Enrichment of lexicon in the New English perio d

 

There are three ways of enriching the lexicon of the language:

 – new words can be invented,

 – they can be borrowed from another language,

 – they can be formed by those morphological processes which happen to be active within a speech community at any particular time.

In the New English language it is composition and derivation that have found further intensive development.

New words which have been produced by means of affixation are quite numerous. For example, the prefix inter- which entered the English language in a number of Latin words, like interconfessional, intercontinental, interdenominational, etc., gained “independence’ and is today easily combined with other stems forming hybrid word like intercounty, interstate, interfamily, intergroup, interfaith and others.

An active English prefix today is mini-. Historically it appeared as an abbreviation of the Italian word miniature /. It is found in the words mini-bus, mini-cab, mini-car, mini-cam, mini-budget and, of course, mini-skirt. The popularity of the latter word brought to life other derivatives which were constructed in the same way: maxi-skirts and midi-skirts.

A very active means of enrichment of the New English vocabulary is abbreviation. There are two kinds of abbreviations: alphabetisms and acronyms. If an initial-letter series, like CBW (chemical and biological warfare) and FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), is unpronounceable, we call it an alphabetism. If, like ANZAC (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the series is pronounceable, we call it an acronym. Abbreviations in writing and other forms of recorded speech are as old as language itself. They have always proved useful as time and space savers. To communicate efficiently, to make the other person understand perfectly, you need not ‘tell all’. Abbreviations began with Sumerian, the first recorded language on earth. The Romans wrote AUC for Anno urbis conditæ, counting time from the foundation of their city in the year 753 before the birth of Christ. They wrote SPQR for Senatus populusque Romanus ‘Roman senate and people’, therein expressing their democratic conception of the State. At the end of a friendly letter they put SVBEEV Si vales, bene est, ego valeo which might be loosely paraphrased ‘I’m quite well, and I do so hope that you are too’. The use of abbreviations seems to be common nowadays in different languages to briefly denote various institutions.

An interesting way of forming new word in English is back-formation, or negative derivation. Thus the noun editor was borrowed from French in the 17th century. But only in the 18th century the verb to edit was produced by means of back-formation. Many people speaking English may be unaware of the fact that the noun greed was produced from the adjective greedy, and the adjective difficult from the noun difficulty. In the following examples you will find some verbs which were produced by back-formation from other parts of speech.

 

Verb	Backformed from
to hawk	hawker
to partake	part taker
to grovel	grovelling
to locate	location
to donate	donation
to reminisce	reminiscence
to housekeep	housekeeper
to orate	oration
to diagnose	diagnosis
to burgle	burglar
to liaise	liaison
to sculpt	sculptor
to bulldoze	bulldozer
to televise	television
to escalate	escalation

 

Borrowings from French

The French language has been an important source for the enrichment of the vocabulary of the New English period.

In the 15th century such words were borrowed from French as adverb, aid, axiom, blond, bracelet, brave, category, chronic, coronet, crew, etc.

The grammatical term adverb from French adverbe (or averbe) ascends to Latin adverbum which in its turn is a rendering of Greek epirhema (where epi- denotes ‘addition’ and -rhema ‘word’).

The word bracelet and coronet were used in French as diminutive form bracel ‘ornamental ring for arm’ and corone ‘crown’. The suffix -et grew so active in English later that in the 16th century there appeared such diminutive forms as hillet ‘small hill’ and smilet ‘little smile’. The word coronet is used in Shakespeare’s King Lear.

Among the French borrowings of the 16th century we see such words as absurd, apology, apron, arsenal, artist, atom, calibre, camp, cash, etc.

The word apron appeared as a result of misdivision of noun napron (from French naperon) and the indefinite article: a napron > an apron.

Words that were borrowed from French were not necessarily original French words: very often they might be loan-words in French itself. Such, for instance, was atom that originally was a Greek word. Its way to English was rather long: Greek atomos > Latin atomus > French atome > English atom.

The 17th century was characterized by further considerable growth of the English vocabulary due to borrowing of words from various languages, French among them. These were: acid, adapt, archives, attitude, ballet, belle, belles-lettre, bouquet, brigade, brilliant, buffet, cadet, caprice, chateau, intrigue, trait, trousseau, etc.

