Etymological doublets. Sometimes the word is borrowed twice from the same language. As a result we have 2 different words with different spellings and meanings. But historically they come back to one and the same word. They are called etymological doublets.
The words shirt and skirt etymologically descend from the same root. Shirt is a native word, and skirt is a Scandinavian borrowing. Their phonemic shape is different, and yet there is a certain resemblance which reflects their common origin. Their meanings are also different but easily associated: they both denote articles of clothing. They may enter the vocabulary by different routes. Some of these pairs, like shirt and skirt, consist of a native word and a borrowed word: shrew, n. E. — screw, n. Sc.. Others are represented by two borrowings from different languages which are historically descended from the same root: senior Lat. — sir Fr., canal Lat. — channel Fr., captain Lat. — chieftan Fr.. Still others were borrowed from the same language twice, but in different periods: corpse [ko:ps] Norm. Fr. — corps [ko:] Par. Fr., travel Norm. Fr. — travail Par. Fr., cavalry Norm. Fr. — chivalry Par. Fr., gaol Norm. Fr. — jail Par. Fr.. Etymological triplets i. e. groups of three words of common root occur rarer, but here are at least two examples: hospital Lat. — hostel Norm. Fr. — hotel Par. Fr., to capture Lat. — to catch Norm. Fr. — to chase Par. Fr..
A doublet may also consist of a shortened word and the one from which it was derived see Ch. 6 for a description of shortening as a type of word-building: history — story, fantasy — fancy, fanatic — fan, defence — fence, courtesy — curtsy, shadow — shade. There also can be etymological triplets — 3 words in the language having the same source: hospital Lat. — hostel Norman — hotel Fr..
International words. It is often the case that a word is borrowed by several languages, and not just by one. Such words usually convey concepts which are significant in the field of communication. Many of them are of Latin and Greek origin. Most names of sciences are international, e. g. philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, linguistics, lexicology. There are also numerous terms of art: music, theatre, drama, tragedy, comedy, artist, primadonna. Political terms frequently occur in the international group of borrowings: politics, policy, revolution, progress, democracy, communism, anti-militarism. 20th c. scientific and technological advances brought a great number of new international words: atomic, antibiotic, radio, television, sputnik. The latter is a Russian borrowing, and it became an international word meaning a man-made satellite in 1961, immediately after the first space flight by Yury Gagarin. The English language also contributed a considerable number of international words to world languages, such as sports terms: football, volley-ball, baseball, hockey, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, etc. Fruits and foodstuffs imported from exotic countries often their names too and, being simultaneously imported to many countries, become international: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, coca-cola, banana, mango, avocado, grapefruit. International words are mainly borrowings.
