Morphology and lexicology

Morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit in a language (e.g., un-, book, -s).

Free Morpheme

A morpheme that can stand alone as a word (e.g., book).

Bound Morpheme

A morpheme that cannot stand alone (e.g., -s, un-).

Allomorph

Variant forms of a morpheme depending on phonological context (e.g., a/an, -s in cats, dogs).

Affix

A bound morpheme added to a root (e.g., prefix, suffix, infix).

Complex Word

A word formed by adding affixes to a root (e.g., unhappy, visitor).

Derived Word

A word formed by adding affixes, often changing its meaning or class (e.g., happiness from happy).

Compound Word

A word formed by combining two free morphemes (e.g., toothbrush, blackbird).

Simple Word

A word consisting of a single free morpheme with no affixes (e.g., banana, wild).

Word Family

A group of related words sharing a common root (e.g., act, acting, action).

Productivity (of an affix)

The extent to which an affix is used to form new words.

Frequency (of an affix)

How often an affix appears in existing words.

Primary Stress in Compounds

In English, stress typically falls on the first word in compound nouns (e.g., BLACKbird vs. black BIRD).

Syllable vs. Morpheme

A syllable is a unit of sound, while a morpheme is a unit of meaning. They may not align (e.g., "unhappiness" has three syllables but only two morphemes).

Lexicology

The study of words, including their structure, meaning, usage, and history.

Lexicon

The mental or actual list of words in a language.

Vocabulary

The words known and used by a speaker or group.

Lexis

Another term for the vocabulary of a language.

Lexicographic Compilation

The process of compiling dictionaries based on lexicological principles.

Folk Etymology

Words reshaped into more familiar forms due to mistaken analysis (e.g., sparrowgrass for asparagus).

Etymology

The study of the historical origin and development of words.

Field Theory (in Lexicology)

Concerned with semantic fields (groupings of related words) rather than word families.

Syntax

Rules governing sentence structure.

Word Class (Part of Speech)

A grammatical category, such as noun, verb, adjective.

Closed Word Class

A category of words that rarely expands (e.g., pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions).

Open Word Class

A category of words that can easily expand (e.g., nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs).

Function Words

Words that have grammatical roles, such as prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns (e.g., in, and, he).

Grammatical Words

Synonym for function words.

Content Words

Words that carry lexical meaning (e.g., cat, run, happy).

Determiners

Function words that modify nouns (e.g., the, some, every).

Auxiliary Verbs

Helping verbs that aid main verbs (e.g., is, will, have).

Closed-Class Adverbs

Fixed adverbs that rarely change (e.g., now, there).

Semantics

The study of meaning in language.

Sentence Semantics

The study of meaning at the sentence level.

Pragmatic Semantics

The study of meaning in context, focusing on how language is used in communication.

Philosophical Semantics

Explores the abstract nature and logic of meaning.

Syntagmatic Relations

Word relationships in sequences (e.g., "the pale moon").

Paradigmatic Relations

Substitutable word relationships, such as different verb forms (e.g., ran, walked, rushed).

Associative Relations

Conceptual links between words (e.g., hospital → nurse, doctor).

Semantic Field (Lexical Field)

A group of semantically related words (e.g., colors, emotions).

Collocational Range

Typical co-occurrence patterns of words (e.g., catch a cold, not an illness).

Old English (450-1066)

The earliest stage of English, influenced by Germanic tribes.

1. Origins and Early Texts

• Earliest OE evidence: 5th–6th century runic inscriptions by Anglo-Saxons (limited linguistic info).

• Literary development began with Christian missionaries in AD 597.

• Earliest manuscripts (~700 AD): Latin-OE glossaries, early poems, inscriptions.

• Beowulf: most important OE literary work (c. 1000), survives in a single manuscript.

2. Influence of King Alfred

• King Alfred (849–899) promoted Latin-to-OE translations (e.g. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History).

• Most OE texts postdate his reign.

• Total OE corpus is small: ~3.5 million words (~30 novels).

3. Orthography and Spelling

• OE alphabet was similar to modern English but lacked some modern letters (e.g. j, v, q, x, z).

• Used Roman numerals and digraphs (e.g. th, ea).

• No standardized spelling; even a single scribe showed variation.