While the French borrowings of the 15-16th centuries were fully assimilated, i.e. acquired all the phonetic features of the English language, the 17th century loan-words often keep the peculiarities of French pronunciation; thus in words ballet, bouquet, buffet, trait the final t is not pronounced; in the words bouquet, brigade, buffet, cadet, caprice, intrigue the stress remains on the last syllable; the letter combination eau is read as [ou].

In the 18th century such words were borrowed from French as arcade, bateau, beau, boudoir, colibri, colonnade, connoisseur, debouch.

The 19th century enriched the English vocabulary with acrobat, æroplane, altruism, ambulance, aviation, baccara, baroque, blouse, cinematograph and other words.

French borrowings were so numerous that in some cases there appeared homonyms. Thus the word auto which came from French in the 18th century was short for auto-da-fe (originally Portuguese), while the word auto borrowed in the 19th century was short for automobile.

In the 20th century such words came from the French language as chauffeur, gaga, detente.

Borrowings from Latin

Latin, though a “dead” language, also remained an important source for the enrichment of the New English lexicon.

In the 15th century such words as accidence, athlete and concave were borrowed from Latin.

The noun accidence ‘part of grammar dealing with inflections (morphology)’ comes from Latin accidentia, which is the translation of the Greek parepomeia ‘accompanying things’.

A single use of the word athlete was registered in the 15th century; it was only in the 18th century that the word began to be used frequently. This word also takes root in Greek: English athlete < Latin athleta < Greek athletes.

The adjective concave ‘hollow’ was formed from Latin concavus. This word and the adjective convex which appeared in English later formed a pair of antonyms.

In the 16th century such words came from the Latin language as abdicate, abbreviate, aggravate, alleviate, adult, Anno Domini, circus, configuration, contrast and others.

The verbs ending in -ate were derived from the Latin form of the past participle of the verbs of the 1^st conjugation: abbreviare, aggravare, etc.

While many Latin words underwent assimilation – acquired the form characteristic for English words – the expression Anno Domini ‘in the year of the Lord’ keeps its original form and in writing is used as AD.

The word configuration (of Latin configuratio)in the 16th century was used as an astronomic term denoting relative position of planets and only in the 17th century acquired the meaning ‘conformation, outline’.

In the 17th century accident, adequate, adjutant, affusion, agenda, agriculture, album, anecdote, antenna, appreciate, arena, arrogant, evident, incident came into English.

The adjectives ending in -ant/-ent, like arrogant, evident, and also nouns having these endings, like accident, adjutant, incident, were derived from the Latin present participle of the verbs of the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th conjugation.

The word agriculture ‘cultivation of the soil’ comes from Latin agriculture ‘tillage of the land’.

The word album ‘blank book for the insertion of collected items’ comes from Latin album ‘white tablet on which records or notices were inscribed, register, list’.

In the 18th century such words as alibi and congress were borrowed from Latin.

Alibi ‘plea of having been elsewhere’ appeared as a legal term from Latin alibi (alius ‘other’ + ibi ‘there’).

Congress (from Latin congressus < congredi ‘go together, meet’) was used to name the legislative body of the United States.

The Latin borrowings of the 19th century were restricted by scientific, often biological or medical, terms, e.g.: agamous ‘non-sexual’, amoeba ‘microscopic animalcule of the class Protozoa’, aphasia ‘loss of speech’, bacillus ‘rod-shaped vegetable organism’, etc.

An example of a word based on Latin which was introduced in the 20th century is the word insulin (from Latin insula ‘island’)which denotes a medicine for diabetes extracted from the islands of Langerhans in the pancreas of animals. The word came into use in 1921.

An interesting phenomenon of the New English lexicon is the appearance of the Latin - French etymological doublets. In short it is described in the following way: when a word was borrowed from Latin, it would occasionally happen that the same word had been earlier, in the 13th or 14th century, borrowed from French, often with a different meaning. In such cases pairs of doublets would appear in English.

