33. New English. General characteristic. Means of enriching vocabulary. Internal means.

The language in New English is growing very rapidly, the amount of actually existing words being impossible to estimate. Though some of the words existing in Old English and Middle English are no longer used in New English, the amount of new words exceeds the number of obsolete ones manifold.

In 1485 there ended the War between the Roses. The end of the war meant the end of feudalism and the beginning of capitalism, a new, more peaceful era and the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. An absolute monarchy was established. It meant a real unification of the country, political and economic, resulted in the development of capitalism and made it inevitable that one nation and one national language be established. The long reign of Elizabeth I (1558—1603) was one of the most remarkable for the country, its progress in the discovery and colonizing field tremendous. Queen Elizabeth's reign was also particularly rich in learning — it was the age of Shakespeare, Sidney, Spencer, Bacon, Marlowe and many other famous names. Charles II, who during the time of Cromwell lived in exile in France, brought with him from the Continent a keen interest in scientific development, culture and arts, together with a considerable influence of the French language spoken by his supporters. As we have said, in New English there emerged one nationand one national language. But the English literary norm was formed only at the end of the 17* century, when there appeared the first scientific English dictionaries and the first scientific English grammar. In the 17* and 18* centuries there appeared a great number of grammar books whose authors tried to stabilize the use of the language. If the gradual acceptance of a virtually uniform dialect by all writers is the most important event in the emergence of Modern English, it must be recognised that this had already gone a considerable way before 1500, and it was undoubtedly helped by Caxton's introduction of printing in 1477. The fact that the London dialect was used by him in his translations and prefaces, and that Chaucer's works were among the books he published, led to its rapid diffusion throughout the country. But the adoption of a standard of spoken English was a slower process. Nevertheless, despite the persistence of wide varieties in pronunciation, the basic phonetic changes that distinguish Modern English from Middle English are profound, though they are not reflected in a similar modification of spelling. The most important of these changes was that affecting the sound of vowels and diphthongs, with the result that the "continental values" of Middle English were finally replaced by an approximation to modern pronunciation. Lesser changes also occurred in the pronunciation of consonants, though some ot these have since been restored by conscious, and often mistaken, attempts to adapt pronunciation more closely to the received spelling.

The language developed quickly at the beginning of the period and slowly — at the end (with the exception of the word-stock which develops equally quickly during the whole period). When the literary norm was formed, it, being always very conservative, prevented the change of the language, that is why the speed of the development slowed down

Word-stock. The vocabulary is changing quickly. Many new words are formed to express new notions, which are numerous. Ways of enriching the vocabulary: 1. inner means (conversion: hand => to hand); 2, outer means.

The principal inner means in New English is the appearance of new words formed by means of conversion. Usually new words are formed by acquiring a new paradigm and function within a sentence. Thus, book (a noun) has the paradigm book — books. Book (a verb) has the paradigm book — books — booked — booking, etc. (The book is on the table - He booked a room.) Similarly:

man (n) — man (v)

stone (n) — stone (v) — stone (adj)

(as in "a stone bench"), etc.