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A language can be studied synchronically and diachronically. In the synchronic approach a language is regarded as a fixed unchangeable system, while in the diachronic approach every linguistic fact is interpreted as a stage or a step in the never ending evolution of the language. In studying the history of the English Language we consider its phonetics, grammar and word-stock diachronically.
However the diachronic and synchronic approaches can be combined; the development of the language can be presented as a series of cross-sections, e.g. Old English, Middle English and Modern English.
The ME period was characterized by the influx of a great number of Scandinavian and French words. The character of loan-words of Scandinavian origin as well as of a great number of French borrowings adopted in ME is distinctly different from that of loan-words of later times. Most of the earlier loan-words, adopted in the course of a close personal intercourse of two peoples speaking different languages, were words of everyday use; whereas borrowings of the Renaissance period were distinctly of a "learned" character. Alongside the borrowing of words from other languages and the formation of many new words from the native elements there developed another tendency - the loss of words.
Loss of Words
During the Middle and New English periods many words which had once been in current use, gradually became obsolete. The loss of words can be accounted for both by reasons of social history and by linguistic reasons. It is common knowledge that when words lose their significance and come to denote out-of-date notions they gradually go out of use and become obsolete. Some of them are preserved in the language as historical terms. For instance, in the laws of the Anglo-Saxon kings there was a legal term "wer" or "wer- eld" denoting the price which could be claimed from the killer by the relatives of the killed man. With the loss of the custom the word dropped out of use as well.
With the decay of the feudal system and the establishment of capitalist relations feudatory dependence was abolished and with it the words pertaining to the feudal organisation of society went out of use. Of the words denoting different degrees of vassalage: "lagmen", "radmen", "thain", etc., only "thane" is preserved in Modem English as a historical term. Among the words which were lost in ME were some religious terms, e.g. OE blōt "sacrifice", OE blōtan "to sacrifice". The English language is known as being extremely rich in synonyms. No language can preserve words absolutely identical in meaning for long. It is therefore quite natural that when a great number of synonyms appear a struggle ensues which results in the loss of some of them unless they develop new meanings or are differentiated in some other way. For instance, in OE there were numerous synonyms denoting names of anin1als and words denoting parts of the body: OE "hors" and “mearh" - NE "horse"; OE "feax" an "h r" - NE "hair". In the course of time the difference between these synonyms grew vague. So that in the age of writing' most of them were used indiscriminately. Gradually one of the synonyms ousted the other words from the language. Thus from the above groups of-- synonyms only one word has survived: "horse" and "hair".
Loan-Words in Middle English. Scandinavian Loan-Words
In ME a great number of Scandinavian words were adopted as a result of the Scandinavian invasion. Scandinavians settled in the North-East of Britain. It is noteworthy that more than 1.400 place-names in those areas may be traced to Scandinavian sources: Appleby, Derby, Grimsby (the element -by is traced to O. Scand. byr- "town", "village"); Clydesdale, Danesdale (the element -dale is traced to O. Scand. "dale", "valley"). In the region of Danelaw the Danes must have introduced their- own laws which is evidenced by a number of legal terms among the earliest Scandinavian borrowings "law" (Late OE la u), Late OE ūtla a > NE "outlaw'" and some others which are now obsolete.
Another group of borrowings comprises terms pertaining to war such as Late OE riÞ "peace", liÞ "fleet", orrest "battle". To the earliest borrowings belong also such names of persons as Late OE husbonda > NE husband, Late OE feola a > NE fellow. Most of the later loan-words denote common and familiar notions and everyday things: ME bagge > NE bag, ME lege> NE leg; ME tacen > NE take. Among the Scandinavian loan-words we find semi-auxiliary words which are, as a rule, npt borrowed from foreign languages. Pronouns: ME thei, thai > NE they: ME theym, theim > NE them: ME theire, NE their. Prepositions: ME fro > NE fro; ME til> NE till.
Since Scandinavian and English were cognate languages whose word-stocks contained very many common roots, it is often difficult to identify a Scandinavian borrowing. However, some specific phonetic changes that occurred in these two languages since the Common Germanic time may serve as criteria for referring a word to Scandinavian borrowings. For example, in OE the consonant cluster [sk] was palatalised in the prewritten period and by Middle English it developed into the sibilant [ƒ]: OE scip [skip] > ME ship [ƒip] > NE ship. Whereas in the Scandinavian dialects palatalisatlon did not take place at that period and [sk] was preserved. Therefore, words with [sk] which' appeared at the time of the Scandinavian invasion or shortly afterwards can be identified as Scandinavian borrowings: sky, skirt, skin, skill.