Some examples of French-Latin Etymological Doublets

 

Latin Words	Old French Words	English from Old French	English from Latin
factum	fait	feat	fact
fragilum	fraile	frail	fragile
securum	seure	sure	secure
traditio	traison	treason	tradition
defectum	defait	defeat	defect
maior	maire	mayor	major
radius	rai	ray	radius
abbreviare	abreger	abridge	abbreviate
allocare	allouer	allow	allocate
appretiare	apreiser	appraise	appreciate
balsamum	basme	balm	balsam
collocare	coucher	couch	collocate

 

Borrowings from Greek

A great number of Greek words came into the English language not directly but through Latin, French and occasionally other languages. Nevertheless some words may be regarded as immediate Greek borrowings.

In the end of the 15th century there appeared in English such words of Greek origin as enema, eunuch, hermaphrodite, paradigm, etc. Enema ‘injection’ was taken from Greek enema < eniemai (from en- ‘in’ + hienai ‘send’). Eunuch ‘castrated male person’ originates from the Greek noun eunoukhos (from eune ‘bed’ + ekhein ‘keep’; thus etymologically the meaning of the word was ‘bedchamber guard’). Hermaphrodite ‘human being or animal combining characteristics of both sexes’ comes from the Greek name Hermaphroditos; that was the name of the mythical son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who grew together with the nymph Salmacis while bathing in her fountain and so combined male and female characters.

Paradigm is known as a linguistic term denoting a set of morphological (or other) forms. It comes from the Greek noun paradeigma ‘example’ (from para- ‘by the side of’ + deiknunai ‘show’).

The Greek borrowings of the 16th century were numerous. Among them we might mention such words as abracadabra, aorist, ephemeral, epic, epicedium, epigram, epithet, exarch, exotic, geography and others.

Abracadabra is a peculiar word which seems to be international nowadays. It is a cabalistic word supposed, when written in the form of triangle and worn, to cure argues, etc. In everyday use it means just ‘rubbish’.

The adjective ephemeral ‘existing only for a day or very short time’(from the Greek word ephemeros < epi + hemera ‘day’) was originally said of a fever but later its meaning was grew broader.

Exarch is a historic term denoting governor of a province under the Byzantine emperors and, later, metropolitan in the Eastern Church. It comes from exarkhos ‘leader, chief’.

In the 17th century such word were borrowed from the Greek language as autonomy, cyclopædia, eparch, epiphany, episode, hypnotic, litotes, oxymoron, etc.

Autonomy ‘right of self-government’ was formed from the Greek word autonomia (from autos ‘self’ + nomos ‘law’). It is noticeable that the corresponding adjective autonomous came into use only in the 19th century.

Cyclopædia (clipped form of encyclopædia) originally meant ‘circle of learning’.

Eparch (from eparkhos) originally denoted governor of the province but late was reestablished as an ecclesiastic term (metropolitan). Another ecclesiastic word was epiphany ‘manifestation of a supernatural being’(from epiphania < epiphainein ‘manifest’).

In the 18th century the English language was enriched by such Greek words as eczema and graphite.

Further penetration of the Greek element into English in the 19th century was specific. Greek roots were used to build up new terms and to express new notions. Among the Greek borrowings of the 19th century we can see the following words: accordion ‘musical instrument having bellows’, baritone ‘voice between tenor and bass’, ecology ‘branch of biology dealing with environment’, epistemology ’ theory of the method of knowledge’, ethnic ‘pertaining to race, ethnological’, eugenics ‘science of fine offspring production’, hedonism ‘doctrine that pleasure is chief good’, macron ‘mark of length placed over a vowel’, marathon ‘a race of abnormal length. Even the word helicopter (from Greek helixikos ‘screw’ + pteron ‘wing’)appeared as early as in the 19th century.

In the 20th century a number of scientific terms based on the Greek element were introduced into English; they mainly belong to the so called international words, e.g.: allergy, ionosphere, isotope, pediatrician, etc.

 

Borrowings from Italian

It has been emphasized by many linguists that word of Italian origin in English mainly belong to the sphere of arts (finale, fresco, violin, cornice, umbrella, balcony, grotto), though occasionally we words from other fields were borrowed from Italian.

Thus in the end of the 15th century the noun cauliflower ‘variety of cabbage, the inflorescence of which forms a white head’ came into use in English. This word is a remake of the Italian cavolflore (of the same meaning).

