Philology : History of English Language
Question : Essay-type
In what sense can loan-words be called some of the milestones of general history? Explain.
Introduction
English has grown into a rich language as it has borrowed words and ideas freely from different languages. The English came in contact with different languages and cultures at different periods. It proved to be a boon from the linguistic point of view. Foreign influences modified and improved the grammatical and phonetical aspects of English. Different European tongues originated from the same stock of Aryan language long ago. Each language developed in response to the demand of the people of a particular place place. Anglo-Saxons came from the area called Scandinavia, consisting of Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In England their language was modified by the influence of Latin and Christianity. The Danes invaded England in the 9th century and settled there along with their Anglo-Saxon brothers. Their language, which was almost similar to Danish earlier, now differed much from it. Because of close association words from Danish language began entering English vocabulary. This is the beginning of the long process of borrowing words from foreign languages.
Importation Of Foreign Words
The event of importation of foreign words is an important document in the history of language. It indicates the state of relationship between two nations. It throws light on the relative features of the culture and civilization of two races. The type of the words adopted gives an idea of the deficiency of the borrower nation and the superiority of the lender.
Italian Terms
A number of Italian terms connected with music entered North European languages. It indicates the place of supremacy occupied by Italian music at that time. Often a language borrows a term when it does not have an equivalent. The foreign term is sometimes adopted even the language can coin a native substitute.
German Words
The long history of taking word-loans by English began when the Anglo-Saxons were in their Germanic homeland. German words, such as, Cobalt, Zinc, quartz etc. entered English. It speaks of the superiority of the Germans in the field of science.
Latin Influence
The Anglo-Saxons often invaded Roman colonies for plundering. It brought them in contact with Latin language. Sometimes they joined Roman army as soldiers and sometimes dealt with Roman traders. They gradually adopted a number of Latin military and business terms. ‘Wine’ came from Latin ‘vinum’. ‘Cup’ came from Latin ‘calicem’. Roman merchants were called ‘caupones’. From this came the old English word ‘ceapian’ which meant ‘to buy’. Latin ‘mango’ [retailer] turned into old English ‘mangere’ [monger]. The words, camp, mile, street, wall were also taken from Latin very early. The second period of Latin borrowing begins when Anglo-Saxons settled in Great Britain. During conversion into Christianity they adopted a number of Latin words. Words borrowed before conversion are port, mountain, village etc. A number of words connected with Christianity entered English after this. A few of them are church [old English, cirice], minister [mynster], angel [engel], bishop [biscop], pope [papa], etc. This tradition of borrowing terms from Latin continued upto the 15th century. English writers, learned in Latin, freely adopted Latin terms of all sorts. It exhibits supremacy of Roman culture and the peaceful coexistence of these two nations for a long time.
Scandinavian Influence
English is exposed to Scandinavian influence when the Danes came in the 9th century. Many Danish words entered English. Most of them belonged to the class of everyday necessity, such as, skill, anger, game, heaven, they, them, their, odd, ill, loose, call, take, want etc. The group of words borrowed were law-terms, such as, law, criminal, suit, sermon etc. It shows that the Danes did not have anything noble to offer English.
French Influence
Norman Conquest exposed English to the French influence. French language and culture were much superior. So French loan-words were of aristocratic nature, related to the spheres of art, entertainment, fashion, administration and literature.
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