A. A. Sankin a course in modern english lexicology second edition revised and Enlarged Допущено Министерством высшего и среднего специального образования СССР в качестве учебник
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As a result the number of synonymic groups in English greatly increased. The synonymic groups became voluminous and acquired many words rarely used. This brought about a rise in the percentage of stylistic synonyms.
Influence of Borrowings on the Semantic Structure of Words. As a result of the differentiation in meaning between synonymous words many native words or words borrowed earlier narrowed their meaning or sphere of application. Thus the word stool of Anglo-Saxon origin, which in Old English denoted any article of furniture designed for sitting on, under the influence of the French borrowing chair came to be used as the name for only one kind of furniture.
Due to borrowings some words passed out of the literary national language and have become dialectal, as ea поток воды (ОЕ. ēа — поток воды, река), heal, hele — скрывать, покрывать (ОЕ. helan), etc.
Another instance of foreign influence upon the semantic structure of some English words is semantic borrowing, i.e. the borrowing of meaning from a word in a foreign language. This often takes place in English words having common roots with some words in another language (international words today reflect this process best), e.g. the
1
O. F. Emerson. The History of the English Language. N. Y., 1907, p. 126.2 See ‘Semasiology’, § 21, p. 29.
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words pioneer and cadres which are international words have acquired new meanings under the influence of the Russian пионер and кадры. Sometimes English words acquire additional meanings under the influence of related words having quite different roots, e.g. the political meanings of shock and deviation have come from the Russian ударный and уклон.
Influence of Borrowings on the Lexical Territorial Divergence. Abundant borrowing intensified the difference between the word-stock of the literary national language and dialects. On the one hand, a number of words were borrowed into the literary national language which are not to be found in the dialects (such as literary words, scientific and political terminology, etc.). In a number of cases the dialects have preserved some Anglo-Saxon words which were replaced by borrowings in the literary language. Thus the Scotch dialect has preserved such words as ken — знать (ОЕ. cennan); eke — добавление (ОЕ. ēаса); eath — гладкий, легкий (ОE. ēаđе); fleme — обратить в бегство, изгонять (ОЕ. flyman).
On the other hand, a number of words were borrowed into dialects and are used throughout the country. Thus, the Scottish and Irish dialects have suffered much greater Celtic influence than the literary national language or the Southern dialect, as the Celtic languages were longer spoken in Scotland and Ireland — some sections of the population use them even now. The Irish dialect, for example, has the following words of Celtic origin: shamrock — трилистник, dun — холм, colleen — девушка, shillelagh — дубинка, etc. In the Northern, Scottish and Eastern dialects there are many more Scandinavian borrowings than in the national literary language as most Scandinavian settlements were found in the north of the country, e.g. busk — ‘get ready’; fell — ‘hill’; mun — ‘mouth’; wapentake — ‘division of shire’.
Some Scandinavian borrowings ousted native words in dialects. Since many of these words were of the same root a great number of etymological doublets appeared, e.g. dag — dew, kirk — church, benk — bench, kist — chest, garth — yard, loup — leap, etc.
Influence of Borrowings on the Word-Structure, Word-Clusters and the System of Word-Building. The great number of borrowings could not but leave a definite imprint on the morphological structure of words in English. A number of new structural types appeared in the language. This took place when the morphological structure of borrowings, obscured at the time of adoption, became transparent in the course of time and served as a pattern for new formations.1
Among the affixes which can be considered borrowed by English2 some are highly-productive and can combine with native and borrowed items (e.g. re-, inter-, -able, -er, -ism, etc.), others are not so productive
1
See ‘Word-Formation’, § 14, p. 125.2 Some lists of foreign affixes include 200 — 500 items, although the actual number is much smaller. In these lists no distinction is made between living affixes and those found only in borrowed words which are indivisible in English morphemically and deri- \ationally, such as L. ab-, ad-, amb-; Gr. ana-, apo-, cata- in words like abstract, admire, ambition, anatomy, etc,
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and combine only with Romanic stems (со-, de-, trans-, -al, -cy, -ic, -ical, etc.), still others are often met with in borrowed words, but do not form any new words in English (-ous, -ive, -ent, etc.).
