D) Barbarisms and Foreignisms
In the vocabulary of the English language there is a considerable layer of words called^ a r b a r i s т s. These are words of foreign origin which have not entirely been assimilated into the English language. They bear the appearance of a borrowing and are felt as something alien to the native tongueD The role foreign borrowings played in the development of the English literary language is well known, and the great majority of these borrowed words now form part of the rank and file of the English vocabulary. It is the science of linguistics, in particular its branch etymology, that reveals the foreign nature of this or that word. But most of what were formerly foreign borrowings are now, from a purely stylistic position, not regarded as foreign. But still there are some words which retain their foreign appearance to a greater or lesser degree. These words, which are called barbarisms, are, like archaisms, also 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. 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. 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 or their stylistic value. 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 fulfil a terminological function. Therefore, though they still retain their
indefinite time, the barbarism loses its formal character and re-establishes its etymological meaning. Consequently, here again we see the clearly cut twofold application of the language unit, the indispensable requirement for a stylistic device.
e) Literary Coinages (Including Nonce-Words)
Cjhere is a term in linguistics which by its very nature is ambiguous and that is the term neologism. In dictionaries it is generally defined as 'a new word or a new meaning for an established word^; Everything in this definition is vague. How long should words or their meanings be regarded as new? Which words of those that appear as new in the language, say, during the life-time of one generation, can be regarded as established? It is suggestive that the latest editions of certain dictionaries avoid the use of the stylistic notation "neologism" apparently because of its ambiguous character. If a word is fixed in a dictionary and provided that the dictionary is reliable, it ceases to be a neologism. If a new meaning is recognized as an element in the semantic structure of a lexical unit, it ceases to be new. However, if we wish to divide the word-stock of a language into chronological periods, we can conventionally mark off a period which might be called new.
Every period in the development of a language produces an enormous number of new words or new meanings of established words. Most of them do not live long. They are not meant to live long. They are, as it were, coined for use at the moment of speech, and therefore possess a peculiar property — that of temporariness. The given word or meaning holds only in the given context and is meant only to "serve the occasion."
However, such is the power of the written language that a word or a meaning used only to serve the occasion, when once fixed in writing, may become part and parcel of the general vocabulary irrespective of the quality of the word. That's why the introduction of new words by men-of-letters is pregnant with unforeseen consequences: their new coinages may replace old words and become established in the language as synonyms and later as substitutes for the old words.
In this connection it might be noted that such words as субъект, объект and their derivatives as well as тип, прогресс, пролетариат and others introduced into the literary Russian language by V. G. Belinsky have become legitimate Russian words firmly established in the word-stock of the Russian language and are no longer felt to be alien to the literary language as they were in the nineteenth century.
The coining of new words generally arises first of all with the need to designate new concepts resulting from the development of science and also with the need to express nuances of meaning called forth by a deeper understanding of the nature of the phenomenon in question. It may also be the result of a search for a more economical, brief and compact form of utterance which proves to be a more expressive means of communicating the idea.
The first type of newly coined words, i. e. those which designate newborn concepts, may be named terminological coinages. The
Another definition of slang which is worth quoting is one made by Eric Partridge, the eminent student of the non-literary language.
( "Slang is much rather a spoken than a literary language. It originates, nearly always, in speech. To coin a term on a written page is almost inevitably to brand it as a neologism which will either be accepted or become a nonce-word (or phrase), but, except in the rarest instances, that term will not be slang." a
In most of the dictionaries st. (slang) is used as convenient stylistic notation for a word or a phrase that cannot be specified more exactly. The obscure etymology of the term itself affects its use as a stylistic notation. Whenever the notation appears in a dictionary it may serve as an indication that the unit presented is non-literary, but not pinpointed. That is the reason why the various dictionaries disagree in the use of this term when applied as a stylistic notation. 3
1 Greenough and Kitteridge. Words and their Ways in English Spee:h. Mi '., 1929,
p. 55.