In OE the Germanic initial fricative [γ] and plosive [k] were palatalized before front vowels already in the pre-written period. In the Scandinavian dialects palatalisation in this position did not take place, but the initial fricative [γ] developed into the corresponding plosive [g]. Therefore we may conclude that words containing [g] or [k] before front vowels must have been borrowed from the Scandinavian dialects: get, give, kid etc.
After the Norman Conquest a great number of French words found their way into the English language. It is customary to distinguish two sets of French borrowings in the period after the Conquest: the words borrowed in the 11th and 12th centuries directly from the language of the conquerors, the Anglo-Norman dialect of French and the later set representing borrowings from the Central French dialect. Among the words borrowed in the earlier period we find: ME prisun > NE prison; ME castel > NE castle, ME werre > NE war. The majority of French words were recorded in the second half of the 12th century and during the 14th century. Unlike words of Scandinavian origin, that had been borrowed in the process of close intercourse of the two peoples of equal social rank, French words were borrowed by the upper classes of English society after the Conquest The French borrowings belonged to various semantic spheres of the English word-stock:
Government: govern, government, assembly, council, etc.
Law: judge, justice, advocate, accuse, jury, etc.
Millitary terms: army, anus, battle, enemy, captain, etc.
Church: abbey, clergy, confession, preach, religion, etc.
Architecture: castle, cellar, garret, pillar, etc.
Arts and Literature: art, colour, copy, music, paint, etc.
Trades: butcher, carpenter, draper, grocer, etc.
Grades of aristocracy: baron, count, duke, page, etc.
Pastimes: cards, chess, conversation, dance.
Furniture and household articles: basin, chair, couch, lamp, etc.
Miscellaneous: advice, air, arrive, cry, dinner, lesson, pay, etc.
The influence of Scandinavian and French upon the English word-stock was different both from the point of view of the number of borrowed words and their character.
Social (extralinguistic) Reasons for the Difference
The Scandinavian settlers and the native population did not differ much socially. The majority of the Scandinavian settlers did not belong to the ruling class. The English and the Danes lived side by side, intermarried, so that often both languages, Scandinavian and English, were spoken in one and the same family. The religion, the social order and many of the customs of the Scandinavians were in the main the same as those of the English, and so was the level of culture of both peoples. Therefore, the words borrowed by the English did not denote any new ideas, they were in many cases just new names for old notions. The Normans, on the contrary, represented the feudal ruling circles. This is clearly brought out by the character of borrowings: many of the French words denoted new things and customs brought by the Normans from the continent and introduced in England .
Linguistic Reasons for the Difference
Other reasons for the differences between the Scandinavian and French influences upon English are to be found in the different relations of these languages to English.
English and Old Scandinavian were closely related languages belonging to different subgroups of the Germanic languages (West and North). Consequently, the people had no great difficulty in understanding each other, which led to the mingling of the languages. As a result, Scandinavian words of everyday character easily penetrated into the English language. The relation between English and French was of a different nature. These two languages belonged to different groups of the Indo-European family and had so little in common that the people could not understand each other unless they knew both languages. As a result, French arid English never mingled, they coexisted as separate languages in the country.
In contrast to Scandinavian borrowings French words were adopted not only through oral intercourse, but, perhaps to a greater degree, through literary channels, which accounts for a great number of French borrowings of a purely literary character.
Words from Classic Languages - Latin and Greek·
In NE the most important contributions to the English word-stock were made by languages of the Romance and Germanic groups. The 15th century in Europe was marked by the Renaissance movement, which among other things, resulted in a steady stream of borrowings from classic (Latin and Greek) languages. The borrowing of Latin words was greatly facilitated by numerous French loan-words adopted earlier, which in many respects resembled later Latin borrowings. Latin borrowings can be generally classified into abstract words of general application and scientific terms: Abstract notions: aspiration, conception, communication, idea, illusion, liberation, memory, etc.
So great was the Latin influence during the Renaissance that quite a number of earlier French borrowings were reshaped into closer resemblance with their Latin originals. Thus, ME avocat, aventure were - accurate renderings of the French words from which they were taken. But under the Latin influence “d” was inserted in these words: NE advocate, adventure (Lat. advocatus, adventura).
