The influence of exotic languages on the English language

The influence of exotic languages on the English language
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Exotic languages and present day English
Languages typically undergo change as people interact and the exchange of influence results from contact with people speaking a different language. Even though, the role of exotic languages in influencing English, does not receive much attention, there is a need to highlight instances where there has been borrowing. The exotic languages have mostly influenced English lexicon (vocabulary), and in most cases the nouns are borrowed more than other parts of speech since they represent objects and things. In any case, nouns tend to be semantically and syntactically autonomous, making it easier for English borrowers to absorb new words in the language. In India, English is a second-language variety and loanwords from Indian languages are easily recognizable than Arabic ones. This was because there was less interaction between English Speakers with Arabic ones compared with Hindi and Dravidian languages. Even though, Spanish is a romance language, and interaction with Arabic has meant that English borrowed many Arabic words through Spanish, and Arabic speaking Moors were in the Iberian Peninsular form the 8th century to 15th century (Cheng Tsui, 2013). As such, Arabic loanwords tend to have been adopted for a longer time but are also anglicized unlike words from the Indian subcontinent used in English.
Influence of Sanskrit on English
As an ancient Indo- European language, Sanskrit has influenced various languages among them modern English. Some of the keywords borrowed from Sanskrit in English are based on Indian beliefs, values, and ideas. According to Lal (2001), Sanskrit words in English have mostly been adopted to reflect Indian philosophy, whereby in most times it is not possible to translate the words into English. At times, it is difficult to translate the words, and integration into English has made it possible for English speakers to express ideas more clearly. Even though, the European languages have had more influence on English because of the proximity to Europeans, the role of Sanskrit, in enriching the English language, should not be downplayed. There are various reasons as to why borrowings from Sanskrit do not seem to get much attention. There is ignorance on the influence of Sanskrit, and it may seem far-fetched that there are borrowed words, which connect Sanskrit and English. There is interest in Sanskrit as a classical language with attention focusing on literature, but there are few speakers of the language despite interest among literary figures.
One of the common English words borrowed from Sanskrit is Avatar meaning descent. The meaning is related to the belief in the incarnation among Hindus where Sanskrit left an indelible mark. As such, the deities are incarnated in Hinduism as avatars and this meaning is associated with also the personification of ideas and concepts (Lal, 2001). In modern English, this has extended to the representation of persons on the internet and computer games. Overall, the avatar has become associated with reincarnation the original meaning in Sanskrit as well as personification that has been used to represent abstract qualities in a p...