Understanding lexical borrowing

What is lexical borrowing?

When one language adopts words or phrases from another, this is called lexical borrowing. Throughout history, as multiple cultures and nationalities met due to trade, conquest, or technological advancements, languages have expanded their vocabularies to reflect this cultural exchange.

These borrowed words (oftentimes also known as loan words) may retain their original form and pronunciation or undergo slight modifications to fit the phonological and grammatical patterns of the borrowing language. It’s a fascinating linguistic phenomenon that directly links English to all of the other languages around the world, reflecting the dynamic nature of language evolution.

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Examples of lexical borrowing

English is one of the languages with the most examples of borrowed words and phrases—and you don’t have to look to Old English or the medieval period to find these examples. As recently as in the past two or three centuries, the English language has adopted these common words:

• Amateur: French
• Sushi: Japanese
• Waltz: German
• Robot: Czech
• Ukulele: Hawaiian
• Algebra: Arabic
• Kayak: Inuit, Central Yupik dialect
• Whisky: Scottish Gaelic

These words are directly related to their cultures. However, lexical borrowing can take on multiple forms: the above examples reflect direct borrowing, when a word is adopted without translation, retaining its original form. There is also loan translation, where a word’s meaning is adapted into the borrowing language. For example, the oldest form of the word “skyscraper” comes from the German “wolkenkratzer,” where “wolke” is cloud and “kratzer” means scraper.

Whether through Anglicized spellings or words derived from their original language’s literal meanings, loan translations comprise a key part of the English language. Here are some more examples of loan translations:

• Masterpiece: Dutch, “meesterstuk”
• Jungle: Hindi, “jangal”
• Noodle: German, “nudel”
• Brainwashing: Chinese, “xi nao”
• Flea market: French, “marché aux puces”
• Piano: Italian, “pianoforte”
• Wisdom tooth: Latin, “dens sapientiae”
• Tycoon: Japanese, “taikun”

The significance of lexical borrowing

Lexical borrowing serves as a bridge between languages, allowing for the infusion of new concepts, technologies, and cultural experiences into a language’s lexicon. Often, these examples of lexical borrowing fill in knowledge blanks in language: one language may possess words for which there are no equivalents in other languages like English.

The influx of borrowed words often reflects societal shifts, technological advancements, or cultural transformations. It illuminates the evolution of human civilization, offering linguistic snapshots of historical moments.

Lexical borrowing adds specificity to our worldview: you would be hard-pressed to mistake a ukulele for a guitar, or whisky for vodka, but without these words, these common objects would be much more difficult to describe. Common phrases we say every day such as “devil’s advocate” (Latin) and “it goes without saying” (French) have been adapted from their mother tongues.

Learn the intricacies of language and how to wield your words with style with writing tips that include how to write narrative poetry, understanding assonance, or more quirks of language such as portmanteaus.