An Analysis of French Borrowings at the Hypernymic and Hyponymic Levels of Middle English
This paper analyses a large dataset of Middle English vocabulary from nine domains which has been arranged into a semantic hierarchy. It focuses on the distribution of French-origin borrowings at various levels of technicality and at various levels of co-hyponymic density (i.e. the number of words p...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/lexis, |
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| Autors principals: | , , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicat: |
Lexis
2020
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| Matèries: | |
| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumari: | This paper analyses a large dataset of Middle English vocabulary from nine domains which has been arranged into a semantic hierarchy. It focuses on the distribution of French-origin borrowings at various levels of technicality and at various levels of co-hyponymic density (i.e. the number of words per sense). Overall, results show that French loanwords are concentrated in higher proportions at the hypernymic (or more general) level rather than at the hyponymic (or more technical) level. These findings run counter to the orthodox view that borrowings are used to fill lexical gaps for new technical terms in a semantic field. |
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