English Morphology and
Lexicology
Shao Guangqing
shaoguangqing@gmail.com
www.windofspring.weebly.com
Chapter 2
 The Development of English
Vocabulary
 2.1 The Indo-European Language Family
 2.2 A Historical Overview of English
Vocabulary
 2.3 Growth of Present-day English
Vocabulary
 2.4 Modes of Vocabulary Development
2.1 The Indo-European Language
Family
The Indo-European Language
Family
Sino-Tibetan
Language
family
Altaic languages
2.1 The Indo-European Language
Family
 All these languages have some
influence on English to a greater or
lesser extent because each has lent
words into the English vocabulary.
Some of them have played a
considerable role in the course of the
development of the English
vocabulary.
2.2 A Historical Overview of English
Vocabulary
Celts: Celtic
Roman Legions:
55-54BC~410
German tribes:
Angles; Saxons;
Jutes
2.2 A Historical Overview of English
Vocabulary
Celts:made
Celticonly a
Celtic
small contribution to
the
English
Roman
Legions:
vocabulary
with such
55-54BC~410
words as crag and bin,
and a number of
German tribes:
place names like Avon,
Anglo-Saxons
Kent, London,
Thames.
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 In around 449, Germanic tribes called
Angles, Saxons, and Jutes took
permanent control of the land, which
was to be called England (the land of
Angles).
 Their language, Anglo-Saxon, was
generally referred to as Old English.
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 The introduction of
Christianity
 Latin-speaking
Roman missionaries
under St. Augustine
 At the end of the
6th century
 New words: abbot,
candle, altar, amen,
apostle…
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 They change meaning
of native words:
Easter
 Name of the spring
festival honoring the
goddess of dawn
 a Christian festival
and holiday
celebrating the
resurrection of Jesus
Christ on the third
day after his
crucifixion
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 Create new words by
combining two native
words
 handbook (manual)
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 The invasion by
Norwegian and
Danish Vikings
 The 9th century
 everyday words:
father
husband, house, life
man, mother, summer
winter
skirt, skill, window, leg,
grasp, birth, they, their,
them, egg
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 1. The invasion by the Anglo-Saxons
(449 AD)
 2. The introduction of Christianity
(the end of the 6th century)
 3. The invasion by Norwegian and
Danish Vikings (the 9th century)
2.2.1 Old English (450-1150)
 a vocabulary of
about 50 000 to 60
000 words
 a highly inflected
language just like
modern German.
 Nouns, pronouns,
adjectives, verbs,
and adverbs had
complex endings or
vowel changes, or
both, which differ
greatly from the
language we use
today.
2.2.2 Middle English (1150-1500)
 The invasion by
Normans from
France
 in 1066
 Norman French:
noble speech
 English: inferior
language
2.2.2 Middle English (1150-1500)
 By the end of the
13th century,
English gradually
came back into the
schools, the law
courts, and
government and
regained social
status.
 the Wycliff
translation of the
Bible
 the writings of
Chaucer, Langland,
etc.
2.2.2 Middle English (1150-1500)
 1250~1500
 9000 words of
French origin into
English
 government, social
scales, law, religion,
moral matters,
military affairs,
food, fashion…
state, power
prince, duke
judge, court, crime
angel, mercy
peace, battle
Pork, bacon, fry,
roast
 dress, coat…






2.2.2 Middle English (1150-1500)
 During this period,
Britain had trade
relations with the
low countries, esp.
Holland.
 About 2 500 words
of Dutch origin into
English
 boom (at the
bottom of a sail)
 deck, easel, freight
 stoop (porch and
entrance)
2.2.2 Middle English (1150-1500)
 Middle English retained much fewer
inflections.
 Endings of nouns and adjectives marking
distinction of number, case and often of
gender lost their distinctive forms. The
same is true of the verbs.
 Old English: a language of full endings
 Middle English: a language of leveled
endings
2.2.3 Modern English (1500~ )
 Modern English
began with the
establishment of
printing in
England.
 Early Modern
English
 1500-1700
 Late Modern
English
 1700~
Early Modern English(1500-1700)
 the new upsurge of
learning ancient
Greek and Roman
classics
 Renaissance
 over 10 000 Latin
and Greek words
(25%) into English
 translators;
scholars
Late Modern English(1700~ )
 Bourgeois
Revolution (1640)
 Industrial
Revolution (1760)
 British colonization
 enabling English to
absorb words from
all major
languages of the
world
 after World War 2
 breathtaking
advances in
science and
technology
 New words created
for new ideas,
inventions, or
scientific
achievements
In Modern English, word endings were
mostly lost with only a few exceptions.
 It can be concluded
that English has
evolved from a
synthetic
language （old
English）to the
present analytic
language.
2.3 Growth of Present-day English
Vocabulary
 Three main sources of new words
 rapid development of modern science
and technology
 45%
 social, economic, and political changes
 11%
 the influence of other cultures or
languages
 24% (life-styles)
Words of science and technology
 Biology & Chemistry: green
revolution, astrobiology,
astrochemistry
 Space science: space shuttle,
earthrise, moon walk, parking orbits
 Medicine: retrovirus, open heart
surgery
 Atomic technology: smart bomb,
fallout, irradiation
Green revolution
astrobiology
astrochemistry
space shuttle
earthrise
moon walk
parking orbits
retrovirus
open heart surgery
smart bomb
fallout
Words of economic/political
changes
 Food: fast food, TV dinner,
megavitamin, soy milk
 Clothing: granny glasses, pant suit,
hip huggers
 Music: disco, punk rock, soul music
 TV and Film: talk shows, family
movies, boob tube
TV dinner
granny glasses
John Lennon
Pant suit
hip huggers
punk rock
soul music
Words of economic/political
changes
 Politics and economy: petropolitics,
Watergate, the fourth world,
stagflation, demand-pull
 Education: open university, passfailing grade, telequiz
 Women’s liberation: chairperson,
girlcott, Ms
 Drug culture: Mary Jane, soft drug,
headshop
Drug culture
 Mary Jane= Marijuana [,mærɪ'hwɑːnə]
Influence of other
cultures/languages
 Cuisine (Middle East): stir frying, pita
bread, tahini, felafel
 African: dashhikis
 Fashion: Mao jackets, Nehru jacket
 Martial arts: aikido, kungfu, dojo,
black belt
pita bread
tahini
Felafel=falafel
Dashhikis=dashikis
Mao jackets
Nehru jacket
aikido
dojo
black belt
2.4 Models of Vocabulary
Development
 1. Creation: the most important way of
vocabulary expansion
 2. Semantic change: creating new
usages of words
 3. Borrowing: playing a vital role in
vocabulary development
 4. Reviving archaic or obsolete words:
(American use) loan for lend; guess for
think; druggist for chemist; fall for
autumn; sick for ill