Greek loan words were not as numerous as Latin borrowings. They were mostly scientific terms: analysis, cosmos, lexicon, phrase, philosophy, etc. After the Renaissance period scholars continued to draw upon Latin and Greek to mark new advances -made in science and especially in engineering.
e.g. Chemistry: creosol (Gr.), acetic, silica (Lat.);
Physics: anode, cathode (Gr.), frequency, nucleus (Lat.);
Medicine: diagnosis, psychiatry (Gr.), bacillus, bronchitis (Lat.);
Technical terms: diode, triode (Gr.), projector, radiator (Lat.).
Italy, the source of the Renaissance movement, yielded many words to European languages, including English. At the time of the Renaissance there was a growing interest in Italian literature, art and music. The words borrowed from Italian represented those spheres of activity which aroused the greatest interest.
Arts and literature: bust, costume, studio, improvise, sonnet, stanza, etc.
Architecture: balcony, corridor, fresco, portico.
Music: aria, allegro, duet, piano, solo, trio, sonata, etc.
Miscellaneous words: ballot, carnival, umbrella, volcano, etc.
In the 17th and 19th centuries France was in the forefront of the cultural and political life in Western Europe. French was the language of diplomacy and aristocratic society. French words were used in state correspondence, in memoirs and private letters and especially in translation of French writers. The bourgeois revolution in France in the late 18th century had a great impact on other peoples and many French words connected with it were borrowed into English as well as into other languages: aristocrat, -commune. In the 19th century many more French words were adopted mainly through the language of newspapers and magazines:
Military terms: brigade, corps, manoeuvre,platoon.
Diplomacy and social life : attache, communique, picnic, secretariat.
Commerce: commerce, currency, finance.
Arts and literature: billet, ensemble, genre, pastel.
Fashion In dress, food, and drink: beret, cravat, champaign, soup, menu, restaurant.
Spanish Loan-Words
After the colonization of vast regions of North and South America Spain became one of the richest countries in Europe. When England and Spain came into close contact, Englishmen adopted some words from Spanish connected with their commercial and political relations and words reflecting their armed conflicts:
Naval and Military terms: armada, grenade, parade.
Commerce: cargo, sherry (светлое или темно-коричневое сладкое или несладкое крепкое вино из Испании).
Miscellaneous words: guitar, junta, renegade.
Portuguese Loan-Words
By the 16th century Portugal had established colonies in India and on the coasts of East and West Africa. It was in these regions that English sailors and merchants came into contact with Portuguese settlers, learnt new words from them and brought them back to England. Among the Portuguese loan words we find: buffalo, port (wine), tank, veranda, zebra.
Loan-words from the German language reflected the achievements attained in Germany in various branches of science and culture. Thus, a great number of mineralogical and geological terms in English are of German origin, for the Germans were noted for their skill in mining:
cobalt, nickeI, zink, etc. A peculiarity of German loan-words on the whole was not only their terminological character, but also the fact that many of them were translation-loans: the English people adopted the new notions but in many cases used their own word material to name them. This is especially true of philosophical and political terms. Thus, many terms were borrowed into English: class struggle (Germ. Klassenkampf), thing-in-itself (Germ. Ding an sich), world market (Germ. Weltwarkt). During World War II a number of German words entered the English vocabulary: blitzkrieg, nazi, führer, and some others.
The majority of the Dutch borrowings are connected with navigation and painting, reflecting Dutch eminence in these spheres of activity:
Nautical terms: dock, reef.
Terms of Painting: landscape, sketch.
Loan-Words from the Russian Language
The Russian words borrowed into English before 1917 reflect specific features of Russian life:
Grades of aristocracy: boyar, tsar.
Nature: steppe, taiga, tundra.
Money: kopeck, rouble.
Drink: hass, vodka.
Miscellaneous words: shuba, troika.
After that period the number of borrowings from Russian greatly increased: soviet, bolshevik, komsomol, activist, kolkhoz, etc. The majority of Russian loan words are translation-loans: collective farm, Five-Year Plan, hero of labour, palace of culture.
As a result of diverse contacts of England with other countries of the world throughout its history the English vocabulary has been greatly enriched due to borrowings from foreign languages. The native English words constitute the core of the English vocabulary. They are the words in active use.
Lecture 12
Word Formation in Middle and New English
Internal Means of the Growth of the English Word-stock. The replenishment of the English vocabulary was carried out not only by external, but also by internal means, that is by various processes of word formation and change of meaning. In every period of the English language history the principal word-building means were word derivation and word composition. However in the course of time considerable changes took place within the system of word derivation and word-composition.
