Sylvester, L.M., Tiddeman, M. and Ingham, R. 2022. Lexical Borrowing in the Middle English period: A multi-domain analysis of semantic outcomes. English Language and Linguistics. 26 (2), pp. 237-261. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1360674321000113
| Title | Lexical Borrowing in the Middle English period: A multi-domain analysis of semantic outcomes |
|---|---|
| Type | Journal article |
| Authors | Sylvester, L.M., Tiddeman, M. and Ingham, R. |
| Abstract | The Middle English period is well known as one of widespread lexical borrowing from French and Latin, and scholarly accounts traditionally assume that this influx of loanwords caused many native terms to shift in sense or to drop out of use entirely. The study analyses an extensive dataset, tracking patterns in lexical retention, replacement and semantic change, and comparing long-term outcomes for both native and non-native words. Our results challenge the conventional view of competition between existing terms and foreign incomers. They show that there were far fewer instances of relexification, and far more of synonymy, during the Middle English period than might have been expected. When retention rates for words first attested between 1100-1500 are compared, it is loanwords, not native terms, which are more likely to become obsolete at any point up to the nineteenth century. Furthermore, proportions of outcomes involving narrowing and broadening (often considered common outcomes following the arrival of a co-hyponym in a semantic space) were low in the Middle English period, regardless of language of origin. |
| Keywords | lexical borrowing |
| lexical replacement | |
| semantic shift | |
| co-hyponyms | |
| Journal | English Language and Linguistics |
| Journal citation | 26 (2), pp. 237-261 |
| ISSN | 1360-6743 |
| 1469-4379 | |
| Year | 2022 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Accepted author manuscript | License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1017/S1360674321000113 |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/lexical-borrowing-in-the-middle-english-period-a-multidomain-analysis-of-semantic-outcomes/B83A68089915746EC1B613C20761E985 |
| Publication dates | |
| Published online | 11 Jun 2021 |
| Published in print | Jun 2022 |
| Funder | Leverhulme Trust |