Lexical Borrowing: Tracing the French Influence on the English Language
In a webinar convened by the Language Research Center on March 10, 2021, Dr. Shazia Tabassum shed light on the topic of "Lexical Borrowing: French Loan Words into English." The session revolved around the enrichment of the English language lexicon through borrowing from other languages.
Dr. Tabassum kicked off her presentation by illuminating an intriguing fact: English is not a pure language lexically, but a heterogeneous one. She attributed this unique characteristic to the language's exposure to myriad cultural shifts throughout history. The English lexicon, she elaborated, consists of words from diverse languages globally. As a consequence, she underscored, many routinely used words in spoken and written English are borrowed from non-English speaking countries. She cited linguist David Crystal's portrayal of English as an "insatiable borrower."
Tabassum proceeded to clarify the concept of Lexical Borrowing, describing it as the adaptation of words from a donor language for use in a recipient language. She underscored that this process can be reciprocal, as a recipient language can fascinatingly turn into a donor language. Furthermore, she highlighted the pivotal role of lexical borrowing in fostering bilingualism.
Moving on, Tabassum elaborated on the historical causes of lexical borrowing, such as foreign invasions, wars, and international trade and travel. The majority of English lexical items, she noted, are derived from Greek, Latin, and French, with additional donor languages like Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, and Urdu. She shared an intriguing statistic that 70% of modern English words are borrowed from other languages, with French being the leading donor.
In an illustrative segment of her presentation, Tabassum demonstrated the parallels and distinctions between English words and their French counterparts, providing examples of commonly used French loan words and phrases in English. She also drew attention to gender attribution for inanimate objects in French.
Tabassum's final emphasis was on the learner-centered approach to vocabulary instruction in language classes, underscoring its importance in effective language learning.
The webinar was deemed a resounding success, characterized by active participation from faculty members and both Ph.D. and MA students.
