Linguistic Borrowing

Linguistic Borrowing Leonard Bloomfield describes two kinds of borrowing between languages:Close borrowing and Cultural Borrowing Linguistic Borrowing  Close Borrowing This is common when a country is conquered by an enemy and two languages are spoken within one community. And borrowing is a one-way process: from the conqueror’s language to the  Cultural Borrowing Borrowing is a twoway process Borrowing from Latin (1)  Until the 5th century AD, the British language was spoken in most of mainland Britain During the four centuries of the Roman occupation, the ruling classes spoke Latin  Borrowing from Latin (2) Very little is known about the Romanization of Britain, but the towns and cities were Latinized and the process was aided by the growth of trade and military settlements  Londinium, Eburacum (York) a Lindum (Lincoln) were the cities of Roman Britain  Borrowing from Latin (3)  British was replaced by Latin in eastern Britain but the ways of empire were not able to become so firmly established in the west There was only one Roman town in Wales– Venta Silurum (Caerwent)  Borrowing from Latin (4)  There are plenty of Roman remains in the west: Caernarfon, Carmarthen, Pumsaint, Llanio  It’s possible that Latin was a second language but it did leave its mark on the indigenous language and a vast number of Latin words were borrowed into Welsh Borrowing from Latin (5)  Agriculture Ll fructus > Welsh ffrwyth Ll molina > Welsh melin Ll oleum > Welsh olew  Arts and crafts Ll aurum > Welsh aur Ll durus > Welsh dur Ll plumbum > Welsh plwm  Building Ll fenestra > Welsh ffenestr Ll pontem > Welsh pont Ll columna > Welsh colofn  Parts of the body Ll barba > Welsh barf Ll brachium > Welsh braich Borrowing from Latin (6)  Religion/ Education Ll altare > Welsh allor Ll liber > Welsh llyfr Ll schola > Welsh ysgol  Food/Kitchen Llad vinum > Welsh gwin Llad caseum > Welsh caws Llad coquina > Welsh cegin  Time Llad hora > Welsh awr Llad Aprilis > Welsh Ebrill Llad Mercurii > Welsh Mercher  Military life Ll arma > Welsh arf Ll sagitta > Welsh saeth Ll catena > Welsh cadwyn Borrowing from Latin (7) After the Roman withdrawal (410), their influence remained and as late as 625 there is a Latin inscription in memory of Cadfan in Llangadwaladr on Anglesey  Latin was still spoken in the urban centres until the 5th and the 6th centuries  Borrowing from Latin (8)  It was in the urban centres that the effort to withstand the Anglo Saxon attacks were concentrated  It was there also that Roman culture was upheld until the outbreak of Yellow Fever in 544 and as the inhabitants (the upper social stratum) fled from the towns to the country, so the Roman influence spread to other areas of the country Borrowing from Latin (9) Some hundreds of words were borrowed from Latin to British when that language was evolving into Welsh and many British forms can be re-formed as the same changes that happened to British words as they developed into Welsh forms happened to the Latin forms also. Borrowing from Anglo Norman (1)    Between the 11-14 centuries, Anglo Norman was the main language of court and government, Parliament and the upper stratum of society in England In the 13th century, King John spoke no English The Normans were originally Norsemen and Anglo Norman is the name of the dialect that they spoke Borrowing from Anglo Norman (2)     The spread of Norman authority in Wales was slow apart from in south east Wales But a lot of inter-marriage occurred between the families of the Welsh princes and the families of Norman noblemen The common people perceived the Norman as an enemy Therefore the situation in the country did not allow a large number of words to be borrowed Borrowing from Anglo Norman (3)  There are few borrowings in early texts– Culhwch and Olwen, Four Branches of the Mabinogi: cordwal, pali  The borrowings increase in later texts -– Peredur, Iarlles y Ffynnon, Gereint: albrysiwr, barwn, magnel Words dealing with war and state organization Words which denote luxuries and clothes Borrowing from Anglo Norman (4)  Beaumaris (beau ‘beautiful’ + maris ‘alders’)  Malpas (mal ‘difficult’ + pas ‘way’)  Mold (mont ‘hill’ + hault ‘high’) Borrowing from Anglo Norman (5)  Montgomery Here is an example of a name being transplanted from Normandy to Wales by Roger de Montgomery. He built his castle (before 1086) in Hen Domen and called it Montgomery after his castle in Normandy  Trefaldwyn In 1102 the land became the possession of another Norman – Baldwin de Bollers and the castle was called Castell Baldwin and the town that grew around it became known as Trefaldwyn (Tref Baldwin) Borrowing from Anglo Norman (6) The following place names are in Gwent: Beaulieu (beau ‘beautiful’ + lieu ‘place’) Belmont (bel ‘beautiful’ + mont ‘mountain’) Grosmont (gros ‘large’ + mont ‘mountain’) Rockfield (from Rochville in Normandie) Grace Dieu (Grace of God) St Pierre Borrowing from Norse (1)    Between the beginning of the 9th century and the beginning of the 11th century, Wales, England and Ireland were troubled greatly by the Vikings They were pagan pirates and the monasteries suffered terribly because of their pillage They did not venture very far from the coasts Borrowing from Norse (2)  Anglesey,Bardsey, Ramsey, Swansea include a Norse proper noun (Ongull, Bárthr, Hrafn, Sveinn) + Norse ey ‘island’ Borrowing from Norse (3)  Skerries (sker ‘rock rising from the sea’)  North Stack, South Stack (stakkr ‘rock rising from the sea’) Borrowing from Norse (4)  ey is also found in Caldy Norse cald=cold  Skokholm (stokkr ‘strait’ + holmr ‘island’)  Grassholm (gras ‘grass’ + holmr ‘island’)  Stakpole (stakkr ‘rock rising from the sea + pollr ‘pool’)  Skomer (skálm ‘cleft’ + ey ‘island’ Borrowing from Norse (5): More place names    Fishguard (fiskr ‘fish’ + garthr ‘enclosed area to catch fish’)  Osmund’s Ayre, Point of Ayr (eyrr ‘sand or gravel bank’) Milford (melr ‘sand bank’ + fjorthr ‘fiord’)  Womanby (hundamather ‘huntsman with dogs’ + bý ‘farm or village’) Colby (Kolli [name] + bý ‘farm, village’  Lamby (langr ‘long’ + bý ‘farm or village’ Borrowing from Norse (6)  The Vikings were enemies to the Welsh over the centuries and they had little impact on the Welsh language It’s possible that these forms came into Welsh through Old English Wel iarll < Norse iarl Wel cerlyn < Norse carl ‘villain’ Wel gardd < Norse gardh Wel hafr > Norse hafr Wel ysgrepan < Norse  Borrowing from English (1)  Borrowing from English is not a recent feature in the history of the Welsh language  There were many dealings between the Welsh and the English from a very early period A chief called Cadwallon and Penda, the king of Mercia, were in league as early as the 7th century  Borrowing from English (2)  The monks of Wales and England were also on good terms The relationship is reflected in the borrowings of Old English found in Welsh  Borrowing from English (3)         edling distain berfa rhaca crefft cusan llidiart llyffethair         dewr abad betws offrwm bwa sur tarian bad – Borrowing from English (4) Modern English The sounds in borrowings such as  The sounds found in borrowings such as  Chips, cheque Jam, garaage Zoo, zink, zebra  Borrowing from English (5) – syntactical borrowing   … marw ma’s (dying out) … cwympo lawr (falling down) … torri lawr (breaking down) … rhoi lan (give up) … mynd mlan (go on) … mynd nôl (go back)     Borrowing from English (6) - borrowing vocabulary Long term borrowing bil, costio, lot, cario, sosban, diffinio, stopio Spontaneous borrowing Odd hi’n very good wir Teces i good photo Bydd e’n good night out iti Borrowing from English (7)  Place names show the growth of the influence of English in Wales: The most common element in place names in England is tun and it occurs in England from the 5th century onwards. In Wales it is found along the Marches in the 11th century - Knighton. From the 12th century onwards this element denotes Anglo Norman and English influences in the counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan and Pembroke: Bishton, Bishopston, Letterston. Borrowing from English (8) By the 18th century the element began to be used in it’s later form town: Wattstown, Taylorstown, Morriston.  Another common element is Old English stow which is used as is llan to denote a sacred place: Dingestow, Bidstow.  Borrowing from Flemish (1)  Flemish people established in Pembrokeshire early in the 12th century. Lucas D’Heere, the Dutch artist who was in Wales during the period 1567-77 states that Flemish was spoken in Welsh at that time.  Borrowing from Flemish (2) The evidence is slim but it could be that the influence of Flemish on Welsh is responsible for the development of the semantic development of the form lol.  The elements hook and wick in place names such as East Hook, West Hook, Musselwick in Pembrokeshire derive from the Flemish hook ‘piece of land’ and wick ‘area’.  Borrowing from Irish (1)  Wales and Ireland had quite a close relationship from a very early period There were Irish settlements in north Wales, in south-west Wales and in Brecknock as early as the fourth century  Borrowing from Irish (2)  In an Irish legend from the 8th century, it is said that the tribe Dési from County Waterford emigrated to south-west Wales led by Eochaid Allmuir His descendants were in Dyfed until the 10th century  Borrowing from Irish (3)  Ogam inscirptions also bear witness to their settlement here And also place names such as Ll n, Nefyn, Din-llaen  Borrowing from Irish(4) The word cnwc ‘hillock’ is a common element in place names in those parts of Wales which were colonized by the Irish in the early centuries: Cnwc-y-crogwydd (Pembrokeshire) Cnwc-y-barcud (Ceredigion) Cnwc-y-lili (Carmarthenshire) Y Cnwc melyn (Gwynedd) Cnwclas (Powys) cnwc < Irish cnocc Borrowing from Irish (5)  There is evidence in the lives of the saints and in the tales that relations between the Welsh and the Irish were close The educational and ecclesiastical institutions of the two countries also had a close relationship  Borrowing from Irish (6)  These dealings had an impact on both languages There are a large number of words in Irish which were borrowed from Welsh; Irish words were borrowed into Welsh as well; it was through Welsh that Irish gained much of its earliest Latin vocabulary and the earliest borrowings from English.  Borrowing from Irish (7) Irish acus > brat > cnocc > Goedel > jough > maccoemh Welsh agos brat cnwc Gwyddel joch > macwy Welsh bloedd cawr gwylan hebog pant gordd Irish > bloed > caur > foilenn > seboc > fant > ord Borrowing from Irish (8)  In this case the borrowing has been a two-way process - Welsh > Irish; Irish> Welsh This is an example of CULTURAL BORROWING