Nature of the English language and English Words
number of words in English countability of words in English comparison of sizes of vocabulary of languages closest linguistic relations of English native vs. borrowed words identification of source languages of loanwords
English as a World Language
dialects of English (geographical and social varieties of English) major national varieties of English richness of English vocabulary synonyms in English absence of national language academies in English-speaking world
History of English
Pre-English - from about 300-400 (pre-migration)-ca. 600 Old English (Anglo-Saxon lg.) 600-1100 Middle English 1100-1500 Early Modern English 1500-1650 Present Day English (PDE) 1650-present Modern English (includes Early Modern and Present Day English) 1500-present Celts (Native Britons) Harold Godwinson, Harold King of England Anglo-Saxons Normans Romans William of Normandy = William the Conqueror Angles, Saxons, Jutes Norman French Anglo-Saxons Norman Conquest Christianization, Christianity Battle of Hastings (1066) Beowulf Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales Kingdom of Wessex William Caxton, printing press King Alfred = Alfred the Great, late 800s beginnings of standardization (of language, of spelling) mismatch of spelling and pronunciation in English Vikings, Norsemen, Danes King James Bible = King James Version sacking of monasteries by bands Great Vowel Shift of pagan adventurers Shakespeare Alfred's victory (Other greats of Elizabethan English: Danelaw Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson) Watling Street European conquest and colonialization (line of partition) 18th century--start of prescriptive movement Height of Anglo-Saxon power and Increasing standardization: cultural success: -privileging of London-Cambridge-Oxford variety of spoken English 900s-early 1000s - establishment of conventions for written English syntax 2nd wave of Vikings attacks from - less and less variability in spelling about 1014: armies under kings - more conventions for punctuation Athelred the Unready Dictionary makers (driven to Normandy) [Samuel Johnson - first DESCRIPTIVE dictionary of English] Canute (Cnut) Noah Webster Edward the Confessor British vs. American spellings Review the Periods of the various major waves of loanwords (borrowings) in English. For each stage, which languages were major sources of loanwords? Pre-Old English: Old English: Middle English: Early Modern English: Present-day English:
See also:
Loanwords
Words in English
native borrowed nativized words, nativization loanword, borrowing place names vs. common words descriptive, descriptivism doublets, triplets prescriptive, prescriptivism Classical (or Latinate) vocabulary and vocabulary elements standard, nonstandard varieties etymology (word origin); difference from parsing
Morphology or Word Formation
word structure word elements, word components parse, parsing words into word components morphs - minimal, indivisible word components that have an identifiable meaning or function (Ch. 4 introduces morphemes, a closely related concept. Difference not relevant yet.) lexical components or lexical morphs: roots grammatical components or morphs: affixes prefixes suffixes base - what an affix attaches to. Has at least one root, but may be more complex stem - a base to which inflectional affixes can be added. (distinction of base and stem not relevant for us now) free vs. bound morphs English type language (many free morphs) vs. Latin, Greek type (most morphs bound to others) filler or linker morph (book calls it an interfix - an affix that requires something before and after.) Fillers/linkers have no function or meaning other than linking two other morphs. complex words created by inflection (grammatical variants of one word: plural, tense marking etc.) derivation (creates new word; makes a new part of speech/new function or new meaning) Types of word formation (creation of words): derivation compounds, compounding rhyming compounds [hypernym, hyponym - not necessary for us here, the term comes back in Ch. 7] clipping, clippings blends, blending initialisms; subtype: acronyms (the famous type) reanalyis analogy folk etymology relation of meaning of component morphemes to meaning of whole word relations of morphemes (whether whole words, roots, or affixes): synonyms - morphs with similar meaning homonyms = homophones - morphs with same form (accidental resemblance)
See also study aids:
Roots vs. Affixes
Morphemes
Word Formation Types
Definitions from "morphemes" on.
© Suzanne Kemmer
Last modified 18 Sept 2016