Some borrowed affixes have even ousted those of native origin, e.g. in Modern English the prefix pre- expressing priority of action has replaced the native prefix fore-, which was highly productive in Middle English and early New English, especially in the 16-17th centuries.
Another imprint of borrowings on “the structural types of words in English is the appearance of a great number of words with bound morphemes, such as tolerate, tolerable, tolerance, toleration, etc.
Clusters of words in English also underwent some changes — both quantitative and qualitative — due to the influx of borrowings. On the one hand, many clusters of words were enlarged. Not only were new derivatives formed with the help of borrowed affixes, but some borrowings entered the clusters of words already existing in English. Mention has already been made of Scandinavian borrowings like drip, tryst.1 Some Latin and French borrowings entered the clusters of words borrowed from Romanic languages before, e.g. when the French borrowings exploitation, mobilisation, militarism, employee, personnel, millionaire were taken over into English in the 19th century, they occupied the position of derivatives of the words exploit, mobilise, etc. borrowed much earlier.
On the other hand, the influx of borrowings in English has changed the very nature of word-clusters which now unite not only words of the same root-morpheme, but also of different synonymous root-morphemes, as in spring — vernal, two — second, dual, sea — maritime, etc.
Influence of Borrowings on the Phonetic Structure of Words and the Sound System. As a result of intense borrowing there appeared in the English language a number of words of new phonetic structure with strange sounds and sound combinations, or familiar sounds in unusual positions. Such are the words with the initial [ps], [pn], [pt] (as in Gr. psilanthropism) which are used in English alongside with the forms without the initial sound [p].
If there were many borrowed words containing a certain phonetic peculiarity, they influenced to some extent the sound system of the language.
Thus abundant borrowing from French in the Middle English period accounts for the appearance of a new diphthong in English — [oi], which, according to Prof. B. A. Ilyish, could not have developed from any Old English sound or sound combination, but came into English together with such French words as point, joint, poise. The initial [sk], which reappeared in English together with Scandinavian and other borrowings, is nowadays a common beginning for a great number of words.
Abundant borrowing also brought about some changes in the distribution of English sounds, e.g. the Old English variant phonemes [f] and [v] developed into different phonemes, that is [v] came to be used initially (as in vain, valley, vulgar) and [f] in the intervocal position (as
1
See ‘Etymological Survey ...’, § 5, p. 164. 174in effect, affect, affair) which was impossible in Old English. The affricate [dз], which developed at the beginning of the Middle English period and was found at the end or in the middle of words (as in bridge — OE. bricz; singe — OE. senczean), under the influence of numerous borrowings came to be used in the initial position (as in jungle, journey, gesture).
§ 13. Summary and Conclusions
1. In spite of the numerous outside linguistic influences and the etymological heterogeneity of its vocabulary the English language is still, in essential characteristics, a Germanic language. It has retained a groundwork of Germanic words and grammar.
- Borrowing has never been the chief means of replenishing the English vocabulary. Word-formation and semantic development were throughout the entire history of the language much more productive. Besides most native words are marked by a higher frequency value.
- The great number of borrowings brought with them new phonomorphological types, new phonetic, morphological and semantic features. On the other hand, under the influence of the borrowed element words already existing in English changed to some extent their semantic structure, collocability, frequency and derivational ability.
- Borrowing also considerably enlarged the English vocabulary and brought about some changes in English synonymic groups, in the distribution of the English vocabulary through spheres of application and in the lexical divergence between the variants of the literary language and its dialects.
