lexicology / 15

15

Lexicology of English

ETYMOLOGK AL CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN ENGLISH VOCABULARY

3.1. The Etymological background of MnE Vocabulary

The important task of lexicology is the study of the origin of words making up the vocabulary of a language. The branch of lexicology which studies the origin of words and their genetic tics with words in the same and other languages is called etymology.

The vocabulary of MnE is extremely heterogeneous from the etymological point of view. It can be subdivided into two main parts - the native stock of words, which is the historical basis of the English vocabulary, and the borrowed stock of words consisting of various etymological strata borrowed from different languages.

Borrowings enter the language in two ways: through oral linguistic intercourse (by immediate contact between two peoples) and through written speech (by indirect contact through books, etc.).

Oral borrowing took place chiefly in the early periods of history, whereas in recent times written borrowing gained importance. Words borrowed orally arc usually short (e.g. inch, mill, street) and they undergo more changes in the act of adoption. Written borrowings (e.g. communiqué, belles-lettres, naïveté) preserve some peculiarities of the original language; they are often rather long and their assimilation is a long and laborious process.

It has been estimated that up to 70 per сent of the words making up the MnE vocabulary came from nearly all the languages of the world.

3.2. The Native Word-Stock in English

Despite the great number of borrowed words native words are still at the core of the language. The native word-stock in MnE incorporates words which were brought to Britain in the 5th century by the German tribes (Anglo-Saxons tribes). The original Anglo-Saxon stock of words itself was not quite homogenous etymologically. It consisted of words Common Indo-European (e.g. father, mother, tree. moon. star. wind. I. who, one, two. etc.) and Common Germanic (e.g. summer, winter, life, ice, house, room. etc.).

The native word-stock includes also the words which were formed from English words after English patterns of word-building. So the native