French: attaché, charge d’affaires, café

Italian: particularly dominant in the fields of music, art and architecture, for example, concert, duet, piano, soprano, solo, tenor, model, bust, studio, dome balcony, piazza

Spanish: armada, cargo, vanilla, cocoa, cigar

At the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, as a result exploration, colonization and trade, many words come in form Non-European languages. As summed up in The Encyclopedia Americana: “ The English language has vast debts. In any dictionary some 80% of the entries are borrowed.” So English is supposed to have the most copious vocabulary of all the languages in the world, estimated at more than a million words. (1980)

E. The rapid growth of present-day English vocabulary (especially after World War II) and its causes

After World War II, neologisms (new words or new meanings for established words) swept in at a rate much faster than that of that of the pre-war period. The main reasons for neologism are the following:

1. Marked progress of science the technology

nuclear bomb: chain reaction, radioactivity, fall-out, clean bomb, overkill, megadeath, neuron bomb, medium-range ballistic missiles

exploration of space: astronaut and cosmonaut (both are Russian words), blast off, countdown, capsule, launching pad, space suit, spacemen, space platform, space shuttle

computer science: software, hardware, input, output, memory, monitor, process, programming, data base, internet, log on (off), etc.

2. Socio-economic, political and cultural changes

credit card, fringe benefit, hire purchase, high-rise, condo (short for condominium), house sitter (sitting), kitchenette, spin-driers, pressure cooker, microwave oven, ready-mixed cakes, instant mashed potatoes, supermarket,

drug subculture: acid head, upper (a stimulant drug), downer (a depressant drug),

civil rights movements: black studies, black power, Black Panther, Black muslin, sit-in, swim-in, , Be-in, love-in (from hippie subculture),

homosexual subculture: gay, homophile, camp

women’s liberation movements: Ms, chairperson, chair woman, spokeswoman, male-chauvinism, sexism, feminism,

education: open classroom, Open University, alternative school (non-traditional curriculum)

entertainment: call-in ( of a radio program),discotheque, simulcast, guerrilla or street theatre, acid rock, hard rock, folk rock,

sports: roller-hockey, surf-riding, skydiving, designated hitter ( from baseball game)

3. The influence of other cultures and languages

apartheid, was first used in South Africa in 1949 to mean “ (policy of) racial segregation)

sputnik, a Russian word, meaning “man-made satellite”

autostrade (from Italian), mao tai (from Chinese), autopista (from Spanish)

Questions and Exercises:

1. What are the three English periods with a view to its historical development?

2. How did the Norman Conquest and the Renaissance influence the English vocabulary?

3. What are the characteristics of the English vocabulary as a result of its historical development?

4. Enumerate the causes for the rapid growth neologism after World War II. Give your examples for each cause.