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The history of words

Subject: Linguistics
Teacher: Mareco María Alejandra
Student: Caballero Carabajal Juan Alejandro
Year: 2021

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Index
Abstract..............................................................................................................................3
Introduction.......................................................................................................................3
Bibliography review..........................................................................................................4
Findings/Results................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................6
Bibliography......................................................................................................................7

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Abstract.
The following research work was made as a main request to allow the students sit
for the final exam of “Linguistics”, curricular space dictated by the teacher
Mareco, María Alejandra. It was carried out by the student Caballero Carabajal,
Juan Alejandro.
The main topic of the research work has called my attention since it may be
important to know how the words spoken today were not the same ten, fifty or a
thousand years ago. Also, to realise that it may not be the same in sixty or two
hundred years from now due to the constant revolution society goes through.
English has evolved through generation of speakers undergoing major changes
over time. The English we speak today, varies, in some ways, to the one spoken
hundreds of years ago.
Undoing the changes the language has suffered, we can trace it from the present
day and have a better understanding of the reasons why certain words sound the
way they do, or have a specific meaning and no other. It will help us, students of
the English language, have a wider view and comprehension on the matter and be
able to pass this knowledge on to those who are passionate about learning and
improve another aspect on the process of acquiring a second or third language.

Introduction.

Language and especially English, is at the centre of human life. We use it


to express emotions, to study different careers, for artistic purposes or just
for pleasure, so it is not strange that it has become a subject of interest
since it is the global language many people choose. From country to
country, English has different levels of consideration starting from learning
it for pleasure up to getting prestigious jobs and careers. However, what
most people do not realize is that English has adopted enormous number of
words from various countries since the imperialism and trade appeared.
Before the 20th century, linguists analysed language on a diachronic plane,
that is, an analysis of how words had changed between then and later. All
this according to how society reacted to different socio-economic situation
and cultural transformations.
The research work aims to summarize not only how a variety of historical
events took place along the centuries and changed the language, but also

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the different ways possible there are to add new morphemes, lexemes,
phrases, expressions, etc.

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Bibliography review.

English spoken evolution started from the 5th century, beginning with waves of
attack and eventual occupation by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians. Their
interaction in a West Germanic tongue but different dialects created a new
Germanic language now known as Anglo-Saxon or Old English.
Old Norse came into contact some centuries later when the Vikings arrived
around the centuries 8th, 9th and 10th. The combination English and Viking would
become one of the pillars to establish a spoken English and the basis for the
varying English dialects today.
Around the 11th century the Norman invasion brough a mix of languages
including Frankish (northern French dialect), Old Norse, and Flemish. They kept
the basic structure of the English language. During the Middle English period
around 10,000 words were introduced. Vocabulary related to administration,
parliament, government the legal profession and the crown were some of the
categories adding new words. Food production also made the way to be added to
the language so did words beginning with some prefixes such as “con”, “de”,
“dis” and “en”. Also, words ending in “age” and “ence”. Some examples of the
words are beef, por, herb, juice, conceal, continue, demand, encounter,
disengage, engage, courage, language, commence, etc.
Greek and Latin-based words entered the language in The English Renaissance
when William Shakespeare wrote many plays including Romeo and Juliet, The
Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar and Two Gentlemen of Verona. He was
greatly helped by English poets, authors and playwrights.
Elizabethan exploration, privateering and piracy was another source for English
vocabulary bringing new expressions from the Spanish and Portuguese.
Caribbean and Native American words came into the language as well.
As The Victorian empire along with the Tudor and Stuart’s exploration began
going worldwide produced a new wave of concepts added to the language such
as landscape, scone, avast, easel, sketch and more from the Netherlands.
The power the British empire embraced the evolution of English, common Indian
words came in contact and became part of the vocabulary.
On last major event but not least important happened, here talking about the 20 th
century and which has its continuity to the present days; the influence America
has over, not only England but across the globe. American literature became
more popular so did films, songs, music and dance; all of them broadcasted on
television and over internet. Aforementioned influence, has taken over the entire

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world and goes on nowadays changing the way we speak, even in our mother
tongue in which famous common phrases are pronounced.

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Language is a contract in which people agree to understand each other, so we are
responsible of adding new words to it. There are several ways vocabulary comes
into the language and those apply to any language. According to some videos
(BIBLIOGRAPHY) a lexicographer explains how words become part of the
language, these are:
 Borrowing words from other languages (Stilling words)
 Compounding: joining two words.
 Blending: joining words but leaving aside some letters.
 Functional swift: changing the part of speech a word belongs to and
placing it in another. For instance, changing a verb into a noun
 Back formation: cutting down some parts of the words.
 Take the first letter of something and put them together
Other ways in which words can be brought into the language can be:
 Science and technology: introducing taking words all over the world and
countries making small changes to them.
 When words come to be understood the opposite of their original meaning
by the use of irony, metaphor or misuse
All these words and processes and many others for which a language gets
enriched show not only the way our world works but how human communicate
and express themselves.

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Findings/Results

In accordance with the websites and videos consulted and in addition to the text
provided by the teacher in charge “Linguistics for everyone” we have come to
realize the development and changes the language has suffer along the centuries.
The history has been traced from the beginning of the history of English from
The British Isles to its outburst worldwide. How different historical events
produced a swift in the way people live and communicate, going, the language,
through three major stages: an Old English, Middle English and Early Modern
English. Aforementioned stages brought key shifts and variation into contact and
without them, English would not be the same we know today.
What is more, it has been added the ways people find to enter or create new
words and concepts, being some of them: borrowing words from other languages,
blending the existing ones, breaking down existing ones by back formation,
putting together by compounding and others; expanding the universe of
possibilities for people to communicate across the globe using a unified and
unique lingua franca.

Conclusion

Throughout the research work presented, I have come to a conclusion that


knowing how the language I am speaking and teaching has evolved greatly along
the centuries and how, nowadays, it continues that changing process. May be,
some decades from now, our students or future students will be reading how we,
in 2021, dealt with all the new concepts coming into English with the advance of
technology or the outbreak of new viruses and vaccines.
All the relevant aspects mentioned in the research work overview the main events
occurred in the old continent and how those occurrences impacted, cause or
generate, despite the many similarities there with other languages due to their
common roots, a unique and extraordinary language.

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Bibliography

 https://www.historyextra.com/period/norman/how-english-language-evolved-
inkhorn-controversy-shakespeare-phrases-in-use-today-who-invented-english/
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMUv6UWkuWw
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytr28t5VzAs
 Linguistics for everyone an introduction by Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck

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