphemes – and various types of word-groups, are subjected to structural and semantic analysis primarily from the synchronic angle. In other words, Modern English Lexicology investigates the problems of word-structure and word-formation in Modern English, the semantic structure of English words, the main principles underlying the classification of vocabulary units into various groupings the laws governing the replenishment of the vocabulary with new vocabulary units. It also studies the relations existing between various lexical layers of the English vocabulary and the specific laws and regulations that govern its development at the present time. The source and growth of the English vocabulary, the changes it has undergone in its history are also dwelt upon, as the diachronic approach revealing the vocabulary in the making cannot but contribute to the understanding of its workings at the present time.

LEXICOLOGY

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 word-building system was enriched by creating so called splinters which scientists include in the affixation stock of the Modern English word-building 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- (apocope produced by clipping the word «miniature»), such as «minijet», «minicycle», «minicar», «miniradio» and many others. All of these words denote objects of smaller than normal dimensions.

On the analogy with «mini-» there appeared the splinter «maxi» — (apocope 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— (apocope produced by clipping the word «European») were coined, such as: «Euratom» «Eurocard», «Euromarket», «Eurotunnel» and many others. These splinters are treated sometimes a 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» 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». The 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» 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 («clannishness», «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 inflexion, e.g. «derestricted», «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 («expel» 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», «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», «penguin 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.

WORDS OF NATIVE ORIGIN AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

Etymologically the vocabulary of the English language is far from being homogeneous. It consists of two layers – the native stock of words and the borrowed stock of words. Native words comprise only 30% of the total number of words in the English vocabulary but the native words form the bulk of the most frequent words actually used in speech and writing. The native element in English comprises a large number of high-frequency words like the articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, auxiliaries and, also, words denoting everyday objects and ideas (e. g. house, child, water, go, come, eat, good, bad, etc.). Words belonging to the subsets of the native word-stock are for the most part characterized by a wide range of lexical and grammatical valency, high frequency value and a developed polysemy; they are often monosyllabic, show great word-building power and enter a number of set expressions. Furthermore, the grammatical structure is essentially Germanic having remained unaffected by foreign influence.

A native word is a word which belongs to the original English stock, as known from the earliest available manuscripts of the Old English period. A loan word, borrowed word or borrowing is a word taken over from another language and modified in phonemic shape, spelling, paradigm or meaning according to the standards of the English language.

The native words are further subdivided by diachronic linguistics into those of the Indo-European stock and those of Common Germanic origin i.e. of words having parallels in German, Norwegian, Dutch, Icelandic, etc., but none in Russian, Ukrainian or French. The words having the cognates (words of the same etymological root, of common origin) in the vocabularies of different Indo-European languages form the oldest layer which readily falls into definite semantic groups: Family relations: father, mother, brother, son, daughter (cf. Ukr. мати, брат, син.). Parts of the human body: foot (cf. Rus. пядь), nose (cf. Ukr. ніс), lip, heart. Animals: cow, swine, goose. Plants: tree, birch (cf. Rus. береза), corn (cf. Rus. зерно). Time of day: day, night. Heavenly bodies: sun, moon, star. Numerous adjectives: red (cf. Ukr. рудий, Rus. рыжий), new, glad (cf. Rus. гладкий), sad (cf. Rus. сыт). The numerals from one to a hundred.

Pronouns: personal (except they which is a Scandinavian borrowing); demonstrative. Numerous verbs: be (cf. Rus. быть), stand (cf. Rus. стоять), sit (cf. Rus. сидеть), eat (cf. Rus. есть), know (cf. Rus. знать, знаю). Some of the most frequent verbs are also of Indo-European common stock: bear, come; sit, stand and others. The adjectives of this group denote concrete physical properties: hard, quick, slow, red, white. Most numerals also belong here.

The Germanic element represents words of roots common to all or most Germanic languages. Some of the main groups of Germanic words are the same as in the Indo-European element. Parts of the human body: head, hand, arm, finger, bone. Animals: bear, fox, calf. Plants: oak, fir, grass. Natural phenomena: rain, frost. Seasons of the year: winter, spring, summer. Landscape features: sea, land. Human dwellings and furniture: house, room, bench. Sea-going vessels: boat, ship. Adjectives: green, blue, grey, white, small, thick, high, old, good. Verbs: see, hear, speak, tell, say, answer, make, give, drink.

Many adverbs and pronouns also belong to this layer. It is probably of some interest to mention that at various times purists have tried to purge the English language of foreign words, replacing them with Anglo-Saxon ones. One slogan created by these linguistic nationalists was: “Avoid Latin derivatives; use brief, terse Anglo-Saxon monosyllables”. The irony is that the only Anglo-Saxon word in the entire slogan is “Anglo-Saxon”.

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