VII. Various Aspects of Vocabulary Units and Replenishment of Modern English Word-Stock
INTERDEPENDENCE OF VARIOUS ASPECTS
OF THE WORD
The foregoing description of the word dwelt on its structural, semantic, stylistic and etymological peculiarities separately. In actual speech all these aspects are closely interrelated and interdependent and the pattern of their interdependence largely preconditions the comparative value and place of the word in Modern English. This interdependence is most vividly brought out in the frequency value attached to the words in the language. However it must be pointed out that frequency value alone, important as it is, is not an adequate criterion to establish the most important relationships between words or the most useful section of vocabulary.
§ 1. Notional and Form-Words
The frequency distribution singles out two classes, all the words of the language fall into: the so-called notional words, the largest class, having a low frequency of occurrence in comparison with a numerically small group of the so-called form or function words. Form words in terms of absolute figures make a specific group of about 150 units. Notional words constitute the bulk of the existing word-stock; according to the recent counts given for the first 1000 most frequently occurring words they make 93% of the total number. The results of these counts l (given below graphically) show the numerical interrelation of the two classes.
The division of vocabulary units into notional and form words is based on the peculiar interrelation of lexical and grammatical types of meaning. In notional words which are used in speech as names of objects of reality, their qualities, names of actions, processes, states the lexical meaning is predominant. In the majority of form words (prepositions, articles, conjunctions), which primarily denote various relations between notional words, it is the grammatical meaning that dominates over their lexical meaning. The difference between notional and form words may be also described in terms of open and closed sets of vocabulary units.2
It should also be noted that though the division of all vocabulary units into notional and form words is valid, in actual speech the borderline between them is not always clear-cut. Comparing the use, e.g., of the verb (to) keep in the word-groups to keep books, to keep a house, to keep secret with to keep warm, to keep talking or the verb (to) turn in to turn one’s head, to turn the toy in one’s fingers with to turn pale
1761 С. С. Fries. The Structure of English, ch. VI. N. Y., 1952.
2 See ‘Semasiology’, § 7, p. 19.
 | Notional words | Form words |
| In the 1st hundred of the most frequently occurring words | 66% | 34% |
| In the 2nd hundred of the most frequently occurring words | 82% | 18% |
| In the 3rd hundred of the most frequently occurring words | 90% | 10% |
| In the 4th hundred of the most frequently occurring words | 93% | 7% |
| In the 1st thousand of the most frequently occurring words | 93% | 7% |
we observe that the verbs (to) keep and (to) turn develop meanings peculiar to form words without breaking with the class of notional words.All notional lexical units are traditionally subdivided into parts of speech, i.e. lexical-grammatical classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. Nouns numerically make the largest class — about 39%, verbs come second — 25% of all notional words, they are followed by adjectives — 17% and adverbs making 12%, the smallest group of notional words.
The frequency value of words’ show that the form words, though insignificant in terms of absolute figures, constitute the most frequent group of words inseparably bound up with almost all patterns notional words are used in. It is interesting to note that the first ten words in order of frequency are: the, of, and, to, a, in, that, is, was, he. The high frequency value of these 150 function words accounts for the fact that this small group makes up approximately half the lexical items of any English text.
The frequency value of different lexical-grammatical classes of notional words also shows a different distribution as compared with the absolute figures for the same classes, as it is the verbs that prove to be words of highest frequency and greatest potential collocability.
