Internationalism (linguistics)

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In linguistics an internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in several languages with the same or at least similar meaning and etymology. These words exist in "several different languages as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from the ultimate source" (I.V.Arnold). Pronunciation and orthography are similar so that the word is understandable between the different languages. It is debated how many languages are required so that a word is an internationalism. Note that this term is not very common in English linguistics, although English has contributed a considerable number of words to world languages, e.g. the sport terms: football, baseball, cricket, golf.

Many European internationalisms originate in Latin or in Greek, but there are also a lot of European internationalisms from other languages (also from non-European languages).

Internationalisms may spread in different ways. They often spread together with the innovations they designate. Accordingly, there are semantic fields of internationalisms that are dominated by specific languages, e.g. the computing vocabulary which is mainly English with internationalisms such as computer, disk, and spam. New inventions, political institutions, foodstuffs, leisure activities, science, and technological advances have all generated new lexemes and continue to do so: bionics, cybernetics, gene, coffee, chocolate, etc.

Some internationalisms are spread by speakers of the same language living in different geographical regions. For example, some internationalisms from the English of India are bungalow, jute, khaki, mango, pyjamas, and sari.

Internationalisms that occur in many languages are usually eligible to be included in Interlingua. Early internationalisms, such as those from French and German, tend to be part of Interlingua's basic vocabulary. Later internationalisms, often from English and, to a lesser extent, Japanese, tend to be Interlingua loanwords.

[edit] Samples

[edit] Literature

Peter Braun, Burkhard Schaeder, Johannes Volmert (eds.): Internationalismen II. Studien zur interlingualen Lexikologie und Lexikographie (Reihe Germanistische Linguistik. Band 246), Tübingen: Niemeyer 2003, ISBN 3-484-31246-7.