4. Vocabulary and Lexicon

• Prose vocabulary often resembles Modern English; poetic vocabulary more distinct.

• Some words have similar forms but different meanings (false friends):

  • wif = any woman

  • fæst = firm/fixed

  • sona = immediately

• OE built many compound words (productive word formation).

5. Kennings

• Kennings: compound metaphorical expressions (e.g. whale-road = sea).

• Used for poetic imagery and metrical/alliterative structure.

• Synonym richness and poetic creativity made interpretation difficult.

6. Lexical and Structural Features

• Five major differences from Modern English:

  1. High use of synonyms and compounds.

  2. Limited loanwords; relied on native word formation.

  3. Frequent calques (loan translations) from Latin.

     • E.g. foresetnys (preposition), anhorn (unicorn).

  4. Grammatical meaning conveyed via inflectional endings, not word order.

     • Inflections faded due to stress on initial syllables.

  5. About 85% of OE vocabulary is now obsolete.

     • Only ~3% were loanwords, unlike Modern English’s 70%+.

7. External Influences

• Viking invasions (8th–9th centuries) significantly impacted OE vocabulary.

Middle English (1066-1500)

Developed after the Norman conquest, with heavy French influence.

Here are the key points from 2.2.2 The Middle English Period (1066–1500):

1. Documentation and Records

• Middle English (ME) has much richer documentation than Old English (OE).

• Increase due to centralized monarchy's surveys and record keeping.

• Early records mostly in Latin or French; English appears more in the 13th century.

• Large increase in translated texts and language teaching materials in the 14th century, especially up to the 1430s.

2. Literary Development

• ME poetry was influenced by French literature in both style and content.

• Early ME literature often anonymous.

• Named authors emerged in the late 14th century:

  • John Gower

  • William Langland

  • John Wycliff

  • Geoffrey Chaucer

  • Later: Scottish Chaucerians

• This literary body bridges ME and Early Modern English.

3. Spelling and Orthography

• Spelling variation was greater than in OE.

  • Example: naure, noeure, ner, neure = neuer ("never").

• Odd spellings often reflect pronunciations close to modern forms:

  • cyrceiaerd ≈ churchyard

  • altegaedere ≈ altogether

  • laeiden ≈ laid

• Spelling evolved toward Modern English forms over time.

4. Vocabulary and Borrowing

• ME is marked by extensive borrowing, especially from French after the Norman Conquest (1066).

• French-English bilingualism led to massive influx of French loanwords.

• Vocabulary composition shift:

  • Early ME: >90% native English

  • Late ME: ~75% native, rest largely French

• Word formation (e.g., compounding, affixation) continued and expanded from OE practices.

Early Modern English (1500-1800)

Period marked by Renaissance influence, printing, and standardization.

1. Period Definition and Printing

• The Early Modern English (EModE) period bridges Middle and Modern English.

• No fixed start date, but 1476 (Caxton's printing press) is often used.

• Printing revolution:

  • Standardized spelling and pronunciation.

  • Increased written output and literacy.

  • Widely circulated texts fostered language development.

2. The Renaissance Influence (c.1450–1650)

• Revived interest in classical languages and knowledge.

• Impact of:

  • Protestant Reformation.

  • Scientific discoveries.

  • Global exploration (Africa, Asia, Americas).

• Vocabulary expansion through:

  • Borrowings from European languages.

  • Direct/indirect loans from colonized regions.

  • Massive Latin and Greek influence, especially in science, medicine, theology.

3. Lexical Expansion and Criticism

• Rapid vocabulary growth drew criticism from language purists:

  • Opposed foreign borrowings.

  • Tried to revive dialect words or coin new English terms.

  • Aim: make English suitable for intellectual and public life.

• Despite resistance, foreign loanwords dominated—the key lexical feature of the Renaissance.

4. Key Literary Influences

• William Shakespeare (1564–1616):

  • Helped shape vocabulary, syntax, word formation, and usage.

  • Introduced/popularized thousands of words.

• King James Bible (1611):

  • Intended for dignified, conservative style.

  • Minimal word invention, but many lasting idioms/phrases (e.g. a wolf in sheep's clothing, salt of the earth).

5. Peak of Lexical Growth

• 1530–1660: Fastest vocabulary growth in English history.

• Involved:

  • Massive borrowing.

