Barbarisms and Foreign Words

Barbarisms have already become facts of the English language. They are part of the English word stock, though they remain on the outskirts of the literary vocabulary. The use of barbarisms imbues an utterance with a new quality, which stems from the author's stylistic purpose. Barbarisms may also be used to characterize a personage. Barbarisms and foreign words are used mainly to supply the narrated events with the proper local coloring and to convey the idea of the foreign origin or cultural and educational status of the personage.

Foreign words do not belong to the English vocabulary. They fulfill a terminological function. They reflect an objective reality not familiar to English speaking community. There are no names for them in English and they have to be explained.

Foreign words and phrases are generally explained either in footnotes or by means of paraphrasing. Barbarisms are never translated or explained as it is assumed that they are known to all. It is almost impossible to draw a hard distinction between a barbarism and a foreign word proper, on the one hand and between a barbarism and a highly literary, bookish word or phrase on the other hand. They are in constant motion. Some foreign words turn into barbarisms, and become units of the English vocabulary. Others remain essentially foreign and gradually disappear fro from common use.

Consider your answers to the following questions:

1. Why is the word stock of any language a system?

2. In to which layers does word stock of the English vocabulary falls into?

3. Under which term do common literary, neutral and common colloquial words grouped?

4. Which words have no stylistic coloring?

5. Where is common literary vocabulary chiefly used?

6. What is the difference between jargonisms and professionalisms?

7. What is the main stylistic function of words?

8. What is the main stylistic function of poetic words?

9. What are the three stages in the aging process of words?

10.What are the types of literary coinages?

11. What are the principal characteristics of archaic words? Give definition of archaisms proper, obsolescent and obsolete words. What is the main stylistic function of archaisms?

12. What is the difference between barbarisms and foreignisms?

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.003 сек.