Scandinavian borrowings

External means of enriching vocabulary

Internal means of enriching vocabulary

Middle English

An analysis of the Vocabulary in the Middle English period shows great instability and constant and rapid change. Many words became obsolete, and if preserved, then only in some dialects; many more appeared in the rapidly developing language to reflect the ever-changing life of the speakers and under the influence of contacts with other nations.

Though the majority of Old English suffixes are still preserved in Middle English, they are becoming less productive, and words formed by means of word-derivation in Old English can be treated as such only etymologically.

Words formed by means of word-composition in Old English, in Middle English are often understood as derived words.

The principal means of enriching vocabulary in Middle English are not internal, but external — borrowings. Two languages in succession enriched the vocabulary of the English language of the time — the Scandinavian language and the French language, the nature of the borrowings and their amount reflecting the conditions of the contacts between the English and these languages.

The Scandinavian invasion and the subsequent settlement of the Scandinavians on the territory of England, the constant contacts and intermixture of the English and the Scandinavians brought about many changes in different spheres of the English language: wordstock, grammar and phonetics. The relative ease of the mutual penetration of the languages was conditioned by the circumstances of the Anglo-Scandinavian contacts.

Due to contacts between the Scandinavians and the English-speaking people many words were borrowed from the Scandinavian language, for example:

Nouns: law, fellow, sky, skirt, skill, skin, egg, anger,

knife, root,.bull, cake, husband, leg, wing, guest, loan, race

big, week, wrong, ugly, twin

call, cast, take, happen, scare, want

Pronouns: they, them, their.

The conditions and the consequences of various borrowings were different.

1. Sometimes the English language borrowed a word for which it had no synonym. These words were simply added to the vocabulary. Examples:

law, fellow

2. The English synonym was ousted by the borrowing. Scandinavian taken (to take) and callen (to call) ousted the English synonyms niman and clypian, respectively.

3. Both the words, the English and the corresponding Scandinavian, are preserved, but they became different in meaning. Compare Modern English native words and Scandinavian borrowings:

Native Scandinavian borrowing

heaven sky

starve die

4. Sometimes a borrowed word and an English word are etymological doublets, as words originating from the same source in Common Germanic.

Native Scandinavian borrowing

shirt skirt

shatter scatter

raise rear

5. Sometimes an English word and its Scandinavian doublet were the same in meaning but slightly different phonetically, and the phonetic form of the Scandinavian borrowing is preserved in the English language, having ousted the English counterpart. For example, Modern English to give, to get come from the Scandinavian gefa, geta, which ousted the English 3iefan and 3ietan, respectively. Similar Modem English words: gift, forget, guild, gate, again.

6. There may be a shift of meaning. Thus, the word dream originally meant "joy, pleasure"; under the influence of the related Scandinavian word it developed its modern meaning.

— French borrowings

It stands to reason that the Norman conquest and the subsequent history of the country left deep traces in the English language, mainly in the form of borrowings in words connected with such spheres of social and political activity where French-speaking Normans had occupied for a long time all places of importance. For example:

— government and le gislature:

government, noble, baron, prince, duke, court, justice, judge, crime, prison, condemn, sentence, parliament, etc.

— military life:

army, battle, peace, banner, victory, general, colonel, lieutenant, major, etc.

— religion:

religion, sermon, prey, saint, charity

— city crafts:

painter, tailor, carpenter (but country occupations remained English: shepherd, smith)

— pleasure and entertainment:

music, art, feast, pleasure, leisure, supper, dinner, pork, beef, mutton (but the corresponding names of domestic animals remained English: pig, cow, sheep)

— words of everyday life:

air, place, river, large, age, boil, branch, brush, catch, chain, chair, table, choice, cry, cost

— relationship:

aunt, uncle, nephew, cousin.

The place of the French borrowings within the English language was different:

1. A word may be borrowed from the French language to denote notions unknown to the English up to the time:

government, parliament, general, colonel, etc.

2. The English synonym is ousted by the French borrowing:

English French

micel large

here army

ёа river

3. Both the words are preserved, but they are stylistically different:

English French

to begin to commence

to work to labour

to leave	to abandon
life	existence
look	regard
ship	vessel

As we see, the French borrowing is generally more literary or even bookish, the English word - a common one; but sometimes the English word is more literary. Compare: foe (native, English) — enemy (French borrowing).

4. Sometimes the English language borrowed many words with the same word-building affix. The meaning of the affix in this case became clear to the English-speaking people. It entered the system of word-building means of the English language, and they began to add it to English words, thus forming word-hybrids. For instance, the suffix -ment entered the language within such words as "government", "parliament", "agreement", but later there appeared such English-French hybrids as: fulfilment, amazement.

The suffix -ance/-ence, which was an element of such borrowed words as "innocence", "ignorance" now also forms word-hybrids, such as “hindrance” - барьер. A similar thing: French borrowings "admirable", "tolerable", "reasonable", but also: readable, eatable, unbearable.

5. One of the consequences of the borrowings from French was the appearance of ethymological doublets.

— from the Common Indoeuropean:

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