Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Home > Loanword
A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. The word loanword itself is a calque of the German Lehnwort. A calque or loan translation is a related process whereby it is the meaning or idiom that is borrowed rather the lexical item itself.Although loanwords are typically far less numerous than the "native" words of most languages ( creoles being an obvious exception), they are often widely known and used, since their borrowing served a certain purpose.
1 Loanwords in English
English has many loanwords, due to England coming in contacts with numerous invaders in the Middle Ages, and English becoming a trade language in the 18th century. The table below lists languages (with examples) from which English borrowed more than 1000 words:
- Classical Latin - agenda, disc, exit, street, vine
- Ancient Greek - anonymous, catastrophe, parabola, skeleton, tonic
- Norman - catch, guardian, judge, pork, wicket
- French - beauty, champion, chase, parliament
- Old Norse (Scandinavian) -are, call, leg, father, skin, sky, take, they, through, window
- GoidelicVisit and Contribute to the. Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). It is also known as Gaelic, or Q-Celtic because of the way that words in Brythonic that begin with "B" or "P" begin with "C" or - claymoreThe word claymore has been used to describe two distinct types of swords used by Scottish warriors and soldiers. The first was a large, two-handed sword used in the medieval period. It was used in the constant clan warfare and border fights with the Engli, bardA bard is a poet and singer, with the particular meaning differing for various countries and epochs. In Celtic society, a bard was a professional poet, paid by a monarch to praise the sovereign's activities. If the monarch failed to pay the proper amount,, galore, sloganA slogan is a memorable phrase used in political or commercial context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. A political slogan generally expresses a goal or aim (" Workers of the world, unite!"), whereas an advertising slogan is most often in
- Brythonic - coracleA coracle is a primitive type of boat. It is a light boat, oval in shape, and formed of canvas stretched on a framework of split and interwoven rods, and well-coated with tar and pitch to render it water-tight. According to early writers the framework was, crowdThe crwth is an archaic stringed musical instrument, associated particularly with Wales, although once played widely in Europe. Nomenclature Crwth is a Welsh word, pronounced to rhyme with tooth (SAMPA /kru:T/ or /krUT/). The traditional English name, lit (musical instrument), corgi, gunnies
Read more »