Internationalism (linguistics)

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In linguistics, an internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in several languages (that is, translingually) 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".^[1] Pronunciation and orthography are similar so that the word is understandable between the different languages.

It is debated how many languages are required for a word to be considered an internationalism.^[

International scientific vocabulary is a class of terms that contains many internationalisms. For some of them it is known which modern language used them first, whereas for others it is not traceable, but the chronologic sequence is usually of limited practical importance anyway, as almost immediately after their origination they appeared in multiple languages.

Origins

European internationalisms originate primarily from Latin or Greek, but from other languages as well.^[3] However, due to English being the main lingua franca of the Western world, an increasing number of internationalisms originate from English. Many non-European words have also become international.

Diffusion

Internationalisms often spread together with the innovations they designate. Accordingly, there are

Due to their widespread use, internationalisms are often loaned into international auxiliary languages. Many constructed IALs borrow vocabulary that is already known by learners, so that they are as easy as possible to learn.

Internationalisms that occur in many languages are usually

See also

• International scientific vocabulary
• Interlingua
• Hybrid word
• Classical compound
• Greek and Latin roots in English
• Phono-semantic matching

Further reading

• 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
  .