Barbarisms and Foreign Words, literary coinages.

In the vocabulary of the English language there is a considerable layer of words called barbarisms. These are words of foreign origin which have not entirely been assimilated into the English language. They bear the appearance of a borrowing and are felt as something alien to the native tongue. The role foreign borrowings played in the development of the English literary language is well known, and the great majority of these borrowed words now form part of the rank and file of the English vocabulary. Barbarisms are, like archaisms, also considered to be on the outskirts of the literary language.

Most of them have corresponding English synonyms; e. g. chic (=stylish); bon mot (=a clever witty saying); en passant (= in passing); ad infinitum (= to infinity) and many other words and phrases.

It is very important for purely stylistic purposes to distinguish between barbarisms and foreign words proper. Barbarisms are words which have already become facts of the English language. They are, as it were, part and parcel of the English word-stock, though they remain on the outskirts of the literary vocabulary. Foreign words, though used for certain stylistic purposes, do not belong to the English vocabulary. They are not registered by English dictionaries. Barbarisms are generally given in the body of the dictionary.

In printed works foreign words and phrases are generally italicized to indicate their alien nature or their stylistic value. Barbarisms, on the contrary, are not made conspicuous in the text unless they bear a special load of stylistic information.

There are foreign words in the English vocabulary which fulfil a terminological function.

It is evident that barbarisms are a historic category.

Many foreign words and phrases which were once just foreign words used in literary English to express a concept non-existent in English reality, have little by little entered the class of words named barbarisms and many of these

barbarisms have gradually lost their foreign peculiarities, become more or less naturalized and have merged with the native English stock of words. Conscious, retrograde, spurious. The same can be said of the words scientific, methodical, penetrate, function, figurative_{, obscure.}

_{Both foreign words and barbarisms are widely used in various styles of language with various aims which predetermine their typical}_functions.

₁₎_{One of these functions is to supply local colour.}

_{In order to depict local conditions of life, concrete facts and events, customs and habits, special care is taken to introduce into the passage such language elements as will reflect the environment. In this respect a most conspicuous role is played by the language chosen}

₂₎_{Another function of barbarisms and foreign words is to build up the stylistic device of non-personal direct speech or represented speech.}

_{The use of a word, or a phrase, or a sentence in the reported speech of a local inhabitant helps to reproduce his actual words, manner of speech and the environment as well.}

₃₎_{Barbarisms and foreign words are used in various styles of language, but are most often to be found in the style of belles-lettres and the publicistic style.}

_{In the belles-lettres style, however, foreignisms are sometimes used not only as separate units incorporated in the English narrative. The author makes his character actually speak a foreign language, by putting a string of foreign words into his mouth, words which to many readers may be quite unfamiliar. These phrases or whole sentences are sometimes translated by the writer in a foot-note or by explaining the foreign utterance in English in the text. But this is seldom done.}

_{Barbarisms have still another function when used in the belles-lettres style. We may call it an "exactifying" function}

_{In publicistic style the use of barbarisms and foreign words is mainly confined to colouring the passage on the problem in question with a touch of authority. A person who uses so many foreign words and phrases is obviously a very educated person, the reader thinks, and therefore a "man who knows."}

_{Literary coinages}

_{There is a term in linguistics which by its very nature is ambiguous and that is the term neologism. In dictionaries it is generally defined as ' a new word or a new meaning for an established word.}

_{The coining of new words generally arises first of all with the need to designate new concepts resulting from the development of science and also with the need to express nuances of meaning called forth by a deeper understanding of the nature of the phenomenon in question. It may also be the result of a search for a more economical, brief and compact form of utterance which proves to be a more expressive means of communicating the idea.}

_{The first type of newly coined}_{words, i. e. those which designate}

_{new-born concepts, may be named terminological coinages.}

_{The second type, words coined because their creators seek expressive utte}_{rance may be named stylistic coinages.}

_{Among new coinages of a literary-bookish type must be mentioned a considerable layer of words appearing in the publicistic style, mainly in newspaper articles and magazines and also in the newspaper style— mostly in newspaper headlines.}

_{Many coinages disappear entirely from the language, leaving no mark of their even brief existence. Other literary neologisms leave traces in the vocabulary because they are fixed in the literature of their time. In other words, new literary-bookish coinages will always leave traces in the language, inasmuch as they appear in writing. This is not the case with colloquial coinages. These, as we shall see later, are spontaneous, and due to their linguistic nature, cannot be fixed unless special care is taken by specialists to preserve them.}

_{Conversion, derivation and change of meaning}_{may be registered as means by which literary-bookish coinages are formed. These three means of word-building are mostly used to coin new terms in which new meanings are imposed on old words. Among coinages of this kind the word accessories may be mentioned.}

_{The new meaning co-exists with the old ones. In other words, new meanings imposed on old words form one system in which old and new meanings are ranged in a dictionary according to their rate of frequency or to some other underlying principle. But there are cases when new meanings imposed on old words drive out old meanings. In this case we register a gradual change in the meaning of the word which may not incorporate the old one. In most cases, however, the old meaning is hardly felt; it is generally forgotten.}

_{Another type of neologism is the nonce-word,}_{i.e. a word coined to suit one particular occasion. Nonce-words remain on the outskirts of the literary language and not infrequently remind us of the writers who coined them. They are created to designate some insignificant subjective idea or evaluation of a thing or phenomenon and generally become moribund. They rarely pass into the language as legitimate units of the vocabulary, but they remain in the language as constant manifestations of its innate power of word-building.}

_{mother-in-lawed,}_{and uncled, and aunted, and cousined}

_{The stylistic effect achieved by newly-coined words generally rests on the ability of the mind to perceive novelty at the background of the familiar. The sharper the contrast, the more obvious the effect.}

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