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Also: accent, grammar, meter, notary (нотариус), decline (упадок).
A great number of miscellaneous ([misi’leinjes] – смешанных, разнообразных) borrowings came from Latin probably because they indicated new objects & new ideas, introduced into English life together with their Latin names by those who had a good command of Latin: monks, priests, school-masters. Some of these scholarly words became part of everyday voc-ry. They belong to different semantic spheres:
names of trees & plants: elm, lily, pine, pear, mint, fennel (укроп), rose, plant.
of illnesses & words pertaining to medical treatment: cancer, fever, plaster.
names of animals: camel, elephant, tiger, mule.
names of clothes & household duties: cap, mat, sack (мешок), sock, silk.
names of foods: beet, oyster, radish.
The Latin impact on the OE vocabulary was not restricted to borrowing of words. There were also other aspects of influence. The most important of them is the appearance of the so-called “translation-loans” – words & phrases created on the pattern of Latin words as their literal translations. The earliest examples of translation-loans are names of the days of the week:
Monan-daξ (Monday) ═ day of the Moon Tiwes-daξ (Tuesday) ═ day of Tiw (Tiw – Mars) Wednesday ═ day of Wotan/Odin ═ Mercury Thursday ═ day of Thor/Tuner ═ Jupiter Friday ═ day of Fria ═ Venus Saturday ═ day of Saturn
Sunday ═ day of Sun
20.French as the most important foreign influence on the English language
The victorious Normans made up the new aristocracy & the Anglo-Saxon people became their servants. The new masters were strangers in the country. They spoke a foreign tongue & the Anglo-Saxon peasants could not understand their speech. The Norman aristocracy spoke a Norman dialect of French, a tongue of Latin origin, while the Anglo-Saxons spoke English, a tongue of Germanic origin. The Normans looked upon English as a kind of peasant dialect, & continued to speak their own language. They despised anyone unable to speak their language.
Thus there were 2 different languages spoken in the country at the same time – England became a bilingual country. For almost 300 years French was the official language of administration: it was the language of the king’s court, the law-courts, the church, the army & the castle. The intellectual life, literature & education were in the hands of French-speaking people. French, alongside Latin, was the language of writing.
Inspite of all this, England never stopped being an English-speaking country. Most of the population held fast to their own tongue: the lower classes in the towns & especially in the countryside, they continued to speak English & looked upon French as foreign & hostile. As most of the people were illiterate, the English language was almost exclusively used for spoken communication.
At first the two languages existed side by side without mingling (не смешиваясь). Then, slowly & quietly, they began to permeate (проникать, пропитывать) each other. This mixed language was called Anglo-French or Anglo-Norman.
Anyway, the Normans remained masters of England for quite a long time to leave a deep ‘impress (отпечаток) on the language. The total number of French borrowings by far exceeds the number of borrowings from any other foreign language. By 1400 the number of loan-words had risen to 10,000.
The French borrowings of the ME period are usually described according to semantic spheres:
To this day nearly all the words relating to the government & administration of the country are French by origin: government; office; power, authority; parliament; country; nation; people;
2. Close to this group are words pertaining to the feudal system & words indicating titles & ranks of the nobility: baron; duke; peer, count; prince, countess; feudal; noble. But very few words of these semantic groups are native (lord, lady, king, queen, earl, knight). These borrowings show that the Normans had a far more elaborate (сложную) administrative system & a more complex scale of ranks.
A large number of military terms adopted in ME are the result of the fact that military matters were managed by the Normans & that their organization of the army was new to the English: navy; soldier, battle; escape; captain; force; victory, army; lieutenant; war.
A still greater number of words belong to law & jurisdiction, which were certainly under the control of the Normans. Many of these words are used now in everyday speech: accuse; false; interest; justice; crime; judge; marry; property; damage; prove; just; money; poor; rent.
Many French words pertain to the church & religion, for in the 12th & 13th centuries all the important posts in the Church were occupied by the Norman clergy: abbey; procession; chapel; paradise; religion; charity; passion; sacrifice; vice, Bible; saint; virgin, miracle.
Besides these spheres, which reflect the dominant position of the Normans in Britain as conquerors & rulers, there are many others, which reveal the influence of the Norman way of life on the English.
From the loan-words referring to house, furniture & architecture, we see that the Normans introduced many innovations: chair; curtain; castle; chimney; cushion; palace; table, column; lamp; wardrobe.
Some words are connected with art: art; colour; figure; beauty; design; image; paint.
Another group includes names of garments (предметы одежды): boot; collar; dress; coat, jewel, costume; fur; gown.
Many French loan-words belong to entertainment, which is natural enough for the Norman nobles amused themselves with various pastimes: adventure; feast; cards; dance ; leisure; sport, chase; dice (игра в кости) ; tournament, contest ; ease ; pleasure.
We can also single out words relating to different aspects of the life of the upper classes & of the town life:
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