TheSourcesoftheEnglishVocabulary

WangShujun

【Abstract】 Lexicology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the study of the vocabulary of a given language. This paper begins with the question： What are the two approaches to the study of English lexicology？ Then talk about the position and character of the English language in the Indo-European family. After this，the paper would on the way to explain the sources of the English vocabulary and different characters of different periods of English vocabulary.

【Keywords】Source； Characteristic； Borrowed words； Hybrids

1.The position and character of the English language in the Indo-European family

English is classified as a Teutonic language，that is，a Germanic language. To be more exact，English belongs to the Low West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family. The English language is of a mixed character. On the one hand，it shares with West Germanic languages many common words and similar grammatical structures. On the other hand，more than half of the English vocabulary is derived from Latin and French. Besides，English has accepted words from other languages of the world in the course of historical development.

2.The sources of the English vocabulary

The history of the English language is divided by linguists into three periods. The period from 450 to 1150 is known as the Old English，or Anglo-Saxon period. The period from 1150 to 1500 is known as the Middle English period. The period from 1500 to the present day is called the Modern English period.

2.1 The characteristics of Old English.

First，the pronunciation of Old English words differs somewhat from that of Modern English words. Especially the long vowels have changed a great deal. Second，the vocabulary of Old English consisted mainly of Anglo-Saxon words. Third，Old English was a highly inflected language. It had a complete system of declensions with four cases and conjugations. Fourth，Old English is a synthetic language.

2.2 The characteristics of Middle English.

First，French influence on the English vocabulary is much more direct and observable. Second，the changes which affected the grammatical structure of English in this period were observable. Third，there was not any distinction between the singular and the plural of adjectives in the weak declension both ending in ‘e. Fourth，Old English nouns possess grammatical gender. In the Middle English period grammatical gender disappeared； grammatical gender was completely replaced by the natural gender.

2.3 The characteristics of Modern English.

First，in the 18th century French greatly influenced English. Second，the territorial expansion of the English Empire in this period resulted in the expansion of the English vocabulary. Third，the 19th and 20th centuries are a period of rapid expansion for the English vocabulary in the history of the English language. Fourth，the great changes in industry，in political and social lives，in sports and amusements，all have contributed a great deal to the English vocabulary. Fifth，English allows the co-existence of two major varieties，i.e. British and American English，which in turn churn out dialects and accents of their own. Thats why people sometimes talk about ‘Englishes. Sixth，English is developing more and more towards informality. Formal style is confined within the narrow scope of serious literature.

3.The sorts of English vocabulary

First，the polysemous character； Second，the collocability； Third，word-formation ability. Borrowed Words：Borrowed words or loan-words are words taken from foreign languages. Foreign borrowings may be divided into four groups according to their characters. Aliens-words borrowed from a foreign language without any change of the foreign sound and spelling，e.g. coupdetat，elite.Denizens-words borrowed from a foreign language with a transformation of the foreign sound and spelling. Namely，the foreign sound and spelling are Anglicized. e.g. skin，get，give.

Translation-loans-words borrowed from foreign languages by means of translation，e.g. black humour （French： humour noir）. Semantic borrowings-words which have acquired a new meaning under the influence of other languages，e.g. gift （Old English： the price of a wife-Scandinavian： present）.

Hybrids：Hybrids are also denizens，because they are words made up of two parts，each from a different language.

e.g. neoclassicism neo- （Greek） classicism （French or Latin）

vice-president vice-（Latin） president （French）

Greek，Latin and French are the three languages that have contributed most to the English language.

In fact，no language has so complex and varied a vocabulary as English. The English vocabulary has been adopted from more than fifty languages. As a cosmopolitan language English has no rival. That is to say，up to seventy percent of the English vocabulary consists of loan-words，and only thirty percent is native words.

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