5. Impact of Borrowings on the English Language System

As a result of regular contacts with unprecedented number of languages and cultures, the English language was replenished by a great number of lexical items. Effects of borrowing are observed in both qualitative and quantitative changes in the English vocabulary system. Over 120 languages are on record as sources of its present-day vocabulary, and the locations of contact are found all over the world [Crystal 1995:126]. As it was mentioned above loan words constitute about 70% of the English word-stock and refer to variegated areas of human life, such as nature, social, political life, industrial products, inventions, new technologies, culture, education, etc.

Borrowing is one of the mighty sources which serves the demands of nomination when a speech community enlarges its world outlook coming in contact with other speech communities, from which they learn about some new things along with their nominations, thus borrowing fills the nominative gaps of the language.

Borrowing promoted enlarging of lexical groups, especially synonyms, thus enriching the English word stock, contributing to its lexico-semantic system and means of expression. A loan word could oust its English synonym as it happened when the Scandinavian word take ousted the OE synonym niman. But in most cases native and borrowed synonyms co-exist, differentiating meanings of words and enriching the language. One can judge how borrowing enlarged synonymic sets by the example of the synonymic set with the dominant see, which includes verbs behold, descry, espy, view, survey, contemplate, observe, notice, remark, note, discern, perceive. Of these verbs only see и behold are native English, others are French and Latin borrowings. Native and borrowed synonyms differ in their stylistic reference. Native English lexemes are neutral or informal; the borrowed ones mostly belong to the formal register.

Borrowings influenced the semantic structure of many lexemes. In some cases due to borrowing of synonyms many native words or earlier borrowed ones narrowed their meanings or sphere of application as the word land after borrowing the word country from French, or the word stool, which in Old English denoted any piece of furniture used for sitting, but its meaning narrowed under the influence of the French Loan chair.

A great number of loan words influenced the morphological structure of English words and word-formation. In the course of time in borrowed words affixes (re-, pre-, in-, -able, -ism, etc.) began to be distinguished and used to coin new words, including hybrids (see section 4 of the present chapter).

Of special interest are etymological doublets – words which originated from the same source-word but by different routes. They display considerable similarities and also certain differences in their sound form, spelling, meaning, usage. Doublets can be borrowed in various historical periods or via different languages or dialects. E.g. the Latin word discus was the source of several doublets: 1) dais ‘raised platform’ <OF deis <L discus, 2) dish ‘a vessel for serving food at meals’ <ME dish<OE disc<L.discus, 3) disc /disk ‘round surface that appears to be flat’ <L discus, 4) discus ‘heavy disc thrown at sports contests’ < L discus, 5) desk ‘piece of furniture’ < deske/desk <L discus. These doublets were borrowed in different periods of time and in various ways (via Old French or directly from Latin).

To Franco-Latin doublets refer lexemes of French origin borrowed at the time of the Norman Conquest and Latin words borrowed in the epoch of Renaissance:

French (12- 14 c.): Latin (17 c.):

feat fact

treason tradition

reason ratio

ray radius

dainty dignity

chamber camera

defeat defect

Anglo-Scandinavian doublets are mostly represented by pairs of words with correspondences of sh-and sk-/sc- at the beginning of the words:

Native English: Scandinavian:

shirt skirt

shriek screech

share scar

shabby scabby

shrew screw

rear raise

edge egg

To dialectal doublets mostly refer etymological doublets borrowed from Norman and French dialects:

Norman French Parisian French

catch сhase

captain chieftain

cattle chattels

cavalry chivalry

card chart

cant chant

canal channel

ward guard

wage(s) gage

In conclusion it should be noted that borrowings contributed to all the layers of the English lexicon but especially important is the role of borrowings in creation of scientific terminological systems.