# Foreign words in the English language. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232 "2003-09-12T16:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/1 "2003-09-12T16:55:00Z")
Is there a correct term for foreign words or phrases which have nade their way into English? I thought about assimilation, but that has a different meaning. Anyone have an ad hoc explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/2 "2003-09-12T17:20:20Z")
I don’t think there is a term for the worde themselves. Dictionaries seem to refer to the words being “absorbed” into English, or even “naturalised”. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/3 "2003-09-12T17:23:38Z")
“loan word” is the linguistic term for the actual words, themselves. ---
**Author:** ![jormundgondir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@jormundgondir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jormundgondir)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/4 "2003-09-12T21:29:40Z")
what dogface said, optionally called “borrowed words.” ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/5 "2003-09-12T22:17:01Z")
When the foreign word has been included in English usage for so long as to be considered an English word, is it not called a cognate? Or is there some other qualifier for that? ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/6 "2003-09-12T22:46:49Z")
A cognate is a word with a “cousin” in another language…such as English “make” and German “machen” - there is no borrowing, both just have a common ancestor. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/7 "2003-09-12T23:05:48Z")
There are different classifications of cognates as well, though I can’t remember the exact terms just now. A true cognate (I believe) is identical in spelled identically in two separate languages, and means the same thing. Like “color” in Spanish and English. A false cognate is something that is spelled the same in two languages but means something completely different. “Quince” means fifteen in Spanish, but in English is a type of fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/8 "2003-09-12T23:06:19Z")
There are different classifications of cognates as well, though I can’t remember the exact terms just now. A true cognate (I believe) is spelled identically in two separate languages, and means the same thing. Like “color” in Spanish and English. A false cognate is something that is spelled the same in two languages but means something completely different. “Quince” means fifteen in Spanish, but in English is a type of fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/9 "2003-09-12T23:22:29Z")
**Kizarvexius** : Very good, but spelling doesn’t have to be exact. The only requirement is for the spelling and pronunciation to be similar, and for the meaning to be the same. For example, the German Vater means the same as the English father and the Dutch vader. All of those are cognates of each other due to their similarity in aspect and exact assonance in meaning. Looking for cognates is a good way to find related languages. For example, German and English share a large amount of cognates. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that German and English share a common ancestry. This is, in fact, the case. French and Basque share no cognates (cognates being distinct from loanwords in that cognates are not borrowed into an existing language, but grow up as an ancestral part of a language). Therefore, French and Basque do not share an ancestry. As a point of fact, it is a matter of research where Basque’s ancestry actually lies. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/10 "2003-09-13T00:17:59Z")
Actually spelling doesn’t have much to do with cognates. Cognates _sound_ alike and have related meanings. After all, Russian and English have cognates, yet they have different alphabets. So spelling can’t really be a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/11 "2003-09-13T00:22:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kizarvexius \* > \*\*A false cognate is something that is spelled the same in two languages but means something completely different. “Quince” means fifteen in Spanish, but in English is a type of fruit. \*\* Neato. I’d always be taught (or I learned?) the term _faux amis_, which French is ironic considering we’re trying to talk about borrowed words into English. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/12 "2003-09-13T02:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balthisar \* > \*\*Neato. I’d always be taught (or I learned?) the term _faux amis_, which French is ironic considering we’re trying to talk about borrowed words into English. \*\* Interesting. I’ve heard false cognates being called false friends, but I’ve never imagined the phrase would carry over into French. ---
**Author:** ![Hanayatori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8baadc/32.png) [@Hanayatori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanayatori)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/13 "2003-09-13T02:52:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hazel-rah \* > \*\*Actually spelling doesn’t have much to do with cognates. Cognates _sound_ alike and have related meanings. After all, Russian and English have cognates, yet they have different alphabets. So spelling can’t really be a factor. \*\* Cognates don’t even have to sound alike. They need only to be descended from the same ancestral word. For example, the English “father” is cognate to the Armenian “hayr”; both are descended from Proto-Indo-European “p@ter”. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/14 "2003-09-13T03:03:28Z")
It’s “_Gairaigo_.” Hey, why not? A loanword for a loanword… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/15 "2003-09-13T11:39:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*It’s “_Gairaigo_.” > > Hey, why not? A loanword for a loanword… > > 😃 \*\* If you want to be absolutely correct, **Ranchoth** , that would be **"a loanword for ‘loanword’ "** , since _gairaigo_ means “loanword” in Japanese. (A combination of three characters which literally mean: “foreign”,“come”,“word”.) I’ve always disliked “loanword” and “borrowed word”… sounds like we have to give it back some day… So, _gairaigo_ it is!:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/16 "2003-09-14T15:35:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*Interesting. I’ve heard false cognates being called false friends, but I’ve never imagined the phrase would carry over into French. \*\* …and then back into English if that’s the route! I don’t speak French at all… ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-in-the-english-language/201232/17 "2003-09-14T15:38:19Z")
All this raises a question, at what point does a word stop being “foreign” and become a “loan word”?