THE ETYMOLOGY OF ENGLISH WORDS

Etymology that branch of linguistics which deals with the origin and history of words, tracing them to their earliest determinable base.It consists of two layers - the native stock of words and the borrowed stock of words. Borrowed words are words taken over from another language and modified according to the patterns of the receiving language.Between the two terms - "source of borrowing" and "origin of borrowing". The first term is applied to the language from which the word was immediately borrowed, the second - to the language to which the word may be ultimately traced e.g. table - source of borrowing - French, origin of borrowing - Latin elephant - source of borrowing - French, origin-Egypt convene - source of borrowing - French, origin-Latin. The are different ways of classifying the borrowed stock of words. First of all the borrowed stock of words may be classified according to the nature of the borrowing itself as borrowings proper, translation loans and semantic loans. Translation loans are words or expressions formed from the elements existing in the English language according to the patterns of the source language (the moment of truth - sp. el momento de la verdad).

Early Latin Loans. Those are the words which came into English through the language of Anglo-Saxon tribes. The tribes had been in contact with Roman civilisation and had adopted several Latin words denoting objects belonging to that civilisation long before the invasion of Angles, Saxons and Jutes into Britain (cup, kitchen, mill, port, wine).

Later Latin Borrowings. To this group belong the words which penetrated the English vocabulary in the sixth and seventh centuries, when the people of England were converted to Christianity (priest, bishop, nun, candle).

The third period of Latin includes words which came into English due to two historical events: the Norman conquest in 1066 and the Renaissance or the Revival of Learning. Some words came into English through French but some were taken directly from Latin (major, minor, intelligent, permanent).

The Latest Stratum of Latin Words. The words of this period are mainly abstract and scientific words (nylon, molecular, vaccine, phenomenon, vacuum).

Norman-French Borrowings may be subdivided into subgroups:

Early loans - 12^th - 15^th century

Later loans - beginning from the 16^th century.

The Early French borrowings are simple short words, naturalised in accordance with the English language system (state, power, war, pen, river) Later French borrowings can be identified by their peculiarities of form and pronunciation (regime, police, ballet, scene, bourgeois).

The Etymological Structure of English Vocabulary

The native element

Indo-European element

Germanic element

HI. English proper element (brought by Angles, Saxons and Jutes not earlier than 5^th c. A.D.)

The borrowed element

1. Celtic (5^th- 6^th c. A.D.)

2. Latin

1^st group: l^stc. B.C.

2^nd group: 7^th c. A.D.

3d group: the Renaissance period

Scandinavian (8^th -11^th c. A.D.)

French

Norman borrowings: 11^th - 13^th c. A.D.

Parisian borrowings: (Renaissance)

5.Greek (Renaissance)

6. Italian (Renaissance and later)

Spanish (Renaissance and later)

German

Indian and others

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