In the 16th century Italian enriched the English language with the words bankrupt, carnival and zebra.

The word bankrupt originates from the Italian expression banca rotta ‘bench or table broken’, which was a symbol of a money-changer’s insolvency. Later this form in English was influenced by the French banqueroute, and further by the Latin ruptus ‘broken’. The derivative bankruptcy appeared in English about 1700.

The word carnival originally denoted the festivities in Catholic countries just before Lent (Mardi Gras) and mid-Lent (mi-Careme); now it denotes any public festivity, usually with processions, dancing and sideshows. It originates from the Italian carnevale or carnovale.

Zebra ‘South African equine quadruped’, borrowed from Italian (or perhaps Portuguese), originally comes from the Congolese language. In the 20th century the word zebra acquired a very specific meaning in the expression zebra crossing: a broad band of alternative black and white stripes painted across the road, indicating that pedestrians have absolute priority over drivers.

Among the borrowings of the 17th century such words should be mentioned as balcony, broccoli, contadino, gambado, gazette, gusto, penseroso.

Broccoli ‘kind of cauliflower’ in Italian is the plural form of broccolo ‘cabbage head’, which, in its turn, is a diminutive form of brocco ‘shoot’.

Contadino ‘Italian peasant’ is a kind of exotic word in English. It originates from the Italian noun contado ‘county’.

In the 18th century the Italian language enriched English with such words as ballerina ‘female ballet-dancer’, cicerone ‘guide explaining antiquities’, condottiere leader of mercenaries’, influenza ‘infectious febrile disorder’, libretto ‘words of an opera’, zecchin ‘gold coin’ and others.

In the 19th century English borrowed Italian words legato ‘smooth and connected (musical term) and confetti ‘small sweets used as missiles at a carnival, or small disks of paper used so at weddings’.

 

Borrowings from Spanish

In the 16th century such words were borrowed from the Spanish language as bastinado, batata, potato, breeze, cacique, escalade, hammock, hurricane, iguana, Negro, renegade, etc.

Bastinado denoted a kind of corporal punishment, beating with a stick (especially on the soles of the feet. It comes from the Spanish word bastonada derived from baston ‘stick’.

Potato and batata are twin words of the same origin, the former denoting a plant widely cultivated for food, the latter the so called Spanish sweet potato. Originally the Spanish word patata (or batata) was used only in the second meaning. The transference of sense took place due to the likeness of the two plants.

The word breeze (from Spanish briza, brisa) originally denoted north or north-west wind. Now the meaning of this word is ‘light wind’. It is noticeable that in modern English the noun breeze of Spanish origin has two homonyms (thought not so frequent in use): breeze ‘gad-fly’ (of Old English origin) and breeze ‘small cinders’ (of French origin).

The noun cacique ‘chief in West Indies’ comes from the Spanish cacique or cazique (of Carib origin).

Other words of Carib origin which came into English through Spanish are hammock ‘hanging bed suspended by cords’, hurricane ‘violent wind-storm of the West Indies’, and iguana ‘large arboreal lizard’.

The word Negro ‘black man, blackamoor’ comes from Spanish negro ‘black’. It was used to denote black Americans but now has gone out of use as “politically incorrect”.

Renegade (from Spanish renegado) in the 16th century had the meaning ‘apostate’ (in the religious sense; since the 17th century it denotes any deserter of a cause, etc.

Among the Spanish borrowings of the 17th century such words may be mentioned as cargo ‘ship-load’, chicha ‘fermented liquor of South America’ (American Spanish), gallinazo ‘American vulture’, malaga ‘white wine exported from Malaga, a seaport in the South of Spain’.

In the 18th century the word cocoa came into English which denoted seed of a tropical American tree, powder produced by grinding the seed, and beverage made from this. The form cocoa replaced an older form cacao which had existed in English since the 16th century.

In the 19th century Spanish enriched the English language with bronco ‘half-tamed horse’ (used in California and New Mexico), caballero ‘Spanish gentleman’, guano ‘natural manure found on islands about Peru’, guerilla, usually used in the word-combination guerilla war which denotes irregular war waged by small bodies acting independently.