  • Word formation from native sources.

  • Significant semantic shifts (old words, new meanings).

• Critics feared the language was becoming chaotic and called for standardization.

6. Standardization Efforts

• Unlike France/Italy, no official language academy in Britain or the U.S.

• Instead, grammars, spelling guides, and dictionaries were produced to establish norms.

• Public concern helped push the movement for consistency and stability in English.

7. Development of English Dictionaries

• 1582: Richard Mulcaster proposed a comprehensive English dictionary.

• 1604: Robert Cawdrey published first dictionary of 'hard words' (~3000 entries).

• 1721: Nathaniel Bailey’s Universal Etymological English Dictionary improved detail but lacked usage guidance.

• 1755: Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary:

  • First authoritative lexicon.

  • Fewer but more carefully selected entries.

  • Included grammar, language history, and a descriptive approach.

  • Shifted lexicography from prescription to description.

  • Dominated the market for decades and marked a turning point.

Modern English (1800-present)

1. Gradual Transition

• Transition from Early Modern to Modern English was gradual and hard to pinpoint.

• Words changed meaning slowly over time, making boundaries hard to define.

2. Key Lexical Features of Modern English

Three main characteristics of Modern English vocabulary:

1. Massive growth of scientific and technical vocabulary.

2. Dominance of American English.

3. Emergence of "New Englishes" across the globe.

3. Scientific and Technical Vocabulary Growth

• Accelerated in the 19th century, driven by:

  • The Industrial Revolution.

  • Scientific discoveries (e.g., Faraday, Darwin).

  • Increasing public education and interest in science.

• Resulted in 'scientific English' as a distinct variety.

• Major developments in fields like chemistry, biology, and physics.

4. American English as a Dominant Force

• Became dominant due to:

  • The USA’s rise as a global economic power.

  • Strong influence on pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

• Differences remain, but convergence with British English is increasing due to:

  • Mass media.

  • Global communications.

  • Cultural exchange.

• Numerical strength: USA has nearly 4x more native English speakers than the UK.

• Together, the US and UK make up 70% of native English speakers globally.

5. Emergence of "New Englishes"

• Result of colonial history and local adaptation.

• Reflect regional languages and cultures.

• Treated as legitimate varieties of English, like British and American English.

• Examples: Indian English, Philippine English, Singapore English, Nigerian English.

• Vocabulary is the most distinctive feature of these varieties.

6. Subject-Specific English Varieties

• Rapid development of specialist vocabularies:

  • New fields: telecommunications, computing.

  • Older fields: religion, law.

• Each domain has its own lexicon and usage norms.

7. Global Spread and Kachru’s Circles Model

• Kachru’s (1983) model divides English-using countries into three circles:

  1. Inner Circle – Native English (e.g. UK, USA, Canada, Australia).

  2. Outer Circle – Post-colonial, English as a second language (e.g. India, Nigeria, Singapore).

  3. Expanding Circle – English as a foreign language, global communication tool (e.g. China, Japan, Poland).

• Fennell (2004): 75 territories give English a special role in society.

West Germanic Branch

The branch of the Indo-European family from which English evolved.

North Germanic Branch

The branch that gave rise to languages like Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic.

Frisian

The language most closely related to English today.

Celts

The earliest known inhabitants of England.

Printing

Helped standardize spelling and pronunciation in Early Modern English

Affixation

Forming new words by adding prefixes or suffixes.

Compounding

Combining two free morphemes to create a new word.

Root Creation

Inventing entirely new words with no prior connection to existing words.

Onomatopoeic Words

Words that imitate natural sounds (e.g., buzz).

Echoic Words

Words that mimic sounds, similar to onomatopoeia.

Ejaculations

Instinctive vocal reactions or exclamations (e.g., oh!, ugh!).

King Alfred

Promoted English literacy and arranged Latin works to be translated into Old English.

Beowulf

A famous Old English heroic poem, written around 1000.

King James Bible

A major influence on the English language during the Renaissance.

Early modern English translation of Bible, 1611, commissioned by King James VI.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (1755)

The first authoritative English dictionary

New Englishes

Varieties of English that developed in post-colonial contexts.

Inner Circle

Countries where English is the native language (e.g., UK, USA, Australia).

Outer Circle

Countries where English serves institutional roles in a multilingual setting (e.g., India, Nigeria).

Expanding Circle

Countries where English is taught as a foreign language (e.g., China, Japan).

American English

A globally influential variety, especially in vocabulary and pronunciation.

Affix

A morpheme added to a root to change its meaning or grammatical role.

Prefix/Suffix

Affixes added at the beginning or end of a word.

Function Words

Words with grammatical roles (e.g., prepositions, pronouns).

Content Words

Words that carry lexical meaning (e.g., nouns, verbs).

Closed-Class Words

Categories that rarely accept new members (e.g., determiners).

Open-Class Words

Categories open to new entries (e.g., adjectives, nouns).

Auxiliary Verbs

Helping verbs used with main verbs (e.g., is, have).

Lexical Field (Semantic Field)

A group of related words based on shared meaning (e.g., colors).

Paradigmatic Relations

Relationships between words that can substitute for each other (e.g., ran/walked).

Syntagmatic Relations

Relationships between words that co-occur in sequences.

Syntagmatic Associations

Common pairings of words in usage (e.g., strong coffee).

Collocational Range

The set of words that typically appear with another word.

Semantic Contrast

The difference between meanings of related words.

Sentence Semantics

The study of meaning at the sentence level.

Pragmatic Semantics

The study of meaning in context and use.

Philosophical Semantics

Explores abstract questions about meaning and reference.

Expanding Circle

Countries where English is taught as a foreign language (e.g., China, Japan).

Outer Circle

Countries where English is an official or second language (e.g., India, Nigeria).

Inner Circle

Countries where English is the native language (e.g., New Zealand, UK).

Anglo-Saxon Words

Short, frequent, concrete, emotive, and native words in English.

French & Latin Borrowings

Often longer, more abstract, and more precise than Anglo-Saxon words.

Triplets

Words that come from borrowing at different times or languages (e.g., ask/question/interrogate).

Renaissance

Marked by heavy foreign borrowing, especially from Latin and Greek.

Middle English

Borrowing from Norman French and Central French.

1. Documentation and Records

• Middle English (ME) has much richer documentation than Old English (OE).

• Increase due to centralized monarchy's surveys and record keeping.

• Early records mostly in Latin or French; English appears more in the 13th century.

• Large increase in translated texts and language teaching materials in the 14th century, especially up to the 1430s.

2. Literary Development

• ME poetry was influenced by French literature in both style and content.

• Early ME literature often anonymous.

• Named authors emerged in the late 14th century:

  • John Gower

  • William Langland

  • John Wycliff

  • Geoffrey Chaucer

  • Later: Scottish Chaucerians

• This literary body bridges ME and Early Modern English.

3. Spelling and Orthography

• Spelling variation was greater than in OE.

  • Example: naure, noeure, ner, neure = neuer ("never").

• Odd spellings often reflect pronunciations close to modern forms:

  • cyrceiaerd ≈ churchyard

  • altegaedere ≈ altogether

  • laeiden ≈ laid

• Spelling evolved toward Modern English forms over time.

4. Vocabulary and Borrowing

• ME is marked by extensive borrowing, especially from French after the Norman Conquest (1066).

• French-English bilingualism led to massive influx of French loanwords.

• Vocabulary composition shift:

  • Early ME: >90% native English

  • Late ME: ~75% native, rest largely French

• Word formation (e.g., compounding, affixation) continued and expanded from OE practices.

Old English

Predominantly native words with limited Latin borrowings.

Scandinavian Influence

Seen in everyday words like "they."

Root Creation

The invention of entirely new words (coinage).

Nonce Word

A word coined for a single occasion.

Calques

Loan translations, direct translations from another language.

Borrowing

The process by which English has borrowed words from many languages, such as French, Arabic, and Hebrew.

Acronym

A word made from the initial letters of a phrase, pronounced as a single word (e.g., NASA, UNESCO).

Initialism/Alphabetism

A set of initials pronounced separately (e.g., FBI, BBC).

Clipping

A shortened version of a word, retaining its meaning (e.g., fridge from refrigerator).

Aphetic Form

A form of clipping where the unstressed initial syllable is dropped (e.g., cause from because).

Blend

A word formed by merging parts of two existing words (e.g., motel from motor + hotel).