The Development of the Eng-lish Vocabulary

09052008 김민형

Contents

2.1 The Indo-European Language Family 2.2 A Historical Overview of the English

Vocabulary 2.2.1 Old English(450~1150) 2.2.2 Middle English(1150~1500) 2.2.3 Modern English(1500~up to now) 2.3 Growth of Present-day English Vo-

cabulary 2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

2.1 The Indo-European Lan-guage Family

It is a group which has similarities in basic word stock and grammar.

Europe, the Near East, and India The language of each group grew

and developed along different lines. Each group can’t communicate with their language.

2.1 The Indo-European Language Family

The similarity bears a more or less direct relationship to their geograph-ical distribution.

2.1 The Indo-European Language Family

2.1 The Indo-European Language Family

All these languages have some influ-ence on English, because each has lent words into the English vocabu-lary.

2.2 A historical Overview of the English Vocabulary

CeltsThe first peo-ples inhabit in British Isles.

* Celtic : it is di-alect of still an-other branch of the Indo-Euro-pean language family.

RomansIn BC 55 ,They invaded the British Isles and were to occupy the land until about 410.

*Latin : it is known in English as the second major language.

German-icsAs they took over and settled in Britain, the Celtic languages gradually re-treated.

2.2 A historical Overview of the English Vocabulary

As a result Celtic made only a small contribution to the English vocabu-lary.

ex) It was driven from Celtic- Crag ( 험준한 바위 ), bin( 통 , 버리다 )

- A number of place name : Avon, Kent, London, Themes.

2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)

Germanic(Angles,Saxons,Jutes)

1 .They took permanent con-trol of England.

2. Their lan-guage (Anglo-saxon)dominated and totally blotted out the Celtic.

At the end of the 6th cen-tury3.Christianity in Britain was spread by Latin-speaking Roman mis-sionaries under St. Augustine

4.The introduc-tion of Chris-tianity brought many new ideas and cus-toms and also many religious terms

2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)

The introduction of Christianity brought many new ideas and cus-toms and also many religious terms

- abbot( 수도원장 )

- candle( 양초 ),

- altar( 제단 ),

- amen( 아멘 ),

- apostle( 사도 , 주창자 )

2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)

However, users of Old English didn’t borrow as heavily from Latin or other languages in this period.

-> They changed meaning of native words or created new words by com-bining two native words.

Change of meaning Create new word

Easter

Handbook(Hand +book)

2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)

In the 9th cen-tury

5. The land was invaded again by Norwegian and Vikings.

6. With the invaders, Many Scan-dinavian words came into the Eng-lish lan-guage

7. At least 900 words of Scan-dinavian origin have survived in modern Eng-lish

Ex) Skirt, Skill, window, leg ….

2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)

6. Many Scandinavian words came into the English language.

However, they were everyday words.

Scandinavian invaders were Ger-manic people like the Anglo-Saxons, Many words were exactly alike.

- ex) father,husband,house,life,man,mother

2.2.1 Old English(450-1150)

Therefore, nouns, pronouns, adjec-tives, verbs, and adverbs had com-plex endings or vowel changes, or both, which differ greatly from the language that we use today.

Old English is inflectional and complex language.

2.2.2 Middle English(1150-1500)

In 1066

1. Normans invaded Eng-land.

By the end of 11th century

2. People spo-ken in French had great in-fluence with society.

By the end of 13th Cen-tury

3. English re-gained social status.

In 1066, Norman Con-quest

1. Norman Conquest started a con-tinual flow of French words into Eng-lish.

Although the English was a *de-spised language, Norman French became the polite speech.

By the end of 11th cen-tury

2. All of the people who held political or social power and many of those in powerful church positions were of Norman French origin.

By the end of 11th cen-tury

Therefore, people spoke,wrote, and read in French could educate their children taught them in French; and any young man who sought to earn his living as a scribe learned Latin or French because there was no market for such service in English.

By the end of 13th Cen-tury

3. English gradually came back into the schools, the law courts, and gov-ernment and regained social sta-tus.

Chaucer and Wycliff established the foundation of middle English.

2.2.2 Middle English(1150-1500)

From 1250 to 1500, about 9000 words of French origin poured into English. 75% of them are still in use today. We can find word relat-ing to every aspect of human soci-ety.

Ex) State,power,prince,duck,judge,court, crime..

2.2.2 Middle English(1150-1500)

Middle English retained(maintained) much fewer inflections.