§ 2. Frequency, Polysemy and Structure
The interdependence of various features of the word may be easily observed through a comparative analysis of these aspects in relation to any chosen individual feature. Thus choosing, for example, the semantic structure as a starting point we observe that there is a certain interdependence between the number of meanings in a word and its structural and derivational type, its etymological character, its stylistic reference. The analysis may start with any other aspect of the word — its structure, style or origin — it will generally reveal the same type of interdependence of all the aspects. Words of highest frequency, those that come into the first 2000 of most frequently occurring words all tend to be polysemantic and structurally simple. It should be noted, however, that structure and etymology by themselves are not
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always indicative of other aspects of the word — simple words are not necessarily polysemantic, words that etymologically belong to late borrowings may be simple in structure. Frequency most clearly reflects the close interconnection between polysemy and the structure of the word. The higher the frequency, the more polysemantic is the word, the simpler it is in structure. The latest data of linguistic investigation show that the number of meanings is inversely proportional to the number of morphemes the word consists of. Derived and compound words rarely have high frequency of occurrence and are rarely polysemantic. Comparison of the words, members of the same word-cluster, for example heart — hearty — heartily — heartless — heartiness-heartsick shows that it is the simple word of the cluster heart that is marked by the highest frequency (it belongs to the first 500 most frequently occurring words). We also find that the word is highly polysemantic, heart has 6 meanings.1 Other members of the cluster which are all polymorphic and complex have fewer meanings and many of them are practically monosemantic, e.g. hearty has 3 meanings, heartily — 2 and the rest only 1. All of these words have much lower frequences as compared with the simple member of the cluster — heartily belongs to the 6th thousand, heartless to the 13th, heartiness and heartsick to the 20th thousand.
The same is observed in the simple word man having 9 meanings and polymorphic derived words manful, manly, manliness which have only one meaning, etc. Thus the interdependence of frequency, polysemy and structure manifests itself not only in the morphemic structure of the word, but also in its derivational structure. Derived words are as a rule poorer in the number of meanings and have much lower frequencies than the corresponding simple words though they may be morphemically identical It may be very well exemplified by nouns and verbs formed by conversion, e.g. the simple noun hand has 15 meanings while the derived verb (to) hand has only one meaning and covers only 4% of the total occurrences of both.2
§ 3. Frequency and Stylistic Reference
Frequency is also indicative of the interdependence between polysemy, stylistic reference and emotive charge. It can easily be observed in any group of synonyms. Analysing synonymic groupings like make — manufacture — fabricate; heavy — ponderous — weighty — cumbrous; gather — assemble; face — countenance — mug we find that the neutral member of the synonymic group, e.g. make (the first 500 words) has 28 meanings, whereas its literary synonyms manufacture (the 2nd thousand) has 2 and fabricate (the 14th thousand) which has a narrow, specific stylistic reference has only one meaning. A similar relation is observed in other synonymic groups. The inference, consequently, is that
1
Here and below the number of meanings is given according to A. Hornby, The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, and the frequency values according to the Thorndike Teacher’s Word Book of 30,000 Words.2 According to M. West. A General Service List of English Words. Longmans, 1959,
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stylistically neutral vocabulary units tend to be polysemantic and to have higher frequency value, whereas words of narrow or specific stylistic reference or non-literary vocabulary units are mostly monosemantic and have a low frequency value. The following examples may serve as illustration: the neutral word horse, in addition to its basic meaning, has the meanings — ‘a frame’, ‘a rope’, ‘cavalry’; its poetic synonym steed has only one meaning. The neutral word face forms a variety of word-groups in its basic meaning, in addition, it has at least 3 more meanings — ‘boldness’, ‘impudence’, e.g. to have the face to do smth; ‘an outer part’, ‘a surface’, e.g. the face of a coin, the face of a clock. The word face also enters a number of phraseological units, e.g. to put a new face on a matter, on the face of it. Its literary bookish synonym countenance has only two meanings and a much poorer collocability; its third synonym mug belongs to slang, has a heavy emotive charge, is monosemantic and its lexical valency is greatly restricted. The frequency values of these words speak for themselves — face belongs to the first 500 words, countenance to the 4th thousand and mug to the 6th thousand of the most frequently occurring words.
§ 4. Frequency, Polysemy and Etymology
Frequency value may also serve as a clue to the etymological character of the word and its interrelation with polysemy. The most frequently used words as we have seen are characterised by polysemy, structural simplicity and neutral stylistic reference. They generally belong either to the native words or to the early borrowings, which are already fully assimilated in English. Late borrowings like