The Development of English Vocabulary英语论文.doc

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1、 The Development of English VocabularyBroadly speaking, all the words in a language together constitute what is known as its vocabulary. Just as a building cannot be constructed without the building materials, no language is conceivable without vocabulary. In the study of words, it is important to k

2、now about the origin and growth of the vocabulary. The English language is not the language of the early inhabitants of the British Isles. Where does it come from? Why is it known as English? In what way is English related to other languages? How many periods is English been divided? How has it deve

3、loped into what is now a greatly huge modern vocabulary? This article will give answers to these questions.It is assumed that the world has approximately 3000 languages, which can be grouped into roughly 300 language families on the basis of similarities in their basic word stock and grammar. The In

4、do-European is one of them. English is the most important language in the Indo-European. The study of the historical development of the English vocabulary should not be treated in isolation from the growth of the English language itself. The history of the English language begins with the conquest a

5、nd settlement of what is now England by the Angles, Saxons and the Jutes from about 450AD. The language they spoke was Anglo Saxon, which replaced the Celtic spoken by the former inhabitants. The next seven hundred years (449-1100) are known as the Old English (OE) or Anglo-Saxon (AS) period of the

6、English language. The vocabulary of Old English contains some fifty or sixty thousand words, which were chiefly Anglo-Saxon with a small mixture of Old Norse words as a result of the Scandinavian or the Danish conquests of England in the ninth century. Besides these, long before their invasion of En

7、gland the Angles and Saxons had had various contacts with Romans, through which they borrowed a considerable number of Latin words. During most of this period the case endings of the noun, the adjective, and the conjugation of the verb were not wakened.The transitional period from Old English to Mod

8、ern English is known as Middle English (ME1100-1500), which is character by the strong influence of French following the Norman Conquest in 1066. Since the French-speaking Normans were the ruling class, French was used for all state affairs and for most social and cultural matters; but the masses co

9、ntinued to speak English. Only towards the end of the fifteenth century did English become once more the language of the whole country. However, the language the emerged at that time showed vast and significant changes in the English vocabulary-the loss of a large part of the Old English word-stock

10、and the adoption of thousands of French words. At the same time, Latin words continued to come in, but in small numbers. The very core of the vocabulary, however, remained English. The English were defeated but not kill off, nor were they driven from their country. The situation of three languages (

11、French, Latin, English) existing simultaneously continued for over a century. Between 1250 and 1500 about 9,000 words of French origin poured into English. 75% of them are still in use today. However, by the end of the 13th century, English gradually came back into the schools, the law courts, and g

12、overnment and regained social status. Middle English retained much few 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 verb.The English language from 1500 to the present is called Modern Englis

13、h. Modern English began with the establishment of printing in England. Considering the changes in vocabulary, it is necessary to subdivide into Early Modern English (1500-1700) and Late Modern English (1700- ). In the early period of Modern English, a new upsurge of learning ancient Greek and Roman

14、classics-the Renaissance brought great to the vocabulary. In the period, the studies of classics were stressed and the result was the wholesale borrowing from Latin. (The Latin loan words were now mostly connected with science and abstract ideas, and many of them have become part of the everyday spe

15、ech of the English people. The renewed study of Greek in the Renaissance not only led to the borrowing of Greek words indirectly through the medium of Latin, but also led to the introduction of some Greek words directly into the English vocabulary. From the sixteenth century onward, English borrowed

16、 words from an increasing number of languages, the major ones being the three Romance languages, French, Spanish and Italian. Besides these resources, English also adopted words from other European languages, such as, Portuguese, German, Dutch, and Russian. The late Modern English period started aft

17、er 1770. From the mid-seventeenth century, England experienced the Bourgeois Revolution followed by the Industrial Revolution and rose to be a great economic power. With the growth of colonization, exploration, and trade, British tentacles began stretching out to every corner of the globe, thus enab

18、ling English to absorb words from all major languages of the world. The 18th century in England was a time of stabilizing and purifying the English langue. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, many words came in from non-European languages. All this has made the English vocabulary extremely ric

19、h and heterogeneous. In modern English, word endings were mostly lost with just a few exceptions. It can be concluded that English has evolved from a synthetic language (Old English) to the present analytic language.Today, new words sweep in at a rate must faster than at any other historical period

20、of time. New words are being invented or introduced every day to express new things and new changes in society, both material and intellectual. Generally, there are three main sources of new words: the rapid development of modern science and technology, social economic and political changes, the inf

21、luence of other cultures and languages.The development of English vocabulary involves many factors. On the basis of the discussion, we can conclude English vocabulary development through three channels: creation, semantic change, and borrowing. All kinds of factors have resulted in a dramatic increa

22、se in vocabulary, a growth which in turn contributes to the richness and resourcefulness of the English language. Moreover, the rate of this growth is faster than at any other time in the past. The vocabulary has grown from 50,000 to 60,000 words in Old English to the tremendous number of more than

