Three stages of assimilation

Do words when they migrate from one language into another behave as people do under similar circumtances? Do they remain alien in appearance, or do they take out citizenship papers?

Most of them adjust themselves to their new environment and get adapted to the norms of the recipient language. They undergo certain changes which gradually erase their foreign features, and, finally, they are assimilated. Sometimes the process of assimilation develops to the point when the foreign origin of a word is quite unrecognizable. It is difficult to believe that such words as dinner, cat, take, cup are not English by origin. Others, though well assimilated, still bear traces of their foreign background. Distance and development, for instance, are identified as borrowings by their French suffixes, skin and sky by the Scandinavian initial sk, police and regime by the French stress on the last syllable.

Borrowed words are adjusted in the three main areas of the new language system: the phonetic, the grammatical and the semantic.

The lasting nature of phonetic adaptationis best shown by comparing Norman French borrowings to later ones. The Norman borrowings have for a long time been fully adapted to the phonetic system of the English language: such words as table, plate, courage bear no phonetic traces of their French origin. Some of the later (Parisian) borrowings still sound surprisingly French: regime, valise (саквояж, чемодан), matinee, cafe, ballet. In this cases phonetic adaptation is not completed.

Grammatical adaptationconsists in a complete change of the former paradigm of the borrowed word (i.e. system of the grammatical forms peculiar to it as a part of speech). If it is a noun, it is certain to adopt a new system of declension; if it is a verb, it will be conjugated according to the rules of the recipient language. Yet, this is a lasting process. The Russian noun пальто was borrowed from French early in the 19th c. and has not yet acquired the Russian system of declension. The same can be said about such Renaissance borrowings as datum (pl. data), phenomenon (pl. phenomena) whereas earlier Latin borrowings such as cup, plum, street, wall were fully adapted to the grammatical system of the language long ago.

By semantic adaptation is meant adjustment to the system of meanings of the vocabulary. It has been mentioned that borrowing is generally caused either by the necessity to fill a gap in the vocabulary or by a chance to add a synonym conveying an old concept in a new way. Yet, the process of borrowing is not always so purposeful, logical and efficient as it might seen at first sight. Sometimes a word may be borrowed for no obvious reason – there is no gap in the vocabulary nor in the group of synonyms. The adjective gay was borrowed from French in several meanings at once: “noble of birth”, “bright, shining”, “multi-coloured”. Rather soon it shifted its ground developing the meaning “joyful, high-spirited” in which sense it became a synonym of the native merry. Thischange was caused by the process of semantic adjustment: there was no place in the vocabulary for the former meanings of gay, but the group with the general meaning of “high spirits” obviously lacked certain shades which were supplied by gay.

International words

It is often the case that a word is borrowed by several languages. Such words usually convey concepts which are significant in the field of communication.

Many of them are of Latin and Greek origin. Most names of sciences are international, e.g. philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, biology, linguistics, lexicology. There are also numerous terms of art in this group: music, theatre, drama, artist. Political terms also frequently occur in the international group of borrowings: politics, policy, revolution, progress, comminism.

20th c. scientific and technological advances brought a great number of new international words: atomic, radio, television, sputnik. The latter is a Russian borrowing.

The English language also contributed a considrable number of international words to world languages. Among them the sports terms occupy a prominent position: football, volley-ball, baseball, tennis, golf, etc.

Fruits and foodstuffs imported from exotic countries often transport their names too and become international: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, coca-cola, banana, mango.

Etymological doublets

The words shirt and skirt etymologically descend from the same root. Shirt is a native word, and skirt is a scandinavian borrowing. Their phonemic shape is different, and yet there is a certain resemblance which reflects their common origin. Their meanings are also different but easily associated: both denote articles of clothing.

Such words as these two originating from the same etymological source, but differing in phonemic shape and in meaning are called etymological doublets.

Etymological triplets (i.e. groups of three words of common root) occur rarer: hospital (Lat) – hostel (Norm. Fr.) – hotel (Par. Fr.), to capture (Lat.) – to catch (Norm. Fr.) – to chase.(Par. Fr.).

A doublet may also consist of a shortened word and the one from which it was derived: history – story, fantasy – fancy, fanatic – fan.

5. Translation-loans

The term loan-word is equivalent to borrowing. Translation-loans are borrowings of a special kind. They are not taken into the vocabulary of another language more or less in the same phonetic shape in which they have been functioning in their own language, but undergo the process of translation. It is quite obvious that it is only compound words which can be subjected to such an operation, each stem being translated separately: masterpiece (from Germ. Meisterstück), wonder child (from Germ. Wunderkind).

6. Interrelations between etymological and stylistic characteristics of English words

Is it possible to establish regular associations between any of the groups of etymological classification and the stylistic classification of English vocabulary? The answer must be in the affirmative.

It is quite natural to expect to find a considerable number of native words in the basic vocabulary, if we remember that the latter comprises words denoting essential objects and phenomena. Yet, one should keep in mind that among basic vocabulary words there are also rather numerous Latin and French borrowings. Words like very, air, hour, cry, cat, pay, box, face, dress areof foreign origin despite their native appearance and common use. So it would be correct to state that, though native words prevail in the basic vocabulary, this stratum also comprises a considerable number of old borrowings which have become so fully adapted to the English language system that they are practically indistinguishable from the native stock.

The centre of gravity of borrowed words in the stylistic classification is represented by two groups: learned words and terminology. In these strata the foreign element dominates the native. It also seems that the whole opposition of “formal versus informal” is based on the deeper underlying opposition of “borrowed versus native”, as the informal strata, especially slang and dialect, abound in native words.

Comparing the expressive and stylistic value of the French and the English words in such synonymic pairs as to begin – to commence, to wish – to desire, we can see that the French word is usually more formal.

The truth of this observation becomes more obvious if we regard certain pairs within which a native word may be compared with its Latin synonym: motherly – maternal, fatherly – paternal.

Answer these questions.

1. Which conditions stimulate the borrowing process?

2. Why are words borrowed?

3. What stages of assimilation do borrowings go through?

4. In what spheres of communication do international words frequently occur?

5. What do we understand by etymological doublets?

6. What are the characteristic features of translation-loans?

7. How are the etymological and stylistic characteristics of words interrelated?

Vocabulary

abound inизобиловать

alienиностранный; чужеземный

cognateродственный