Ending of nouns and adjectives mark-ing distinction of number

case and often of gender lost their distinctive form. (difference between Old and Middle English)

2.2.2 Middle English(1150-1500)

The same is true of the verb. Old English is said to be a language

of full endings, Middle English is one of leveled endings.

2.2.3 Modern English(1500~ up to now)

Modern English began with the estab-lishment of printing in England.

Modern English

Early ME(1500-1700)

Late ME(1700-UP to

present)

Early Modern English(1500-1700)

Renais-sance

Europe saw a new upsurge of learning an-cient Greek and Roman classics.

Over 10,000 new words en-tered the Eng-lish language. Most of them were taken form Latin and Greek.

25% of modern English words come almost directly from classical lan-guages.

Renaissance

Latin and Greek were recognized as the languages of the Western world’s great literary heritage and of great schol-arship

Translators and scholars borrowed heav-ily from the Latin vocabulary of their source materials.

Many Latin words became part of English vocabulary.

Late Modern English(1700-up to now)

In the 17th cen-turyEngland expe-rienced the Bourgeois Revolution followed by the Industrial Revolution and rose to be a great eco-nomic power.

After World War 2

The word has seen breathtak-ing advanced in science and technology.

In the 17th century

With the growth of colonization, British tentacles began stretching out to every corner of the globe, thus enabling English to absorb words from all major languages of the world.

After World War 2

Thousands and thousands of new words have been created to ex-press new ideas, inventions, and scientific achievements.

New words are multiplied in all walks of life.

2.2.3 Modern English(1500~ up to now)

In modern English, word endings were mostly lost with just a few ex-ceptions.

It can be concluded that English has evolved from a synthetic lan-guage(Old English) to the present analytic language.

2.2.3 Modern English(1500~ up to now)

Example

Old Middle Mordern

Leorn-ian Lern-en Learn

Mon-a Mone-e Moon

Stan-as Stone-es Stones

Sun-ne Sun-ne Sun

Sun-u Sun-e son

2.3 Growth of Present-dayEnglish Vocabulary

New words are being invented or introduced every day to express new things and new changes in society and they become part of the English vocabulary.

2.3 Growth of Present-dayEnglish Vocabulary

Main Sources of new words1. Rapid growth of science and tech-

nology2. Social, economic, and political

change3. The influence of other cultures and

language

Rapid growth of science and technology

Chemistry and biol-

ogy

Space science Medicine

Atomic technol-

ogy

Green revo-lution

Space shut-tle

Retrovirus Smart bomb

Astrobiol-ogy

Earthrise Open heart surgery

Fall out

astrochem-istry Moon walk irradiation

Social, economic, and po-litical change

Food Fast food, TV dinner, soy milk

clothingPant suit, hip huggers, Granny

glasses

Music Disco, punk rock, soul music

TV and filmTalks shows, family movies,

boob tube

Politic and economy supply

The fourth world, stagflation,Watergate

Development in ed-ucation

Open university, pass-failing grade

Women’s liberation Chairperson, girlcott, Ms

Drug culture Mary Jane, soft drug, headshop

The influence of othercultures and language

Field Derived form Words

Cuisine Middle EastStir frying, pita bread,

tahini

FashionMao jackets, Nehru jack-

ets

Martial arts The Far East Kungfu,dojo,black bell

2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

Modern English vocabulary develops through three channels

1. Creation : to create new word by using root, affixes and other elements.

2. Semantic change : An old form which takes on a new meaning to meet the new need. This doesn't increase the number of word forms but create many more new usage of new words

2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

3. Borrowing : Borrowed words con-stitute merely 70% of all new words (by Thomas Pyles and John Algeo)

English, French Latin, Greek and Scandinavian were major contribu-tors.

borrowed word

FrenchLatinJapanese and ItalianSpanishGerman and GreekRussiand and YiddishOthers

2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

Reviving outdated words also con-tributes to the growth of English vo-cabulary. Loan

(transi-tive

verb)

Lend

Loan(Ameri-

can Eng-lish

In 13th cen-tury

Replace the word ‘Loan’

2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

American English British English

Guess Think

druggist Chemist

fall Autumn

Sick ill

All be traced back to much earlier times in British English

2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development

Also, old words falling out of use.

In the epic Beowulf, there were more than 37 words used to express ‘prince’. But most of them are no longer in use. Because we don’t have the same need for the words as our forefather did in their time.