AStudyontheChangeandDevelopmentofEnglishVocabulary

AStudyontheChangeandDevelopmentofEnglishVocabularyDDDDDDTV213.41.IGenerallyspeaking,wecandividethelanguageintheworldintotwobigclassesQnamelylivinglanguageanddeadlanguage.ThelattermeansthelanguagethathadnolongerbeenusedatpresentorseldomusedQsuchasancientLatinlanguage.WhiletheformermeansthelanguagethatisusedatpresentQforinstanceChineseQJapaneseQFrenchQGermanQEnglishQetc.ThelivinglanguagehasanimportantcharacteristicQthatisQallchangewiththepassageofthetime.InthefollowingtextwewilltalkaboutthechangeanddevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguageinfluencingEnglishwords.1ASurveyoftheHistoryofEnglishVocabularyTheInfluenceofCelticQLatinandScandinavianEnglishisanIndo-Europeanlanguage.Indo-Europeanlanguagewasdiscoveredtobetheparentlanguage.TheearliestperiodbeginswiththemigrationofcertainGermanictribesfromthecontinenttoBritaininthefifthcenturyA.D.CharacteristicfeaturesofOldEnglisharethatthevocabularyisalmostpurelyGermanic.ThefirstpeopleinEnglandaboutwhoselanguagewehavedefiniteknowledgearetheCeltic.ButCelticmadeonlyasmallcontributiontotheEnglish.In55-54B.C.JuliusCaesarinvadedtheBritishIsland.ButhelefttheBritishIslandwithhistroopsoonandthiseventhasasmallinfluenceontheEnglishvocabulary.ItwasinA.D.43thattheEmperorClaudiusdecidedtoundertaketheactualconquestoftheisland.WiththeknowledgeofCaesar’sexperiencebehindhim,hedidn’tunderestimatetheproblemsinvolved.Accordinglyanarmyof40,000wassenttoBritainandwithinthreeyearshadsubjugatedthepeopleoftheisland.WheretheRomanslivedandruled,thereRomanwayswerefound.AmongmustbeincludetheuseoftheLatinlanguage.AgreatnumberofinscriptionshavebeenfoundQalloftheminLatin.Intheyearof449,JutesinvadedBritainwithSaxonsandAngles.Soontheytookpermanentcontroloftheland,andtheirlanguagehistoricallyknownasAnglo-Saxon.NowpeoplegenerallyrefertoAnglo-SaxonasOldEnglish.TheInfluenceofNormanConquestontheMiddleEnglishTowardthecloseoftheoldEnglishperiodaneventoccurredthathadagreatereffectontheEnglishlanguagethananyotherinthecurseofitshistory.ThiseventwastheNormanonquestin10.WilliamsvictoryatHastingsandhissubsequentcoronationinLondoninvolvedmorethanameresubstitutionofonemonarchforanother.InthatcasetherewoulddoubtlesshavebeenmoreFrenchfavoritesatcourtQasinthetimeoftheconfessorandNormansincertainimportantoffices.ManyoftheEnglishhigherclasshadbeenkilledonthefieldatHastings.ThosewhoescapedweretreatedastraitorsQandtheplacesofbothalikewerefilledbyWilliamQsNormanfollowers.Thisprocesswasrepeatedseveraltimesduringthenextfouryearswhiletheconquestwasbeingcompleted.ModernEnglish—theRenaissanceandWorldWarIntheModernEnglishperiodQthebeginningofwhichisconvenientlyplacedat1500QcertainofthesenewconditionscomeintoplayQconditionsthatpreviouslyeitherhadnotexistedatallorwerepresentinonlyalimitedwayQandtheycauseEnglishtodevelopalongsomewhatdifferentlinesfromthosethathadcharacterizeditshistoryintheMiddleAges.InthelaterMiddleAgesasurprisingnumberofpeopleofthemiddleclasscouldreadandwrite.ThishastwoaspectsQoneisindividualtheotherispublic.Attheindividuallevelwemayobserveaphenomenonthathasbecomeintenselyimportantinmoderntimes.Atthepubliclevelasimilarself-consciousnesshasdrivenissuesoflanguagepolicyoverthepastfourcenturies.Asanotherexampleofhowgreatdevelopmentsleavetheirmarkuponlanguage.WemayobservesomeofthewordsthatsomeintoEnglishasadirectconsequenceofWorldWar.InthisperiodEnglandbecamethemostpowerfulcountryintheworld.SoEnglishwasbecomingtheinternationallanguageatthattime.Neverthelessitmadeitscontributiontothelanguageintheformofcertainnewwordsandnewmeanings.2AnOverviewofEnglishNewWordsTheNewWordsofEnglishWearelivinginthe21stcenturyQnowwearegoingthroughtherapiddevelopmentandchangeinsociallifeandpoliticsQandeconomyQourknowledgeofLatinarelittle.WeknowmanyEnglishwordsQespeciallytheEnglishnewwords.WecanoftencomeacrossthefollowingEnglishwordsandphrasesfromnewspapersandmagazinesQOICQ,layoff,AD.OICQisawordproducedonthebasisofthenetwork,firstinventedbytheIsraelis.OICQisshortfor“oh,Iseekyou.”andnowadaysQalmostallyoungpeopleknowOICQ,andtheyaregladtoconnectwitheachotherinthiswayonline.LayoffisaphraseappearinginrecentyearsQbecausethecompetitionbetweenenterprisesisfiercenow.ADisshortforadvertisements.WecanoftencomeacrossalotofinternetEnglisheveryday.InternetQItistheblendingofInternationalNet,ithadanothernamecalledInternet.Itcameintobeingin1969.ThemajorserviceitemofInternetare:TheE-mail,TelnetQtheinquiryservicedFinger),thefiletransfer(FTP),thefileserver(Archive),theforumofthenews(Usenet),theelectronicbillboard(BBS),onegroupofgroups(NewsGroup)ofnews,globalnetwork(WorldWideWeb)HTTP：ThesimplificationofHyperTextTransmissionProtocol.IP：Internet'sagreementoritcanbecalledinternetagreement.IE：InternetExplorerQExplorermeans“theexplorer".ReasonsfortheRiseofEnglishNewWords2.2.1TheManufactureofNewProductsinEconomyEconomicdevelopmentisthemainstreamofourera.TheimprovementoflanguageQtoacertainextentQbenefitsalotfromthenewphenomenonthatoccursintheeconomicfield.InthiscompetitiveworldQanyinnovationorfreshthingstakingplaceineconomicwillsoonfindtheirvoiceinthelanguage.IfthereisanythinganewproductneedsQitisabrandname.TotheextentthattheproductsucceedsQthenamewilltoo.It’sasurething,theonewaytoguaranteethatanewtermwillbeasuccessQspendmightyamountsofmoneyonmarketingpersuadepeopletobuyandkeeponbuyingaproductQandtheywillcallitbythenameyougiveit.TheEventsintheFieldofPoliticsTheformofEnglishnewwordsissometimesconsideredastheresultofthepoliticalchanges.LanguagereflectsthesocietyQasithasalwaysbeen.PoliticsisanessentialpartofthedevelopmentoftheworldQthereforeQitcaneasilyfinditsrelativeneologismsinthelanguagefield.ForinstanceQwhenMr.BillClintonwaselectedasthepresidentoftheU.S.,hisnamehasbeenassociatedwithmanypoliticalwords.HispolicyisClintonionQheiscarryingouttheClintonismQhiseconomicspolicyisClinntonomicsQandhissupporterswerecalledClintoonitesQheultimatelywantedtorealizehisClintonization.TheFormationofEnglishNewWordsItisinterestingtodiscusshownewwordsareformed.Inanylanguage,peopleexpressanewidea,describeanewprocessQandmarketanewproductthroughthreeways.2.3.1AffixationAffixationisgenerallydefinedastheformationofwordsbyaddingderivationalaffixestostems.AffixationisaneffectivewaytoincreasetheEnglishvocabulary』AffixationhasplayedapositiveroleduringthehistoryofEnglishdevelopment.NotonlyhasitenlargedthepronunciationalwordsQbutalsoithasenrichedtheperformativepowerofthelanguage.QOver100affixesexistinEnglishQdozensofwhicharethemostactiveQforexampleQa-,an-,au-Qbe-,co-,counter