현대 영어에 나타난 차용어의 분포적 특성

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze French loanwords that have come into the English language since Middle English period. Influences of the Norman Conquest and Restoration upon the English language were so vast that French prevailed over every aspect of life including politics, administration, culture, religion, and the upper classes’ interests and entertainments. By comparing Washington’s inaugural address with Clinton’s, we can assume that French loanwords are less used in the twentieth century English than in the eighteenth century English. The results are as follows: over 46.0% of the total 511 words in Washington’s address and over 36.6% of the total 636 words in Clinton’s address were of French origin. Interestingly, content words such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives were borrowed much more than function words such as pronouns, conjunctions, numerals and prepositions. From this analysis we may conclude that native resources such as English pronouns, conjunctions, numerals and prepositions and the like give a fundamental frame in English vocabulary while loanwords consist of content words such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.