An important borrowing of the 20th century is cafeteria ‘restaurant in which customers fetch what they want from the counters’.

Borrowings from Arab

Arab borrowings in English are not sufficiently enough described in literature on the history of the English language. Nevertheless it is difficult to imagine today’s lexicon of English without words that have come from Arab.

Arab borrowings seem to have appeared in English not before the 16th century. Among the earliest words of Arab origin in English the following may be mentioned: cadi (or kazi), Caffre (or Caffer), cafila, kabaya, kantar, kaimakam, kali, etc. All these words appear as exotic, marked by certain oriental flavour, denoting various realia of the East.

In the 17^th century the following Arab borrowings were added: cabob, abuna, hadji, jinn, khilat, harem, Moslem, khamsin, etc.

Cabob ‘Oriental meat-dish’ comes from the Arab kabab.

Hadji ‘pilgrim to the tomb of Mohammed’ comes from the Arab hadji ‘pilgrim’. It is added to the name of the person who has undertaken this pilgrimage (cf.: Hadji-Mourat).

The word jinn in Mohammedan demonology denotes one of an order of spirits. It comes from the Arab jinn (the plural form of jinni). In the 19th century the form jinnee came into use.

Khilat ‘dress of honour presented by a king’ comes from the Arab khil’at ‘reward’.

Harem ‘women’s part of a Mohammedan dwelling-house, or its occupants’ originates from the Arab haram ‘that which is prohibited’.

Moslem (also Muslim) ‘Mohammedan’ comes from the Arab muslim.

Khamsin ‘hot wind in Egypt lasting about 50 days’ comes from the Arab khamsin (or khamsun) ‘fifty’.

In the 18th century English acquired such Arab words as koran and khalifa.

Koran ‘sacred book of Islam’ comes from the Arab quran ‘recitation’.

Khalifa (also caliph, calif, khalif) ‘Mahommedan chief ruler’ comes from the Arab khalifa. The word is believed to have penetrated into Europe as a result of the Crusades.

The Arab borrowings of the 19th century are as follows: aba (or abba), Islam, kanoon, Mecca, Kaffir, kavass, kef, keffiyeh, kourbash, Kabyle, etc.

Islam ‘Mohammedanism’ originates from the Arab islam (from aslama ‘he resigned himself’).

Kanoon ‘species of dulcimer, harp’ comes from the Arab qanun.

Mecca is the name of Mohammed’s birth-place, which is a place of Muslim pilgrimage (from Arab Makka). Nowadays this word is broadly used in figurative meaning (e.g.: tourists’ Mecca about any place often visited by tourists).

Kef (also keif, kief) ‘drowsiness, dreamy intoxication, enjoyment of idleness comes from Arab kaif, kef ‘well-being, enjoyment (compared in Russian: кайф, кейф, кайфовать).

 

Borrowings from German

In the 16th century the following words were borrowed from German: ballast, kaiser, clown, Pole, prattle, slag, tram.

Ballast ‘material placed in a ship’s hold to give stability’ comes from Low German. Today it is an international word used both as a term and metaphorically (compare балласт in Russian).

Kaiser ‘emperor’ originates from the German word Kaiser, which is an adoption of Latin Cæsar through Greek kaisar. The alliterative formula king and (or) kaiser was common in the 16-17th centuries.

Clown ‘rustic, ill-bred man; fool or buffoon, especially on the stage’ comes from the Low German word kloun ‘clumsy fellow’. The figure of a clown is quite common in Shakespeare’s plays.

Pole (from the German word Pole)in the 16th century was the name of the country Poland. In the 17th century its meaning changed: it denoted a native of this country. The adjective Polish appeared in the 18th century.

The verb to prattle ‘talk childishly or artlessly’ comes from the Middle Low German pratelen, which was a derivative of the earlier praten (see above). The noun prattle has the meaning ‘childish chatter, small talk’.

Tram ‘shaft of a barrow or cart’ (in coal-mining) comes from the Middle Low German word trame ‘balk, beam, rung of a ladder’.

In the 18th century such German borrowings as pietism and proviant were added to the English lexicon.

Pietism (movement for the revival of devotion to religious duties in the Lutheran communion) originates from the German pietismus, which in its turn is of Latin origin.