-Qde-,dis-,en-,e-,inter-andsoon.Accordingtothepositionswhichaffixesoccupyinwords,affixationfallsintotwosubclassesQprefixandsuffix.Prefixistheformationofnewwordsbyaddingprefixestostems.Prefixesdonotgenerallychangetheword-classofthestembutonlymodifyitsmeaning.Itallowsustoexpandourvocabularywithoutspecificallymemorizingnewwords.Suffixistheformationofnewwordsbyaddingsuffixestostems.Unlikeprefixeswhichprimarilychangethemeaningofthestem,suffixeshaveonlyasmallsemanticrole,theirprimaryfunctionbeingtochangethegrammaticalfunctionofstems.2.3.2CompoundingCompoundingDalsocalledcompositionDistheformationofnewwordsbyjoiningtwoormorestems.Wordsformedinthiswayarecalledcompounds.Soacompoundisa‘lexicalunitconsistingofmorethanonestemandfunctioningbothgrammaticallyandsemanticallyasasingleword’(Quirketal19885).Silkwormandhoneybeearecompounds；soareteargasandeasychair.Theseexamplesshowthatcompoundscanbewrittensolid(silkworm),hyphenated(honey-beeQandopen(teargasandeasychairQ.MoonlightingisacompoundQasisscofflawanddoublespeak.SomecompoundsspelledwithhyphensQlikealso-friendlyQorwithspacesQlikedarkmatterandmaddiseaseQbutthesecountascompoundsbecausetheyaredifferentinthesumoftheirparts.BlendingAblendisawordformedbycombiningpartsofotherwordsQe.g.smog-smoke+fogmotel?Cmotor+hotelbrunch?Cbreakfast+lunchcamcorder?Ccamera+recordercomsat?Ccommunication+satellitevideophone?Cvideo+telephoneShorteningShorteningreferstotheabbreviationoflongerwordsorphraseQe.g.gym?Cgymnasiumexpo?Cexpositionmemo?Cmemorandumdisco?Cdiscothequeburger?Chamburgerdozer?Cbulldozerquake?Cearthquakefridge?Crefrigeratorscript?CprescriptionNewWordsBorrowingFromOtherLanguagesWhendifferentculturescomeintocontact,wordsareoften“borrowedQfromonelanguagetoanother.TheloanwordmaylabelanewconceptQoritmayreplaceorbecomeasynonymofanativeword.Englishhasborrowedaverylargenumberofwordsfrommanydifferentlanguagesthroughoutitshistory.TheexamplesbelowaresomeoftheloanwordsinEnglish.LatinbonuseducationexitGreektragedycyclephysicsFrenchprincequestioncoupd’etatSpanishranchguitarbarbecueItalianbalconyballoonoperaGermanbeerwaltzquartzDutchfreightpumpbuoyChineseteakowtowsampan3ConclusionWordisthebasicunitofformingasentenceQthesentencesthatweusuallyspeakallformedbywords.Weliveinasocietythatscienceandtechnologyarehighlydevelopingnow,andoursocietyhasbecomemoreandmorecomplicateQcreationofnewthingsisunavoidableinourdailylife.ThestudyofnewwordsisaveryimportantthingtoEnglishlearnersQsoistheresearchofvocabularyQespeciallythestudyofnewvocabularyofEnglishisaveryimportantandessentialthingtous.Themodernsocietyisdevelopingwiththedevelopmentoftheagricultureandtheindustry,thechangeofthesocietyisnoendingQsothechangeoftheEnglishlanguageisnoending.Weshouldtryourbesttodoasmuchresearchaswecan,andfindtheruleofthechangeoftheEnglish.ReferencesBlake,N.F.1988.TheCambridgeHistoryoftheEnglishLanguage.Volume2：TheMiddleEnglishPeriod.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.CoatesQJ,1986.WomenQMenandLanguage.London:Longman.DrachmannQG.1978.ChildLanguageandLanguageChange：aconjectureandsomerefutations[C].London：InFisiak.PotterQS.1969.ChangingEnglish[M].LondonQDeutsch.HuQWenzhong.1999.Kuawenhuajiaojixuegailun.[IntroductiontoInterculturalCommunication].Beijing：WaiyujiaoxueyuyanjiuChubanshe.