German Loanwords in English: An Historical Dictionary

ISBN: 0521148375

Author: Pfeffer, J. Alan

Condition: New

German Loanwords in English: An Historical Dictionary is the largest and most up-to-date collection of English words and multi-word lexical units borrowed from the German, consisting of over 5500 items. Each entry gives the first recorded date of the German loan in English, the semantic area, variant forms, etymology, the first recorded date of the German etymon, a definition of the English word, a listing of the derivative forms, and often, grammatical comment. The sources for each entry are given along with a notation of the approximate degree of assimilation in English. All the included terms are separately listed by semantic field and chronologically, grouped within fifty-year periods, according to their first recorded usage in English. Almost a quarter of the book is devoted to nontechnical, discursive essays that provide considerable information not found in the dictionary entries.