of French origin poured into English. Seventy-five percent of them are still in use today.
If we say that Old English was a language of full endings. Middle English was one of leveled endings.
10 - Modern English (1500-up to now)
Modern English began with the establishment of printing in England.
Early (1500-1700) and Late (1700-up to the present) Modern English
Modern English began with the establishment of printing in England.
Early (1500-1700) and Late (1700-up to the present) Modern English
In the early period of Modern English, Europe saw a new upsurge of learning ancient Greek and Roman classics. This is known in history as the Renaissance.
Latin and Greek were recognized as the languages of the Western world’’s great literary heritage and of great scholarship
In fact, more than twenty-five per cent of modern English words come almost directly from classical languages.
It can be concluded that English has evolved from a synthetic language (Old English) to the present analytic language.
11 - Three main sources of new words: the rapid development of modern science and technology(45%); social, economic and political changes(24%);
the influence of other cultures and languages(11%).
the influence of other cultures and languages(11%).
12 - Modern English vocabulary develops through three channels: creation, semantic change, borrowing.
Creation refers to the formation of new words by using the existing materials, namely roots, affixes and other elements. In modern times, this is the most important way of vocabulary expansion.
Semantic change means an old form which takes on a new meaning to meet the new need. This does not increase the number of word forms but create many more new usages of the words, thus enriching the vocabulary.
Borrowing has played a vital role in the development of vocabulary, particularly in earlier times. Borrowed words constitute merely six to seven percent of all new worlds. In earlier stages of English, frnch, greek and Scandinavian were the major contributiors.
Reviving archaic or obsolete words(复活古词和废弃词) also contributes to the growth of English vocabulary though quite insignificant.
Chapter 3
1 - These different forms occur owing to different sound environment. These minimal meaningful units are known as morphemes.
In other words, the morpheme is "the amallest functioning unit in the composition of words"
In other words, the morpheme is "the amallest functioning unit in the composition of words"
2 - Morphemes are abstract units, which are realized in speech by discrete units known as morphs. They are actual spoken , minimal carriers of meaning. The morpheme is to the morph what a phoneme is to a phone.
3 - These morphemes coincide with words as they can stand by themselves and function freely in a sentence. Words of this kind are called monomorphemic words.
4 - Some morphemes, however, are realized by more than one morph according to their position |
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