Every natural language in the course of its development resorts to borrowing words from other languages. Such adoption is the result of relationships and contacts between different peoples and states. The reason for borrowing foreign vocabulary is due to the lack of corresponding concepts in the vocabulary of some peoples.
Today, English is an international means of communication. This is quite understandable, because the English-speaking world is ahead of other societies in all areas of development. English through the Internet, in particular social networks, helps people from different countries and cultures to interact.
Interest in this language arose in connection with the popularization of pop culture. Passion for American films, music of various directions and genres led to the unhindered introduction of anglicisms into the Russian language. New words began to be used by the majority of the population, regardless of gender and social status. English terms are rapidly spreading around the world. In the modern Russian literary language, theyoccupy a whole layer, but do not exceed 10% of the total vocabulary.
History of Anglicisms
The history of borrowings from English into Russian dates back to the end of the 16th century, and this process has not stopped until now. There are 5 main stages in the development of English-Russian language interaction. They are characterized both by chronology and by semantics.
The history of Anglicisms in Russian begins with the anchoring of the ship of the English King Edward VI in the harbor of St. Nicholas, at the mouth of the Northern Dvina, on August 24, 1505. The British were looking for a market, so the two countries developed strong and fairly regular ties. Language contacts were characterized by diplomatic and trade relations. At that time, the designations of measures, weights, monetary units, forms of circulation and the names of titles (pound, shilling, mister, sir) were borrowed.
II stage is usually called the Petrine era. Thanks to the reforms of Peter I, ties with many European states took root, culture, education, and the development of maritime and military affairs began to actively spread. At this stage, 3,000 words of foreign origin penetrated into the Russian language. Among them, there were about 300 Anglicisms. Basically, words were borrowed that related to maritime and military affairs (barge, emergency call), everyday vocabulary (pudding, punch, flannel), as well as to the areas of trade, art, literature, science and technology. Many adopted vocabulary denoted phenomena and processes previously unknown to Russians.
III stage arose due to the intensification of Anglo-Russian relations at the end of the 18th century in connection with the increase in the prestige of England throughout the world. Sports and technical terms (sports, football, hockey, rail), vocabulary from the sphere of public relations, politics and economics (department, elevator, square, jacket, trolleybus) have penetrated into the language. The end of the stage is considered to be the middle of the 19th century.
IV stage is characterized by a deep acquaintance of Russians with England and America, a point of contact in the field of literature and art. A large number of anglicisms have penetrated into the language in the following thematic groups: history, religion, art, sports, domestic and socio-political spheres.
V stage of borrowings (the end of the 20th century – today). Various groups of terms have penetrated into the vocabulary of Russian people: business (laptop, badge, timer, organizer), cosmetic (concealer, make-up, lifting cream), names of dishes (hamburger, cheeseburger).
Today, many popular loanwords go beyond literature and professional communication. The terms used by the media and advertising are often incomprehensible to a simple layman and are designed for elementary knowledge of the English language. However, anglicism in Russian is a normal phenomenon, and in some historical periods even necessary.
Reasons for the appearance of Anglicisms in Russian
At the beginning of the 20th century, many linguists studied the reasons for the penetration of foreign vocabulary into the language. Any anglicism in Russian, according to P. Krysin, appears for the following reasons:
1. The need to name a new phenomenon orthing.
2. The need to distinguish between fairly close, but still different concepts.
3. The tendency to designate a whole object with one concept, rather than several combined words.
4. The need for separation of concepts for certain purposes or areas.
5. Relevance, prestige, expressiveness of a foreign concept.
The reasons for borrowing anglicisms in modern Russian are actually much more extensive. One of them is that the number of Russian people who speak English has increased. At the same time, the use of foreign vocabulary by authoritative personalities and popular programs also gave a powerful impetus to the development of this process.
Entry of anglicisms
As it turned out, the borrowing of foreign vocabulary is the main way to enrich the language, the reason for its development and functioning. V. M. Aristova in her work considered 3 stages of the introduction of English vocabulary into the Russian language:
- Infiltration. At this stage, the borrowed word only enters the vocabulary and adapts to the norms of the Russian language.
- Assimilation. This stage is characterized by the action of folk etymology, that is, when a word that is incomprehensible in content is filled with a concept that sounds close or similar in meaning.
- Rooting. At the last stage, anglicism in the Russian language is fully adapted and is already actively used. The new concept acquires different spheres of meaning, an abbreviation and cognate words appear.
Assimilation of anglicisms in Russian
New words are gradually adjusted to the system of the language as a whole. This process is called assimilation, that is, assimilation. It is necessary to study and analyze borrowings in order to fully monitor the volume of new vocabulary and the process of its adaptation.
