Borrowings

Borrowings

Borrowings are foreign words, which have entered at various times the vocabulary of English, without influencing its ulterior evolution as a language. Borrowing is a consequence of cultural contact between two language communities. Borrowing of words can go in both directions between the two languages in contact, but often there is an asymmetry, such that more words go from one side to the other.

Italian borrowings

Italian borrowings can be divided into three groups:
a) words connected with art and literature, most of them borrowed in the period of the Renaissance.
e.g.: soprano, bass, concert terza rima, sonnet, blank verse, fresco , capriccio, etc.
b) words connected with the army, introduced into English especialy through the medium of French in the 16th and 17th centuries.
e.g.: colonel, campaign, infantry, alarm etc.
c) different other words, e.g.: lagoon, lava, volcano, corridor, influence, etc.

German borrowings

Borrowings from the German language began in Late Middle English, representing an almost continuous influx.
e.g.: iceberg, zigzag, waltz, quartz, wolfram, etc

Dutch borrowings

Dutch words were introduced into English in various periods.
e.g.: brandy,(to) cruise, landscape, reef, sled (sledge), skipper, toy, wagon (waggon), yacht, etc.

Russian borrowings

Russian borrowings fall into two distinct groups:
a) borrowings before the Great October Socialist Revolution.
e.g.: astrakhan, rouble, tsar, voivode, samovar, etc.
b) borrowings after the Great October Socialist Revolution, most of them expressing social and political notions:
- words reflecting state organization and political life:
e.g.: the Supreme Council of the U.R.S.S., regional Soviet, district Soviet, Leninism, selfcriticism, bolshevik, etc.
- words reflecting class-warfare
e.g.: kulak, wrecker, etc.
- the new attitude towards work
e.g.: socialist emulation, shock-worker, etc
- words reflecting the socialist system of economy
e.g.: collective farm, state farm, producers’ co-operative
- words reflecting socialist culture
e.g.: house of culture, pioneer’s palace, etc.

Spanish Borrowings

It is after 1492(the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus) that one may speak of a Spanish influence on the English language, materialized in the introduction of such words as Negro, armada, guerilla, chocolate, corn, ranch, tabacco, etc.

Borrowings from Other Languages

From Persian: bakshish, bazaar, caravanserai, divan, shah, etc.
From Turkish: bey, caftan, chibouk, etc.
From Hebrew: cherub, Satan, seraph, etc
From Arabic: emir, harem, sheik, sherbet, sofa, etc.
From Hindustani: bandanna(a silk handkerchief with white spots), thug(an assassin), wallah(a doer), etc
From Portuguese: molasses, tank, marmalade, etc.
From Chinese: tea, china, nankeen, etc.
From Japanese: samurai, ninja, bonsai, pagoda, etc.
From Malay: bamboo, gong, orangoutang, etc.
From North-American Indian: hominy, moccasin, pemmican, wigwam, etc.