Proviant ‘provision, commissariat’ (from German Proviant) was introduced by soldiers who served in the Thirty Years War in 1618-1648.

The borrowings of the 18th century are waltz, pitchblende, post.

Waltz ‘dance performed to music in triple time’ originates from German walzer.

Pitchblende ‘native oxide of uranium’ come from German pechblende.

Post, another very special word, denotes a pile of hand-made paper fresh from the mould. It comes from the German word posten ‘parcel, batch, lot’.

Among the borrowings of the 19th century there such words as ablaut, umlaut, kindergarten, plankton, polka, poltergeist.

Ablaut ‘vowel-gradation’ and umlaut ‘change in the sound of a vowel due to partial assimilation to an adjacent sound’ are philological terms which were introduced in German by Jacob Grimm and later borrowed in English.

Kindergarten originally denoted the school for the instruction of young children according to Froebel’s method. It originates from the German words kind ‘child’ + garten ‘garden’.

Plankton ‘floating or drifting organic life’, now an international word, comes from the German plankton which takes roots in Greek.

Polka ‘lively dance of Bohemian origin’ which came to English from German ascends to the Czech pulka ‘half-step’.

Poltergeist ‘noisy mischievous ghost’ originates from the German words poltern ‘make a noise, create a disturbance’ + geist ‘ghost’.

 

Borrowings from Russian

Contacts between England and Russia began in the 16th century and probably at that time first words from Russian were borrowed in the English language. Anyway, in the 16th century such words appeared in English as Cossack (from казак), czar (from царь), telega (from телега), kvass (from квас), shuba (from шуба).

In the 17th century to the list of Russian borrowings steppe (from степь) was added.

The Russian borrowings of the 18th century are as follows: astrakhan ‘skin of young lambs from Astrakhan in Russia, with wool like fur’, balalaika ‘triangular guitar-like musical instrument, popular in Slav countries’, knout (from кнут), mammoth ‘large extinct elephant’ (from мамонт), beluga 1. ‘great sturgeon’, 2. ‘white whale’ (from белуга), ukase (from указ).

In the 19^th century the following Russian words entered the English language: samovar, zemstvo, borzoi, nihilism.

As for the latter word – nihilism, it is very special: though based on the Latin word nihil ‘nothing’, it was invented in Russian literature to denote to denote extreme revolutionary principle involving destruction of existing institutions (нигилизм).

Among the borrowings of the 20th century such may be mentioned as cadet, Bolshevik, Cheka, Soviet, kolkhoz, perestroika, sputnik.

Cadet (кадет) was a political term of the beginning of the century, an abbreviation made up of the initial letters of конституционные демократы. It is remarkable that this loan-word appeared as a homonym to the word cadet of French origin (see above).

Bolshevik is a typical ‘Sovietism’, that is a word which was borrowed from Russian after 1917. In “The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English” Bolshevik is interpreted as “advocate of proletarian dictatorship in Russia by soviets”.

Cheka (from the Russian abbreviation ЧК, of Чрезвычайная комиссия) is another Sovietism, which is now rather a historic notion.

Soviet (from совет) has entered practically all the languages due to the fact that it was a part of the official name of the state – the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик).

Kolkhoz (from колхоз < коллективное хозяйство) denoting a collective farm in the U.S.S.R. was borrowed in the thirties.

Perestroika is one of the newest borrowings from Russian which appeared in 1985.

Sputnik is a word which is known in many languages. It is an old Russian word meaning ‘travelling companion’ from s- ‘with’, put ‘way’, and -nik, an agent suffix. This agent suffix -nik also lives in Yiddish, as in kibbutznik, a member of a kibbutz ‘gathering, community dwelling’. In the early sixties this suffix gave rise to beatnik, a member of the beat or beaten generation (also addicted to beat or rhythmic music). Then in America it produced peacenik and straightnik and many other playful formations in -nik - perhaps only a passing fashion.

In addition to what has already been discussed it is possible to add tundra, tarantass, troika, borscht, vodka, duma, Kremlin.

 

Borrowings from Dutch

Among the Dutch borrowings of the end of the 15th century it is possible to mention such words as bung, burgher, cope, cramp.

