20 Types and degrees of assimilation of borrowings.

The term assimilation of borrowings is used to denote a partial or total conformation to the phonetical, graphical and morphological standards of the receiving language and its semantic system. The degree of assimilation depends upon the time of borrowing, during which the words has been used in the receiving language, upon its importance for communication purpose and its frequency. Oral borrowings due to personal contacts are assimilated more completely than written borrowings.

According to the degree of assimilation borrowings may be subdivided into 3 groups: 1. completely assimilated words are found in all the layers of older borrowings. They may belong to the 1 layer of Latin borrowings (street, wall or wine). Scandinavian words (husband, fellow, gate, root, call, die, want, happy, ill, low).French words (table, chair, face, figure, finish). 2. partly assimilated loan words are subdivided into: a) loan words not assimilated semantically, because they denote foreign objects and notions peculiar to the country from which they come (sombrero, shah, sherbet). b) loan words not assimilated grammatically (noun borrowed from Latin or German with their original plural forms – crisis-crises, phenomenon-phenomena). c) loan words not completely assimilated phonetically (some of the French words keep the accent on the final syllable – machine, cartoon, police; [з] – bourgeois). d) loan words not completely assimilated graphically (French words in which the final consonant is not pronounced – ballet). 3. Unassimilated barbarisms (It – ‘addio’, ‘ciao’ for ‘good –bye’).

21 International words, folk etymology.

International words are words of identical origin that occur in several languages as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from one ultimate source. (pullover, sweater, film, club, jazz). Many word are of Latin and Greek origin. Most names of sciences are international – philosophy, biology, lexicology; there are also numerous terms of art – music, theatre, drama, artist. Political terms occur in the international group of borrowings – politics, progress, revolution. 20 c. scientific and technological advances brought such words as – radio, television, antibiotic, sputnik. Other international words are sport terms, fruits and foodstuffs.

Folk etymology is the change of meaning of loan words as the result of associating borrowed words with familiar words which somewhat resemble them in sound but which are not at all related (Fr surrounder had the meaning overflow, and in English it was interpreted as encircle (surround); OFr estandart (a flag) the word standard acquired the meaning of Stable, officially accepted.

22 Etymological hybrids, doublets.

Words that are made up of elements derived from two or more different languages are called hybrids. Hybrids are made up of morphemes coming from Latin, French, Greek and those of native origin. Thus, readable has an English root and a French suffix -able; unmistakable – un Eng, mis Eng, tak Scand, able Fr). The French suffixes -age, -ance, -ment produce hybrids like shortage, hindrance, endearment. Blackguard Eng+Fr, schoolboy Gr+Eng.

Etymological doublets are two or more words of the same language which were derived by different routes from the same basic word. They differ to a certain degree in form, meaning, current usage. Two words differentiated in meaning may be dialectal variants of the same word (shirt Eng – skirt Scand; canal L – channel Fr).

Etymological triplets occur rarer (hospital L – hostel Norm.Fr – hotel Fr).

A doublet may also consist of a shortened word and the one from which it was derived (history – story, shadow – shade).