Loanwords

Did you know that around 80% of the English language consists of words borrowed from other languages?

It might surprise you that English has been borrowing words from other languages since it was first developed. These words are referred to as loanwords. Let's look at a definition:

Loanwords Definition

Loanwords are words taken from one language and then incorporated into another language's vocabulary. These words often aren't translated from the original language and remain the same (although they may be altered slightly, e.g., a difference in spelling/pronunciation).

Fig. 1 - Around 60% of all English words have Greek or Latin roots.

It is also important to note that although the word 'loan' itself could imply that these words will be given back or are temporary, they are not. Once a loanword has been integrated into the English vocabulary, it is unlikely this will change!

Why Do We Have Loanwords?

Loanwords exist as a result of different countries or communities of people coming into contact with other languages and cultures. This often happens due to migration and/or trade between countries.

Certain languages may have words for things, feelings, or experiences that others don't have, so these words get borrowed and integrated into new languages and cultures. Or, there may already be an existing word in one language, but another word from a different language could be more specific, have a slightly different meaning or perspective, or be easier/catchier to pronounce.

Loanwords Example

Let's begin by looking at some examples of loanwords that were taken directly from other languages and have retained the original spelling:

Now let's take a look at some loanwords that differ slightly from the original root words they were borrowed from:

Greek Loanwords in English

Below are some loanwords from Greek and their etymologies:

• Idol - from Greek εἰδōλον (eidōlon), which stemmed from εἰδος (eidos)

• Grammar - from Greek γραμματικὴ τέχνη (grammatikḕ téchnē), which stemmed from γράμμα (grámma)

• Dialogue - from Greek διάλογος (dialogos), which stemmed from διά (dia) and λόγος (logos)

• Anonymous - from Greek ᾰ̓νώνῠμος (anōnumos), which stemmed from ᾰ̓ν (an) and ὄνῠμᾰ (onuma)

German Loanwords in English

English is a Germanic language, so shares similarities with German and other languages in the Indo-European language family, such as Dutch and Afrikaans (in case you weren't aware, Afrikaans derives from Dutch and is one of the official languages of South Africa). The three most widely spoken Germanic languages are English, German and Dutch. Below are some loanwords from German without changes in spelling:

• Hamster

• Rucksack

• Angst

• Blitz

• Kindergarten

Fig. 2 - Kindergarten is a combination of 'kinder' and 'garten', together meaning 'garden of children'

Here are some loanwords from German that have slightly different spellings:

• Pretzel - from German ‘brezel’
• Noodle - from German 'nudel'
• Abseil - from German ‘abseilen’
• Delicatessen - from German ‘delikatessen’

How many of those words did you know were borrowed from German?

Loanwords List

Below is a list of more loanwords from other languages. How many of the following did you already know were loan words?

1. Karaoke - from Japanese カラオケ (karaoke). This stemmed from 空 (kara) and オーケストラ (ōkesutora), meaning 'empty orchestra.'

2. Shampoo - from Hindi चाँपो (shapo) which stemmed from the Sanskrit root word चपति (capati).

3. Lemon - from Arabic لَيْمُون (laymūn), which is derived from Persian لیمو (limu).

4. Aardvark - from Afrikaans 'aarde' and 'vark', meaning 'earth pig.'

5. Orangutan - from Malay' orang' (meaning person) and 'hutan' (meaning forest).

Loanwords Borrowed From English

So now you know some loanwords that were taken from other languages and incorporated into English... but what about English words that other languages have borrowed?

Many languages borrow words from English and combine them with their own languages in some way. For example: