Postolache Anca Florina

Specializarea: romana-engleza
An III
Means of lexical enrichment: Old English,
Middle English and Modern English
English is undoubtedly one of todays most successful languages. Its outstanding
position is indicated not only by the number of people using it as their natie tongue !the
oer "## million English spea$ers of %reat &ritain' the (nited States of America '
Australia' )e* +eeland' ,anada and South Africa-'but especially by the countless mass
of people for *hom English is a language of adoption' the most influential lingua franca
in todays international affairs. .ocabulary is commonly defined as /all the *ords $no*n
and used by a particular person/
0
. Knowing a *ord' ho*eer' is not as simple as simply
being able to recognize or use it. 1here are seeral aspects of *ord $no*ledge *hich are
used to measure *ord $no*ledge. In the ne2t lines *e *ill tal$ about the importance of
means of le2ical enrichment ma$ing a comparison bet*een 1he 3ld English Period' 1he
4iddle English Period and 1he 4odern English Period.
First of all *e hae to say that the 3ld English period doesnt remar$ *ith
something particularly concerning the means of le2ical enrichment. 5e may generally
distinguish bet*een t*o ma6or sources of ocabulary' namely internal coinage and
borro*ing from other languages. Internal means *ere composition' deriation and
conersion. 1he dominant internal *ord-building deices during 3ld English Period *ere
composition and deriation' plus a special category $no*n as formatie conersion.
,omposition *as as productie in 3ld English as it still is in all %ermanic languages.
Some compounds *ere created by simply 6oining t*o nouns: boccrft !literally 7boo$-
craft- 7literature8 folclagu !7fol$-la*- 7public la* 8 mannslyght 7manslaughter. 9uite
common *ere also ad6ectie-noun and aderb-participle combinations: heahburg
!literally 7high-bourg- 7capital8 *ids: !7*ide-sea- 7ocean. 4any compounds sho*ed
arious $inds of concord mar$ed by inflection' genitie forms being ;uite fre;uent: 3ld
English d:geseage !7days eye-< 4iddle English dayesye < 4odern English daisy8 3ld
English Sunnand:g !7suns day- < 4odern English Sunday. Special compounds made
up a rich stoc$ of =prefabricated> metaphors : breosthord !7breast-hoard- 7mind'
thought8 *oruldcandel !7*orld-candle- 7sun8 *udurec !7*ood-rec$- 7smo$e.
?eriation means creation of ne* *ords by attachment of affi2es to certain roots.
Semantically' deriaties may appear as more or less closely related to their unaffi2ed
etymological correlaties. Among the most fre;uent 3ld English prefi2es *ere: a- !arisan
7to arise-' be- !behindan 7behind-' for- !forbeodan 7to forbid-' mis- !misfon 7to fail to
get-' un- !unriht in6ustice-. Some 3ld English suffi2es *ere: -dom !freodom 7charter'
freedom-' -end !buend 7inhabitant-' -en !3ld English gylden @ 4odern English golden-'
-ere !sangere 7singer-' -full !synfull 7sinfull-' -had !cildhad 7childhood-' -ig !blodig
7bloody-' -isc !Englisc 7English-' -ing !cyning 7$ing-' -leas !domleas 7inglorious-'
-ling !deorling 7faorite-' -sum !langsum 7lasting-' -ung !*ilnung 7desire-. 5hat may
be called 3ld English formatie conersion loo$ed' in most cases' rather different from
the phenomenon generally described as conersion no*: *hile in 4odern English the
nominal or erbal functions of *ords li$e loe' play' stay' are indicated merely by
0
,ambridge Adanced Aearners ?ictionary
conte2t' not by indiidual forms' the part-of-speech identity in 3ld English could result
from affi2es' endings' and *ord-order' as *ell as from root-alterations' for more recent
periods it is easier to establish *hich *ord *as conerted from another. 1he most
important e2ternal source that enriched the 3ld English ocabulary *as the borro*ings.
&orro*ings are the most common eidence of inter-language contact. Fe* common
*ords *ere ta$en oer by the Anglo-Sa2on ictors from the ,elts they subdued. Among
those fe*' *e may mar$ the ones referring to peculiarities of the &ritish enironment :
broc !7broc$' badger-' crag !7steep cliff-' luh !7la$e-. 1he proto-English tribes had
receied some Boman influence' through both *arli$e and peaceful contact. Some
borro*ed *ords *ere: camp !7batle 'field-' segn !7banner' mar$' sign-8 *ords reflecting
Boman technical superiority : copor !7cooper-' mil !7mile-' pytt !7pit-' str:t !7street'
road-8 names of ne* $inds of food: cyse !7cheese-' butere !7butter-8 trade and social-
life terms: ceap !7bargain' cattle' goods-' biscop !7bishop-' cirice !7church-' casere
!7emperor-. A second *ae of Aatin Aoans entered 3ld English in &ritain through
,hristianization : altar' angel' candle' deacon' hymn' mon$' martyr' nun' pope' priest'
psalm' $itchen' pear' plant' master' school' erse.
,omparing 3ld English ocabulary *ith the 4iddle English one' *e can say that
there is a most isible difference bet*een these t*o periods: *hile 3ld English internal
*ord-formatie deices satisfied all needs of le2ical noelty' in 4iddle English times
borro*ing came to hae the upper hand. 1he most important loans *ere the French ones.
A fe* French *ords *ere iustise' prisun' canceler' tresor' parais' seinte and lescun. 1hese
French loans coered a lot of domains such as: enironmental-territorial terminology
!coste' lac' mountCin' riDr' illCge' bordDr-' social hierarchy !dame' du$e' noble' people'
paisCnt- ' administration !court' duty' 6ustice' office-' military life !armDe' batCil-' church
life !faith' glorie' grace' seint-' human feelings and behaior !delite' desire' 6oie' doute-'
art and scholar actiity !art' comedie' cronicle' fable' picture-' trades and commerce
!dette' monDy' paymDnt-' ne* fashion !cote' fure' go*ne' robe- and ne* food and
coo$ing !beef' creme' dinDr' sucre-. Flemish' ?utch and Ao* %erman *ords also entered
4iddle English' mainly through commercial relations. 4any of those loans surie in
Present-?ay English: bra$e' curl' pac$' spool' stripe' peg' doc$' freight. 4any loans
reached 4iddle English through intermediaries. 1here *ere Aatin *ords !yrgyll- and
%ree$ *ords !academy' comedy' harmony' tragedy' theatre-. ,oncerning the internal
means of *orld-building continued to create ne* ocabulary in 4iddle English. 4any
3ld English affi2es *ere no longer productie' and aspectie prefi2ation *as less and
less fre;uently resorted to. ,onersion by o*el alternation *as no longer systematic.
4iddle English contained ;uite many products of composition. 4any of them *ere' of
course' 3ld English coinages *hich continued to be used in 4iddle English forms: cf.
,haucers Prologue chirche-dore' cloth-ma$ing' dayesye' nyghtingale' *ode-craft. &ut
deriation remained a capital *ord-building factor in 4iddle English. 1hough a number
of 3ld English affi2es became unproductie during the 4iddle English eolution' many
others retained their creatie capacity. 5e can obsere them already forcing Fr loans to
start ne* families ' on English ground: cf. ,haucers Prologue certeinly' dettelees
!7debtless-' goerning . At the same time' *hen a sufficiently large number of loans
contained a certain affi2' a t*o phased phenomenon usually too$ place: a- first the
functionality of the alien affi2 became isible to English spea$ers' and then b- they could
start producing ne* ocabulary by means of the ne*ly adopted instrument. It is t be
obsered' ho*eer' that the productiity of Aatin-French formants !e.g. prefi2es
de-'dis-'pro-'re-' and suffi2es Eable' -ess' -ment' -ous' -ry' -ty- *as still ery lo* in Aate
4iddle English. 1hat productiity became manifest only in Early 4odern English and
later' as those formants began to be consistently attached to natie terms !cf. 4odern
English disli$e' retell' goddess' laughable-.
&et*een the 0F
th
century and our days the le2icon of English has gro*n
enormously. Ae2ical enrichment has been proided mainly by borro*ing' though internal
*ord-building remained actie too. &orro*ing has brought thousands of ne* *ords from
older sources !Aatin' %ermanic' French-' or from ne* ones !Indian' )atie American'
Bussian-. Aatin 5ords introduced into 4odern English *ere assimilated in seeral *ays:
a- by remoing Aatin endings and shifting the original stress to an initial position !Aat.
consultare < 4nE to consult-8 b- by replacing Aatin endings *ith corresponding ones
already in use in English !Aat.conspicuus < 4ne. conspicuous-8 c- by creating 4odern
English infinities from Aatin participles !Aat.creatus < 4nE create' e2terminatus <
e2terminate' mutatus < mutate-. French remained a ma6or source of loans' the main types
being those of : naturalize' probability' progress' olunteer. Italian *ords *ere borro*ed
either directly !piazza' olcano- or through French !ban$rupt' caalcade' infantry-.
Spanish and Portuguese lent from their natie ocabulary !cargo' negro' barricado-' or
from their colonial stoc$ !cocoa' potato' tobacco- . 4ore recently ' %erman contributed
especially technical terms !cobalt' ;uartz' zeppelin' zinc-. Internal means continued to
produce ne* *ords in 4odern English. 1here is an immense ;uantity of compounds and
deriaties in Sha$espeare: mad-cap' commendable' falsehood' misconstrued.
,ompounds *ere created' became fashionable and general' and suried or eentually
disappeared' in all 4odern English stages8 $no*-ho*' rent-a-car' spaceship' teenage'
*aterproof' are part of G#
th
century English. In deriation suffi2es of 3ld English
e2traction hae decreased in number' but remained productie. A certain ernacularizing
tendency may be detected *ith recent grammarians too' if *e ta$e into account the use of
terms li$e finiteness' mar$edness' or sub6ecthood. Som independent *ords are more and
more fre;uently employed as almost-affi2es' at the uncertain border bet*een composition
and deriation: cameraman' frogman, boy-friend' girl-friend' male student. 5e found
Aatind and French prefi2es and suffi2es li$e: anti- !antibiotic-' de- !to decontaminate-'
dis- !discomfort-' non- !nondurable-' -able !eatable-' -ee !addressee-' -ist ! abolitionist-'
-ize !computerize-. ,onersion in 4odern English is ;uite different fom old %ermanic
formatie part-of-speech shifts based on o*el gradation and mutation. &y mere shifs of
*ord-order' or by analytical appendices !to' of- ' nouns and ad6ecties may become
erbs' erbal forms may be substantiized' etc Abbreiation' a recent influential *ord-
building means' I ery much in $eeping *ith the contemporary need for conciseness.
Seeral types of ne* *ords created by shortening are presented as follo*s: clippings !by
remoal of syllables' especially final: cab < cabriolet' pub < public house' fan < fanatic'
lab < laboratory-' blends !by composition of clippings: flushH fleshIblush' prepH
preparatory school' motel H motorist I hotel- and initials !acronyms: &&,' (SA' BP'
.IP- .
&ibliography:
Poruciuc' Adrian' G##"' A Concise History of English Language' Iasi' Demiurg.
http:JJen.*i$ipedia.orgJ*i$iJKistoryLofLtheLEnglishLlanguage