Common Germanic stratum

English Latin Russian

Common Indo-European stratum

Native elements in Modern English

General characteristics

Etymological strata in modern English

Lecture 12

Word-hybrids

Foreign elements in Modern English

Native elements in Modern English

General characteristics

Etymological strata in modern English

English French

be -cause because

a -round around

a curse accurse

out cry outcry

over power overpower

false hood falsehood

Questions for seminar N11

Common Indo-European stratum /Common Germanic stratum

(borrowings)

Latin element/ Scandinavian element

The English vocabulary of today reflects as no other aspect of the language the many changes in the history of the people and various contacts that the English speakers had with many nations and countries. The long and controversial history of the people is reflected in its vocabulary and especially in the number of loan words, different in origin and time of their entering the language and the circumstances under which the acquisition of the foreign element took place. So large is the number of foreign words in English that it might at first be supposed that the vocabulary has lost its Germanic nature.

However, the functional role of the native element: the notions expressed by native words, their regularity and frequency of occurrence, lack of restrictions to their use in written and oral speech of different functional styles, proves that the Germanic element still holds a fundamental place, and the English vocabulary should be called Germanic.

English native words form two etymological strata: the Common Indo-European stratum and the Common Germanic stratum.

The words forming this stratum are the oldest in the vocabulary. They existed thousands of years B.C., at the time when it was yet impossible to speak about separate Indo-European languages, as well as about various nations in Europe. Words of the Common Indo-European vocabulary have been inherited by many modern Indo-European languages, not only Germanic which is a possible proof of these words belonging to the Common Indo-European stratum. Compare:

mother mater мать

brother frãter брат

night nox ночь

stand stare стоять

There are also words inherited from Common Germanic. Common Germanic is supposed to exist before it began splitting into various subgroups around the 1^st century B.C. -1^st century A.C. These words can be found in various Germanic languages, but not in Indo-European languages.

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