Old English Lexicon

What is a loanword?

Loanwords are words used by speakers of one language from another different language. They are also called “borrowings”, which refers to the process of speakers adopting from a source language into their native language.  Loanwords are a consequence of cultural contact between two different languages and, although the act of borrowing can happen in both directions between two languages in contact, this borrowing usually goes from one side to another; usually from the most powerful language to the other less powerful language.

English has gone through many periods in which many words from a particular language were borrowed. These periods coincide with times of major cultural contact between English speakers and those speaking other languages. These waves of loanwords in English language during periods of strong cultural contact are not delimited, and can overlap. For example, the Norse influence on English began in the 8th century and continued after the Norman Conquest, which brought a large influx of Norman French to English language.

There are 3 main influences in Old English Lexicon: Celtic, Latin and Scandinavian influences.

CELTIC.  (Outside of place names the influence of Celtic on Old English is negligible.)

- Place Names:  Thames, Kent, York, Avon, Dover, Cumberland.

- Loan Words:  binn 'basket, crib,' crag, cumb 'valley,' torr  'projecting rock,' dun 'dark-colored,' etc.

LATIN.

  I.  The Period of Continental Borrowing.  (First to fifth centuries A.D.  Around fifty words came into the language through Germanic contact with Rome before the invasion and  settlement of Britain.)

  a.   War:  camp (L. campus) 'battle,' pil (L. pilum   'javelin,' straet (L. strata) 'road,' mil (L. milia)  'mile;'

 b.   Trade:  ceap (L. caupo) 'bargain,' pund (L. pondo) 'pound,' win (L. vinum) 'wine,' mynet (L. moneta) 'mint, coin;'

 c.   Domestic Life:  cuppe (L. cuppa) 'cup,' disc (L. discus) 'dish,' pyle (L. pulvinus) 'pillow,' cycene (L. coquina) 'kitchen,' linen (L. linum) 'linen,' gimm (L.  gemma) 'gem;'

d.   Foods:  ciese (L. caseus) 'cheese,' butere (L. butyrum) 'butter,' pipor (L. piper) 'pepper,' senep (L. sinapi) 'mustard,' cires (L. cerasus) 'cherry,' pise (L. pisum)'pea,' minte (L. mentha) 'mint.'

 e.   Other:  mul 'mule,' pipe 'pipe,' cirice 'church.'

  II.  The Period of Celtic Transmission.  (Latin words held over from the Roman occupation of Britain which ended in 410 A.D.  Almost nothing remains outside a few elements found in place names:  ceaster (L. castra 'walledencampment') found in names such as Dorchester, Winchester, Manchester, Lancaster, and wic (L. vicum) 'village,' found in Greenwich, etc.

III. The Period of the Christianizing of Britain.  (Seventh to tenth centuries A.D.  Examples below are given in modern form since most of these words have altered only slightly in form.)

 a. Religion:  abbot, alms, altar, angel, anthem, candle, collect, creed, deacon, demon, disciple, hymn, martyr, mass, nun, offer, organ, palm, pope, priest, prime, prophet, psalm, relic, rule, sabbath, temple, tunic.  

 b. Domestic Life:  cap, sock, silk, purple, chest, sack.

c. Foods:  lentil, pear, oyster, lobster, mussel, millet.

 d. Plants:  coriander, cucumber, fennel, ginger, periwinkle, pine, aloes, balsam, cedar, cypress, fig, savory, plant.

e. Learning:  school, master, Latin, verse, meter, circe, history, paper, title, grammatical, accent, brief (vb).

 f. Other:  fever, cancer, paralysis, plaster, place, sponge, elephant, scorpion, camel, tiger, giant, talent.

SCANDINAVIAN. (Mid-ninth to mid-eleventh centuries.  The initial influence was in the Danelaw, or the northern and eastern areas of England settled by the Danes.  Examples below are in modern form.)

 a.   Nouns:  band, bank, birth, booth, bull, calf (of leg), dirt, egg, fellow, freckle, guess, kid, leg, race, root, scab, score, scrap, seat, sister, skill, skin, skirt, sky, steak, trust, window.

 b.   Adjectives:  awkward, flat, ill, loose, low, meek, muggy, odd, rotten, rugged, sly, tattered, tight, weak.

c.   Verbs:  bait, call, cast, clip, cow, crave, crawl, die, droop, gasp, get, give, glitter, lift, raise, rake, scare, screech, take, thrive, thrust.

For further information and in order to help you in the exercise you have to upload before 31th December, here you are some web pages:

Celtic Influence

Latin Influence

Scandinavian Influence