French Borrowings in the Modern English Language (стр. 2 из 2)
And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Canterbury they wende, The holy blisful martyr for to seeke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seke.
The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale from The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, performed by Elizabeth Salter, from Geoffrey Chaucer: The Wife of Prologue and Tale (Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521635306) (p) 1976, 1998 Cambridge University Press. All Rights Reserved. /© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Conclusion
Language belongs to each of us. Everyone uses words. What is there in a language that makes people so curious? The answer is that there is almost nothing in our life that is not touched by language. We all speak and we all listen so we are all interested in the origin of words, in how they appear and die. Nowadays 750 million people all over the world use English. It has become the language of the planet.
Most of words are the same, but there are some differences. For example in Middle English ynogh is enough in modern English; longe is long; agoon is ago and so on, but they are a little bit similar in writing, so it is not very difficult to understand them.
Though the number of French loans in the modern period is relatively minor in comparison to Middle English, the contribution is most important. The French Loans were primarily borrowed to provide richness to the language. Whilst it was arguable during the Restoration whether the loans were corrupting or enriching the language, today there is no doubt or disputable grounds to argue that the loans did nothing but enrich the English language.
The borrowing of vocabulary is rapprochement of nations on the ground of economic, political and cultural connections. The bright example of it can be numerous French borrowings to English language.
Attempts to continue borrowings in 20th century did not have special success because language became more independent.
In my opinion we managed to study the problems of French borrowings in the English language. We understood possible ways of penetrating French words in the English language, we have seen difference ways of difference types of borrowings.
In spite of arrival of the words from different languages into the English vocabulary, the English Language did not suffer from large flow of foreign elements.
On the contrary its vocabulary has been enriched due to the taken foreign elements.
Biblography
1. Иванова И.П., Чахоян Л.П., Беляева Т.М. История английского языка. - СПб.: Лань, 1999.
2. Иванова И.П., Чахоян Л.П., Беляева Т.М. Практикум по истории английского языка. - СПб.: Лань, 1999.
3. Смирницкий А.И. Древнеанглийский язык. - М., 1955.
4. Советский энциклопедический словарь. - М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1980.
5. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2004 Ultimate Reference CD-ROM
6. Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2005
7. McCrum R. The Story of English. - New-York, 1987.
8. Whitelock D. The Beginning of English Society. - Harmondsworth Middlesex, 1952.
9. New Webster’s Dictionary, 1998.