Anglicisms according to the degree of assimilation in the Russian language differ in fully assimilated, partially assimilated, non-assimilated.
Completely assimilated - words that meet all the norms of the language and are perceived by speakers as native, non-borrowed words (sports, humor, film, detective).
Partly assimilated - concepts that remain English in their spelling and pronunciation. Usually such words exist in the language not so long ago, so their assimilation process continues. This group is divided into learned grammatically and graphically (DJ, emoticon, fast food, freestyle).
Unassimilated - words and expressions that are not fully assimilated by the borrowing language. This group may also include concepts that reflect the life of the source country (dollar, lady, jazz).
Main problems of studying borrowings
The problem of introducing anglicisms is quite controversial. Some words are used only because they pay tribute to fashion. Others, on the contrary, have a positive impact, enriching and supplementing Russian speech.
The following problems of studying borrowings are distinguished:
- Detectionways to learn new words.
- Studying the formation of anglicisms.
- Identification of the reasons for their occurrence.
- Principles of the relationship of borrowings to different groups.
- Restriction on the use of borrowings.
When solving these problems, linguists seek to find out under what conditions Anglicisms are created, why they are created, who creates them and how adaptation takes place in Russian vocabulary.
Justified and unjustified anglicisms
For a long time there has been a struggle between supporters and opponents of Anglicisms. On the one hand, new concepts enrich and complement the Russian language. On the other hand, a threat to the native language is perceived as a danger to the nation. Linguists identified 2 groups of anglicisms: justified and unjustified.
To justified include concepts that did not previously exist in the Russian language. In this case, borrowing seems to fill in the gaps. For example: phone, chocolate, galoshes.
Unjustified borrowings include words that previously denoted the names of trademarks, and after penetration into the Russian language became common nouns. These anglicisms have a Russian version, but people use a foreign one, which undoubtedly worries linguists, since these words have derivatives. Examples are a jeep, a diaper, a copier.
Society's predisposition to borrowed words
In modern society, English terminology has become an indispensable part of the Russian language. The question of the attitude of Russian society to such borrowings is relevant.
Anglicism inThe Russian language is spreading at a global speed, it is used in all spheres of human activity, it serves for the accurate transmission of information. Some of these words are used in narrow circles of specialists, so a simple, unprepared person may not immediately understand the meaning.
The process of borrowing worries ordinary citizens as well. However, it is already irreversible, since anglicisms in the modern Russian language are increasingly penetrating the vocabulary, especially in the areas of economics, technology and politics.
English proficiency
As already mentioned, society quite often uses borrowed words in its speech. It is actively manifested in the younger generation. Many sociological studies have been conducted, on the basis of which the following conclusions can be drawn:
- Most of the young people surveyed believe that today it is impossible to do without anglicisms. At the same time, they clearly separate borrowed and native Russian words.
- In the activities of the younger generation, borrowing is manifested through the development of computer technology and technology, the use of the Internet and social networks.
- At the same time, young people often do not understand borrowed words used in the media, political and economic spheres.
- The meaning of unknown anglicisms is selected only at the associative level.
Examples of Anglicisms
Anglicisms inRussian, examples of which are presented in the table, are usually divided into certain areas for ease of study and analysis.
| Sphere | Examples of Anglicisms |
| Political | Administration, mayor, deputy |
| Economic | Broker, investment, dealer |
| Arts | Theatre, romance, opera |
| Scientific | Metal, magnet, galaxy |
| Sportswear | Sports, volleyball, fitness |
| Religious | Monastery, angel |
| Computer | Phone, display, website, file |
| Musical | Track, remake, soundtrack |
| Household | Bus, champion, jacket, sweater, peeling |
| Marine affairs | Navigator, barge |
| media | Content, sponsor, talk show, presentation |
The list of anglicisms in Russian is quite wide. All borrowings from English are presented in the dictionary of Dyakov A. I.
Feature of the use of anglicisms in the media
The media play an essential role in the dissemination of loanwords. Through the press, television and the Internet, vocabulary penetrates into people's daily speech.
All anglicisms used by the media can be divided into 3 groups:
- vocabulary that has synonyms in Russian (for example, the word monitoring, that is, observation);
- concepts that did not exist before (for example, football);
- vocabulary printed in English (e.g. Shop Go, Glance).
The influence of Anglicisms on the Russian language
Summing up all of the above, we can say with confidence that the influence of Anglicisms on the modern Russian language is both positive and negative. It is certainly necessary to introduce borrowings, but this should not be a clogging of the language. To do this, you should understand the meaning of anglicisms and apply only if necessary. Only then will the Russian language develop.
The study of borrowing processes is of theoretical and practical interest. Anglicisms in Russian, history and prospects, aspects of their use are very complex problems that require further study to develop recommendations.