Bung (from Middle Dutch bohghe) denotes a stopper, especially a large cork stopping hole in cast.

Burgher (from Dutch burger) denotes a freeman of a burgh or borough; in South Africa the word burgher later acquired a special meaning: ‘citizen of European descent, wherever resident.

Cope (from Middle Dutch kopen) means ‘to exchange, to barter, to buy’, the latter meaning now obsolete.

Cramp (from Middle Dutch krampe) denotes a metal bar with bent ends.

In the 16th century there appeared in English such borrowings from Dutch as bandoleer, galleon, linden, bully, bumboat, bumpkin, cashier, cracknel.

Bandoleer (from Dutch bandelier) denotes a broad belt worn over one shoulder and across the breast.

Galleon (from Middle Dutch galjoen) ‘large ship’ is an example of sea terms by which Dutch enriched European languages.

Linden (from Dutch lindeboom or lindenboom) denotes a lime-tree. It is a common Germanic word (compare German Lindenbaum).

The word bully (from Middle Dutch boele) meant ‘sweetheart’. In the 18th century it acquired the meaning ‘hired ruffian’.

Bumboat (from Dutch bomschuit) denoted a scavenger’s boat, later any boat for the carriage of small merchandise.

Bumpkin (from Dutch bommekijn ‘little barrel’) had the meaning ‘country lout’. The transformation of meaning is metaphoric.

Cashier ‘one who pays out and receives money is also of Dutch origin, though cash comes from French casse.

The word cracknel or crackling (from Middle Dutch krakelinc < kraken ‘crack’) denoted light crisp biscuit.

In the 17th century the English language borrowed from Dutch the following: brandy ‘strong spirit distilled from wine’, easel ‘wooden frame to support picture’, gas ‘any æriform or completely elastic fluid’, manikin ‘little man, dwarf; artist’s lay figure’, Bruin (personifying name for a bear), commodore ‘naval officer above captain’.

Among the Dutch borrowing of the 18th century coehorn and crawl may be mentioned.

Coehorn or cohorn denotes a small mortar invented by a Dutch engineer, Baron van Menno Coehorn.

Crawl (from Dutch kraal) denotes pen or reservoir for fish.

In the 19th century Dutch enriched the English with the words boss, cockatiel, cockatoo, coper.

Boss ‘master, employer’(mainly used in American English but understood all over the world) originates from the Dutch word baas.

Cockatiel ‘crested grass parrakeet of South Australia’ comes from the Dutch word kaketielje.

Cockatoo ‘large bird of the parrot kind’ originates from the Dutch kakatoe. The first element of the word was evidently influenced by the word cock (compare Kakadu in German).

 

Borrowings from Turkish

A number of borrowed words from Turkish entered the English lexicon in the 16th century.

Kiosk, which may have come into English through French, originally denoted an open pavilion or summer-house; later it acquired a new meaning - ‘light structure for sale of newspapers, etc.’ It originates from Turkish kiushk ‘pavilion’.

Minaret ‘tall slender tower of a mosque’ may have come into the English language through French or Spanish. The Turkish word minaret is a corruption of the Arab manarat.

Mulla ‘Mohammedan theologian’ comes from the Turkish word mulla ascending to the Arab form maula. Nowadays it is an international word used in the Muslim world (compare мулла in Russian).

Odalisque ‘female slave, concubine’ comes from the Turkish word odaliq (from odah ‘chamber in a harem’ + -liq, suffix expressing function). The word must have entered English through French.

A few words were borrowed from Turkish in the 18th century, among them vali and nizam.

Vali denotes a civil governor in Turkey (from Turkish vali ascending to Arab wali). Later, in the 19th century, the relative word vilayet ‘province rulled by a vali ’ appeared in English.

Nizam was the title of the rulers of Hyderabad in 1713 – 1748. Later, in the 19th century the meaning of the word was different: it denoted the Turkish regular army. Originally the Turkish form nizam comes from the Arab nidam ‘order, arrangement’.

A few words were borrowed in the 19th century, such as: bashi-bazouk ‘mercenary of Turkish irregulars’, kismet ‘destiny, fate, lot’, narghile ‘hookah (device for smoking)’.