23、a million words-the largest of all the languages in the world. Monitoring the development of the vocabulary will be a constant of the lexicologist.生命列车The Train Of Life1. 不久以前，我读了一本书。书中把人生比作一次旅行。2. 人生一世，就好比是一次搭车旅行，要经历无数次上车、下车; 时常有事故发生; 有时是意外惊喜，有时却是刻骨铭心的悲伤 3. 降生人世，我们就坐上了生命列车。我们以为我们最先见到的那两个人-我们的父母，会在人

24、生旅途中一直陪伴着我们。 4. 很遗憾，事实并非如此。他们会在某个车站下车，留下我们，孤独无助。他们的爱、他们的情、他们不可替代的陪伴，再也无从寻找。 5. 尽管如此，还会有其他人上车。他们当中的一些人将对我们有着特殊的意义。 6. 他们之中有我们的兄弟姐妹, 有我们的亲朋好友。我们还将会体验千古不朽的爱情故事。7. 坐同一班车的人当中，有的轻松旅行。8. 有的却带着深深的悲哀 还有的,在列车上四处奔忙，随时准备帮助有需要的人 9. 很多人下车后，其他旅客对他们的回忆历久弥新 但是，也有一些人，当他们离开座位时，却没有人察觉。10. 有时候，对你来说情深义重的旅伴却坐到了另一节车厢。你只得远离

25、他，继续你的旅程。11. 当然，在旅途中，你也可以摇摇晃晃地穿过自己的车厢，去别的车厢找他 12. 可惜，你再也无法坐在他身旁，因为这个位置已经让别人给占了 .13. 没关系。旅途充满挑战、梦想、希望、离别 就是不能回头。因此，尽量使旅途愉快吧！14. 善待旅途上遇见的所有旅客，找出人们身上的闪光点。15. 永远记住，在某一段旅程中，有人会犹豫彷徨，因为我们自己也会犹豫彷徨。16. 我们要理解他人，因为我们需要他人的理解。17. 生命之谜就是：我们在什么地方下车？坐在身旁的伴侣在什么地方下车？我们的朋友在什么地方下车？我们无从知晓 18. 我时常这样想：到我该下车的时候，我会留恋吗？我想我还是

26、会的。和我的朋友分离，我会痛苦。让我的孩子孤独地前行，我会悲伤。 我执著地希望在我们大家都要到达的那个终点站，我们还会相聚 19. 我的孩子们上车时没有什么行李，如果我能在他们的行囊中留下美好的回忆，我会感到幸福。20. 我下车后，和我同行的旅客都还能记得我，想念我，我将感到快慰。21. 献给你, 我生命列车上的同行者, 祝您旅途愉快!1. Not long ago, I read a book, in which a mans life was compared to a journey.2. The life of a man is just like a hitchhiking，duri

27、ng which many times we go up and down. Now and then things will happen accidently, some of which are to be unexpected excitement，while some heart-breaking sorrows. 3. When first embraced the world，we are already on the train of life. We take it for granted that the first two persons, our parents, wh

28、om we are encountered with, will accompany us all the way.4. Sadly，things do not go on as we thought.Our parents will get off the train at a certain station，leaving us, bereft and helpless.Their love and emotion to us and their irreplaceable company can be found in nowhere.5. However，there will be s

29、omebody else who will get on the train. Some of them will have special meaning to us.6. Some of them may be our siblings , relatives and friends, and we will also expereince the imperishable love.7. Some of our travelling companions are quite light-hearted on the way.8. While some may bear immense s

30、orrow.Still some ,back and forth, are ready to hold out their hands for others who need help.9. Some people alight off the train, yet they are still kept in the mind of the other passengers for long;some, to the opposite, leave their seats without being noticed.10. Sometimes, the one,who is dear to

31、your heart, has huddled into another carriage. Nothing but one you can do is just to keep on going, far away from him.11. Of course, during the journey, you may stagger to another carriage to look for him.12. Its a pity that you will never seat yourself beside him because the seat has been engaged b

32、y others. 13. Never mind. The journey is full of challenges,dreams, hopes and departures- but only one thing is that you cant turn back. So, have a good journey with heart and soul.14. Show your good-will to all the passengers you are encountered with, and find the merits of theirs.15. Remeber that

33、someone may oscillate just as we do in the journey.16. We should understand others just as we need others understanding.17. The enigma of life is：Where shall we get off the train of life?And how about the companions beside us?And our friends?We dont know.18. Sometimes I think：When my time comes to g

34、et off the train，shall I miss it？I think I will.It is a suffering when I part with my friends.I will be sorry for leaving my kids going alone.I firmly hold that when we get to the terminal，we will have another reunion.19. When my kids get on the train of life, they have only little luggage in their travelling bags. However,if I can leave the beautiful memory in them,I will be happy. 20. After getting off the train of life, I will be content if my fellow passengers will remember me and miss me.21. To you , the companions on my train of life.May you have a good journey!