Changes in the system of word-formation in the English language since the OE period.
Word Derivation. In OE word derivation was represented by affixation and sound alternations.
Sound alternations as a word-building means had become non productive by the age of writing. No new words were coined with the help of sound alternations either in Middle or New English. As in OE period, prefixation in ME and NE was most productive in the formation of verbs, whereas suffixation was more characteristic of nominal parts of speech. However, since the OE period the system of affixation has suffered considerable changes. Some OE affixes (especially prefixes) in the course of time became non-productive or disappeared. At the same time the system of affixation was replenished by a considerable number of new affixes which either developed on the basis of native root-morphemes or were borrowed from foreign languages.
Prefixation
OE Prefixes in Middle and New English. As far as the OE period some English prefixes developed very general vague meanings and were used mostly to intensify the meaning of a verb so that in many cases the meaning of simple words and derivatives did not differ.
In ME such prefixes gradually lost their productivity and were no longer used to form new words: e.g. the OE prefixes for- and to- in the words "forbrecan", "tobrecan". The old prefixes remained, however in those words which distinctly differed in meaning from words without prefixes. Thus, OE "cuman" and "be-cuman" were synonyms used in the meaning "arrive". In ME "becumen" developed a new meaning '''agree'' and "accord · with", "suit" and lost its old meaning. Thus by the NE period the simple and the derived verbs were no longer synonymous which accounts for the preservation of both verbs in the language. Other examples are: "behold" - "hold" - "forecast" - "cast", "foresee" -"see”.
Many OE derived words turned into simple ME words due to the reduction of the form of the OE prefix; e.g. OE "and- swam" (a derived word with the prefix and-) > ME "answere” > NE "answer", Of all the OE prefixes only the negative prefixes mis- and un- and also the prefix be- were most frequently used throughout Middle English forming new words both from native and borrowed stems. These prefixes have remained productive in New English as well, e.g. be-: befriend, belittle, beseech: un-: unfreeze, undress, unable: rols-: misname, misfire, mispronounce. New Prefixes Borrowed in Middle and New English. In the 14th17th centuries many new prefixes were borrowed into English from foreign languages.
Among French and Latin loan-words there were numerous derivatives built up by prefixation. When the number of borrowed words with the same prefix was large enough to make their morphological structure transparent, the foreign prefix was isolated and began to be employed for the formation of new words from native and borrowed siems. Among the prefixes which found their way into English as parts of French or Latin loan-words we find: dis-, en-/em, in-/im-, non- and re-. The earliest derivatives formed in the English language with the help of these prefixes were recorded at the end of the ME period: disbelieve, enwrap, impocket, non-usage, renew, rebuild.
In early New English some more prefixes were borrowed from Greek and Latin. The use of Latin and Greek prefixes was restricted to scientific and political terminology.
Prefixes of the Greek Origin: anti- (antibody, anticlimax); ex(exbishop ).
Prefixes of the Latin Origin: co- (coexist, copartner); extra- (extranatural, extra-curricular); pre- (pre-classical, pre-elect); ultra- (ultra-violet, ultra-fashionable).
New Prefixes Which Developed from Prepositions and Adverbs.
Another group of new prefixes developed from native prepositions and adverbs. In OE the prepositions or adverbs ofer-, ut- upp-, under- (NE over-, out-, up-, under-) were used in making new words, e.g. ut-land "foreign country", up-land "up country".
Already in OE the first element of such compounds sometimes lost its adverbial force, thus approaching or even assuming the nature of a prefix in Modern English the prefixes out-, over-, and under- are the most productive: outline, outvote, overheat, overdose, underground, undervalue.
Development of Verb-Adverb Combinations. In OE there were T1umerous verbs built by what is often called "separable prefixes", i.e. prefixes which in certain forms (the infinitive, the participle, finite forms in subordinate clauses) preceded the stem of the verb and in the other forms were separated and placed after the verb. The main function of these OE "separable prefixes" was to specify the direction of the action expressed by the verb, e.g. OE ān "go" - ūta ān "go out". Gradually these locative "prefixes" came to be placed after the verb in all its forms. It should be noted that not only OE "separable prefixes" turned into post-positional adverbs, but also some adverbs which had never been used as "separable prefixes": away, down, forth.
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