ANGLICISMS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

ABSTRACT

In this study we have examined the reasons for the appearance and usage of Anglicisms in the modern Russian language and their influence on Russian speech.

Keywords: borrowings, loan words, Anglicisms, language.

The process of borrowing words from English into Russian began around the beginning of the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of the development of trade and economic relations between the Russian Empire and the English-speaking countries. However, the influx of loanwords into the Russian vocabulary remained rather weak until the 1990s of the 20th century. In this period English loanwords entered our language like a great river, bringing strong changes in everyday speech of Russian-speaking population. Such striking changes could not be unnoticed. The question of the possible harm of loanwords became extremely relevant and remains so today. About 3/4 of all borrowings in Russian at the end of the 20th century were Anglo-Americanisms, therefore linguists called this proses “Americanisation”. “Americanisation” is still going on nowadays, so many people are concerned about the reasons why this process is happening and what impact it has on our language. In the last couple of years, the issue of the foreign words usage in Russian speech has been particularly acute due to the situation in Russia and in the world.

To begin with, we should look into the reasons for the appearance of such a large number of borrowings from English language in recent decades. First of all, it should be noted that in the past, borrowings from other languages came into the Russian language as well. Our language is, for example, full of words borrowed from French, which is due to the incredible popularity of this language in the Russian Empire and in the world in the 18th and 19th centuries. The same is true when it comes to English: it has been the language of international communication since the 16-17th century, it is established as an official language in many countries and is spoken by scientists, politicians and artists all over the world. This leads to new, previously unknown terms and concepts appearing more often in English.

Such an abrupt inflow of words from the abroad can also be explained. The Russian Empire has always been a rather self-sufficient and aloof country. The closed status of the USSR is also known by the world. That is why a new flow of words entered our language in the 90s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Russia became a new, young and open country.

Finally, the emergence of a significant number of Anglicisms in the Russian language is due to large-scale changes in the social, scientific and technical environment. The rise of the Internet, the development of the global market, the economy and information technologies, involvement in international festivals and competitions have all resulted with the introduction of many new words into the Russian language. Business, trade and cultural contacts and foreign tourism have developed. There is a growing need for communication with non-Russian-speaking people. This is the main condition both for borrowing of the vocabulary from these languages, and for introducing native speakers to international terminology systems.

Generally speaking, the process of linguistic borrowing is inextricably linked to cultural contacts and other forms of communication between two multilingual societies.

The major reason for loaning words is the necessity of naming objects and means. There are also such reasons for borrowing as:

• clarification or specification of an existing term;
• lack of proper names in the receptor language. Nearly 15% of new Anglicisms are loaned for this reason;
• there were cases of borrowed words being used to denote concepts new to the receptor language and non-existent in the source language. For example, the Anglicism “шоп-тур”, it is easily understood by Russian people, but it has no equivalent in English, so it cannot be called Anglicism in the full sense of the word.

In order to explore the reasons for borrowing even further and to assess the reasonableness of the phenomenon, we consider that it is necessary to look at the types of loanwords.

Researchers classify foreign borrowings in different ways. We have studied several and selected the most universal and appropriate groups.

The following categories of foreign loanwords can be distinguished:

1. Direct borrowing - the type as well as the meaning of the word is barely modified by borrowing. For example, “бренд” (brand), “косплей” (cosplay).

This way words formed in such way are similar to the native Russians. Some borrowed words are so rooted in the language that it takes careful research to establish that they were taken from English. For example, “роль” (role), “суп” (soup), “свитер” (sweater).

2. Hybrids - these words are formed by attaching a Russian suffix, prefix or ending to a foreign root. In this case, the meaning of the foreign word-source changes few value, for example, “креативный” (creative), “лайкать” (like), “кэнселлить” (cancel), “хейтить” (hate).

3. Calcs - words and expressions, created according to the pattern of a foreign word or phrase. As an example, English noun “self-service” in Russian has the form “самообслуживание”, noun “safe” – “сейф”. Ways of calcs creating may be different: lexical, word-formatting, phraseological, semantic, and others. Lexic method occurs as a result of an alphabetic translation into Russian of a foreign word in parts. For example, “sky-scraper” – “небоскреб”. Semantic calques are the words, which, under the influence of a foreign language, take on an additional meaning beyond their primary meaning. As an example, word “картина” has acquired the meaning “movie” just like the English word “picture”.

4. Exotisms - words that name things and phenomena that are not inherent in Russian culture or were not previously inherent in it, consequently having no counterpart in the Russian language. For example, “ланч” (lunch), “ковбой” (cowboy), “кофе-брейк” (coffee break), “гамбургер” (hamburger).

5. Foreign inclusions - are short words that have a linguistic counterpart but are stylistically slightly different from it. Usually used to add expression to speech For example, “окей” (OK), “вау” (wow), “упс” (oops), “бай” (bay), “хай” (hi).

Thus, we have looked at the types and causes of word borrowing and have seen that it is always a necessary process, which is difficult to do without when naming new things, concepts and phenomena.

Now, let's go back to the history of the language. As we already said, the vocabulary of the Russian language has been changing and supplemented from different languages for many centuries. A great amount of words came into the language, but not all of them stayed. Nowadays we do not use words such as “проприетер” (владелец), “аманта” (возлюбленная), “шлафрок” (халат), “баталья” (сражение) and many others, which were used in the Russian language a few centuries ago. They have become obsolete and fallen out of use in Russian speech. The language has purged itself of unnecessary lexical units, retaining its fullness and beauty. Now we do not even remember that our ancestors once actively used such words.

To summarize, in the course of this research work we have identified the reasons for the appearance of English borrowings in Russian, analyzed theoretical materials related to borrowings, and considered the ways of formation of Anglicisms. All this work done allowed us to draw certain conclusions on the topic of our study.

 In general, the process of borrowing should not be seen as a mainly negative phenomenon. It is one of the ways of language development and enrichment of its vocabulary. Language is a living system. It is constantly evolving, accepting and creating new words, which it can later be cleared of when they are no longer needed. Such a conclusion can be made after studying the reasons for the loaning of words and the history of the Russian language development.

Speaking specifically about Anglicisms, they are unavoidable in the Russian language nowadays. Every day brings us new notions, phenomena, tools, and every term requires a clear and capacious name. Most often, it already exists in English, the language of international communication. Over time, words either adapt organically into the life of the Russian language, or leave it painlessly. Thus, foreign borrowings are unable to harm the identity, beauty and power of Russian language.

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