2 Partridge, Eric. Slang Today and Yesterday. Ldn, 1935, p. 33,
8 See: Гальперин И. Р. О термине «слэнг». ВЯ, 1956, № 6,
ognized term for a group of words that exists in almost every language and whose aim is to preserve secrecy within one or another social group. (^Jargonisms are generally old words with entirely new meanings imposed on them. The traditional meaning of the words is immaterial, only the new, improvised meaning is of importance) Most of the jargonisms of any language, and of the English language too, are absolutely incomprehensible to those outside the social group which has invented them. They may be defined as a code within a code, that is special meanings of words that are imposed on the recognized code—the dictionary meaning of the words.
Thus the word grease means 'money'; loaf means 'head'; a tiger hunter is 'a gambler'; a lexer is 'a student preparing for a law course'.
Jargonisms are social in character. They are not icgional. In Britain and in the US almost any social group of people has its own jargon. The following jargons are well known in the English language: the jargon of thieves and vagabonds, generally known as cant; the jargon of jazz people; the jargon of the army, known as military slang; the jargon of sportsmen, and many others.
The various jargons (which in fact are nothing but a definite group of words) remain a foreign language to the outsiders of any particular social group. It is interesting in connection with this to quote a stanza from "Don Juan" by Byron where the poet himself finds it necessary to comment on the jargonisms he has used for definite stylistic purposes.
"He from the world had cut off a great man,
Who in his time had made heroic bustle. Who in a row like Tom could lead the van,
Booze in the ken1, or at the spellken2 hustle? Who queer a flat3? Who (spite of Bow street's ban)
On the high toby-spice4 so flash the muzzle? Who on a lark5, with black-eyed Sal (his blowing)6
So prime, so swell7, so nutty8, and so knowing?"
The explanation of the words used here was made by Byron's editor because they were all jargonisms in Byron's time and no one wculd understand their meaning unless they were explained in normal English.
Byron wrote the following ironic comment to this stanza:
"The advance of science and of language has rendered it unnecessary to translate the above good and true English, spoken in its original purity by the select nobility and their patrons. The following is a stanza of a song which was very popular, at least in my early • days:—
1 ken = a house which harbours thieves
2 spellken = a play-house or theatre
3 to queer a flat = to puzzle a silly fellow
4 to flash the muzzle (gun) on the high toby-spice = to rob on horse back
5 a lark = fun or sport of any kind
6 a blowing = a girl
7 swell = gentlemanly
8 nutty = pleasing (to be nuts on = to be infatuated with)
С) Professionalisms
rofessionalisms, as the term itself signifies, are the words used in a definite trade, profession or calling by people connected by common interests both at work and at home. They commonly designate some working process or implement of labour. Professionalisms are correlated to terms. Terms, as has already been indicated, are coined to nominate new concepts that appear in the process of, and as a result of, technical progress and the development of science^)
Professional words name anew already-existing concepts, tools or instruments, and have the typical properties of a special code. The main feature of a professionalism is its technicality. Professionalisms are special words in the non-literary layer of the English vocabulary, whereas terms are a specialized group belonging to the literary layer of words. Terms, if they are connected with a field or branch of science or technique well-known to ordinary people, are easily decoded and enter the neutral stratum of the vocabulary. Professionalisms generally remain in circulation within a definite community, as they are linked to a common occupation and common social interests. The semantic structure of the term is usually transparent and is therefore easily understood. The semantic structure of a professionalism is often dimmed by the image on which the meaning of the professionalism is based, particularly when the features of the object in question reflect the process of the work, metaphorically or metonymically. Like terms, professionalisms do not allow any polysemy, they are monosemantic.
Here are some professionalisms used in different trades: tin-fish (=submarine); block-buster (=a bomb especially designed to destroy
1 Mcknight, G. H. Modern English in theMaking. Ldn, 1930, p. 556.
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