I hadn't planned to enter this discussion and steal Shallowford's thunder, but I don't want curiosity to kill the StarKat.
I haven't read the book Shallowford referred to, and I don't know whether the examples I am going to present are ones mentioned in that book, but here are a few examples that might qualify for what Shallowford described:
The English word "shirt" has come down to us from Old English, but the etymologically related word "skirt" was borrowed into Middle English from Old Norse. (The less common term "kirtle" is also related to the other two terms.)
"Poke" meaning a bag or a sack (as in the saying "to buy a pig in a poke"), "pocket," "poach," and "pouch" are all related. "Poke" and "pouch" both appear to have entered English around the 14th century via Old North French. "Pocket," originally a diminutive of "poke," seems to have entered English around the 15th century, also from ONF. "Poach" (meaning trespassing in order to hunt or fish illegally) is a much more recent addition to our language. The first recorded instance of it dates from 1611. It was borrowed from Middle French.
Another pair: castle and chateau. Both can trace their origins back to the Latin word "castellum," meaning "fortress" or "castle". "Castle" came into Old English via Old French. "Chateau" was borrowed from French much more recently; the first recorded instance of its use in English dated from 1720.
There are other such words out there, but these should do for starts.
Incidentally, if you wish a nice "dipping book" about languages, I would recommend David Crystal's "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language". Its 1-2 page articles on just about anything language-related walk a nice balance between being scholarly and accessible. He has written quite a number of other books on language in general and English in particular. I have not read any of them, and so I can't comment on them. But if they are anything of the calibre of his encyclopedia, they, too, would be worthwhile reads.
Joy,
Lynn
