English Borrowings in the Russian Language A research work by Yuliya Vasilyeva and Aleksey Petrov

Russian people tend to use English more often than any other foreign words. That’s why there are very many English borrowings in the Russian language. The English language as means of international communication has greater influence on the Russian language. So I’d like to investigate some English borrowings in the Russian language.

The aim of my research work is to find out the most famous and popular English borrowings in the Russian language, reasons for their appearance. The methods of researching are studying special literature and questioning friends, classmates, other schoolchildren and adults. In my opinion the research work in this sphere will be actual not only for me but for other people too.

To achieve my goal I put such tasks: 1. To study literature on this theme. 2. To find out the reasons of borrowings from the English language. 3. To extend the knowledge of the English language. 4. To classify English borrowings. 5. To make opinion poll. 6. To make a dictionary of frequently using borrowings.

Ways of formation 1)Direct borrowings. These borrowings have the same meaning in both languages. For instance: уик-энд(weekend) - days off - выходные; блэк (black) – Negro - негр; мани(money) – currency - деньги.

2. Hybrids. Such borrowings are formed with the help of different Russian suffixes and prefixes. But in this case the meaning of the borrowed word changes a little. аскать ( to ask - просить), бузить ( busy – беспокойный, суетливый).

3. Loan-translation. Such borrowings have the same writing and analogical pronunciation. For instance меню, пароль, диск, вирус, клуб, саркофаг.

4.Exotic borrowings. Exotic borrowings are such kind of borrowings which have no Russian synonyms and have the same pronunciation : чипсы ( chips), хот-дог (hot-dog ), чизбургер ( cheeseburger).

5. Composed borrowings. Composed borrowings consist of two English words. For instance: секонд-хенд (second-hand) – магазин, торгующий одеждой, бывшей в употреблении; видео-салон(videosalon) - комната для просмотра фильмов.

So we can see, that the borrowed words can be formed in different ways. We also have done an opinion poll among the pupils of the 9-th and 11-th forms. We’d like to know if they use borrowed words and why. If they use then what words they use. We found out that 72% of teenagers use borrowings, but only 24% know their exact meaning and they know why they use this or that word.

An opinion poll among the pupils of the 9-th and 11-th forms (%)

We also have done a research according to the use of English borrowings in different spheres. 6,7% of borrowings are used by an authority and politics. The same amount is used in sports, music, cinema and fashion. 20,7% of borrowings are used in economics, but most of borrowings are used by mass media.

The use of English borrowings in different spheres.

Frequently used borrowed English words Ася-ICQ-программа, позволяющая людям общаться в интернете в режиме он-лайн; Геймер-gamer-игрок Коммент-comment-комментарий Мэйк-ап-make-up-макияж Он-лайн-прямой эфир Пипл-people- люди, народ Смайлы-smile-улыбочки Уикенд-weekend-выходной Универ-university- университет Форева-forever- навсегда Хай-hi- привет Чат-chat- беседа с несколькими людьми одновременно Шопинг-shopping- делать покупки Шоу-show- шоу, зрелищное представление Диск-disk-диск Интернет-the Internet-глобальная сеть Компьютер-computer-компьютер Плиз-please-пожалуйста Постер-poster- плакат Сити-city- город Супер-super-самый Хэллоу-hello-привет Хэппи-энд-happy-end-счастливый конец

Conclusion So we come to the conclusion that the most of the English borrowings appeared in the Russian language at the end of the twentieth century, because it was the age of scientific revolution, when new objects, notions, phenomena came into use. (Notebook, organizer, scanner). On the one hand it is the necessity; on the other hand we lose our uniqueness. Some people say that borrowings clutter up languages, others think just on the contrary. As for me I share the opinion that they enrich our speech, raise our culture. Knowledge of foreign words broadens the mind; expands the horizon, helps people to understand the world better.