Курсовая работа: Foreign words in E. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea: semantics, functions, frequency
The semantic structure of borrowings changes in other ways as well. Some meanings become more general, others more specialized etc. For instance, the word terrorist, that was taken over from French in the meaning of «Jacobin», widened its meaning to «one who governs, or opposes a government, by violent means.» The word umbrella, borrowed in the meaning of a sunshade or parasol (from It. ombrella < ombra – «shade») came to denote similar protection from the rain as well. Usually the primary meaning of a borrowed word is retained throughout its history, but sometimes it becomes a secondary meaning. Thus the Scandinavian borrowings wing, root, take and many others have retained their primary meaning to the present day, whereas in the Old English fēōlaze(MnE. fellow) which was borrowed from the same language in the meaning of «comrade, companion», the primary meaning that appeared in New English only «a man or a boy». Sometimes change of meaning is the result of associating borrowed words with familiar words which somewhat resemble them in sound but which are not at all related. This process, which is termed folk etymology, often changes the form of the word in whole or in part, so as to bring it nearer to the word or words with which it is thought to be connected. Thus the French verb sur(o) under had the meaning of «overflow». In English r(o) under was associated by mistake with round – круглый and the verb was interpreted as meaning «enclose on all sides, encircle».
Folk-etymologization is a slow process. People first attempt to give the foreign borrowing its foreign pronunciation, but gradually popular use evolves a new pronunciation and spelling.
Even a superficial examination of borrowed words in the English word-stock shows that there are words among them that are easily recognized as foreign (such as dйcolletй, graffito, Zeitgeist, voile) and there are others that have become so firmly rooted in the language, so thoroughly assimilated that it is sometimes extremely difficult to distinguish them from words of Anglo-Saxon origin (these are words like pupil, master, city, river, etc).
It is the first group that makes the focus of our attention in the following chapter.
3. Foreign words in the old man and the sea
hemingway novella man sea
Unassimilated borrowings differ from assimilated ones in their pronunciation, spelling, frequency, semantic structure and sphere of application. However, there is no distinct borderline between the two groups.
So far no linguist has been able to suggest more or less comprehensive criteria for determining the degree of assimilation of borrowings. The latter depends in the first place upon the time of borrowing: the earlier it takes place, the more thoroughly it tends to follow normal English habits of accentuation, pronunciation etc. It is but natural that the majority of early borrowings have acquired full English citizenship and that most English speaking people are astonished on first hearing, that such everyday words as widow, chair, dish, box have not always belonged to their language.
However mere age is not the sole factor. Not only borrowings long in use, but also borrowed words of recent date may be completely made over to conform to English patterns if they are widely and popularly employed. Words that are rarely used in everyday speech, that are known to a small group of people retain their foreign peculiarities. Thus many 19th century French borrowings have been completely assimilated (clinic, turbine, exploitation, diplomat), whereas the words noblesse [no'bles], ennui [ã:nwi] (1667), éclat [eı'klб:] (1674) have not been assimilated even in point of pronunciation.
Another factor determining the process of assimilation is the way in which the borrowing was adopted into the language. Words borrowed orally are assimilated more readily, they undergo greater changes, whereas with words adopted through writing the process of assimilation is longer and more laborious.
Apart from borrowings in the vocabulary of the English language there is a considerable layer of words called barbarisms [12]. These are words of foreign origin, which have not been assimilated into the English language. They bear the appearance of a foreign word and are felt as something alien to the native tongue, retaining their «foreignness» [6].
Barbarisms are, like archaisms, 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 [13].
Foreign words, though used for certain stylistic purposes, do not belong to the English vocabulary. They are not registered by English dictionaries, except in a kind of addenda which gives the meanings of the foreign words most frequently used in literary English, while 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. 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 fulfill a terminological function [11].
It is evident that barbarisms are a historical category. Many 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, many of which have gradually lost their foreign peculiarities, become more or less naturalized and have merged with the native English stock of words.
Foreign words in imaginative prose are used to create the effect of authenticity of the described locality, ethnic group, professional/social status of characters, i.e. foreign words fulfill the functions of characterization and emphasis.
The action of Hemingway’s story The Old Man and the Sea takes place in Cuba. All the characters in the book are Spanish-speaking, and Hemingway wants very much to convey the authenticity of Spanish speech in the monologues and dialogues of his characters. To achieve the effect he uses Spanish words.
They are mainly used by the main hero Santiago, in his speech at sea when referring to the fish, the sharks, the dolphins, the weather, and to his state. He also uses them on land when speaking with Manolin about baseball. So there are actually two topics which interest him, and, correspondingly, all Spanish words can be divided into two semantic groups: sea-oriented and sports-oriented. The first are mostly Spanish names for fishes, fishing equipment, and weather conditions. The second group contains Spanish names of baseball teams, games, and baseballers.
The first group is much larger, it consists of 10 lexemes, used 23 times. Their list, translation and frequency are presented in the table.
Table 1. The sea – oriented semantic group
| N | Spanish Lexeme | English translation | Fa |
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