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词汇学论文thedevelopmentofenglishwords
2011-2012学年第二学期词汇学论文
ThedevelopmentofEnglishwords
Abstract
Wordisthemostimportantpartoflanguage,andalsoistheproductandreflectionofthedevelopmentoflanguage.TheEnglishwordschangewiththedevelopmentofthesocietywhichresultsintheappearanceofalargenumberofnewEnglishwords.ThispaperliststhereasonsoftheEnglishwords’developmentandthewaysofthedevelopment.
Keywords:
Englishwords,development,change
1.Introduction
ThehistoryoftheEnglishlanguagereallystartedwiththearrivalofthreeGermanictribeswhoinvadedBritainduringthe5thcenturyAD.Thesetribes,theAngles,theSaxonsandtheJutes,crossedtheNorthSeafromwhattodayisDenmarkandnorthernGermany.AtthattimetheinhabitantsofBritainspokeaCelticlanguage.ButmostoftheCelticspeakerswerepushedwestandnorthbytheinvaders-mainlyintowhatisnowWales,ScotlandandIreland.TheAnglescamefromEnglandandtheirlanguagewascalledEnglish-fromwhichthewordsEnglandandEnglisharederived.
2.Thereasonsofthedevelopment
2.1scienceandtechnology
ThedevelopmentofthescienceandtechnologyprovidethemostabundantsourceofEnglishwords.Asthescienceandtechnologydevelop,newwordsareusedtoexpressnewconcepts,newtechniquesaswellasnewinventions.Astheyhavedevelopedrapidlyduringthelastfewyears,newwordsandexpressionshavebeencoinedoneafteranother.
Spacetravelhasmanylinguisticdiscoveriestomake.Interestingly,therehasbeenatendencytocoinnicesimplewordsandphraseslike:
spacesuit,heat-shield,splash-down,linkup,moonscape,lunar,module,rendezvous,lunarrover,mooncraft,spacestation,satellite,cosmonaut,moonquake,readout,blackhole,lunarmodule,biologicalclock.
Thedevelopmentofcomputerandinternettechnologyhasproducedanewvocabularyoftheirown.Forexample,program-whichhasbeenadoptedtodenoteasequenceofinstructionsfedintoacomputeranddesignedtosolveaproblemorattainaspecificresult.Input-whichmeansdataintroducedintoacomputerwornexternaldeviceforstorageorprintingoutorinformationtransferredfromthecomputertoanexternaldeviceforstorageorprintingoutorpunchingout.E-mail–asystemofsendingwrittenmessageelectronicallyfromonecomputertoanother.Hacker-anexpertatprogrammingandsolvingproblemswithacomputer,alsoonewhoillegallygainsaccesstoandsometimestamperswithinformationinacomputersystemespeciallyusingahomecomputer.Informationhighwaymeanssystemofcommunicationlinkingcomputerbyfiber-opticcable.Internet,mouse,download,laptopcomputer,telecomhavebeenusedfrequentlyinourdailylifenowadays.
Inthelate20thcentury,scienceandtechnologyhavebeendevelopedveryquickly,therewerealotofnewcourses,suchasbehaviorscience,psycholinguistics,andbionics.Ecologyreferstothestudyoftherelationshipbetweentheserelationships.Asmoreandmorepeopleareconcernedwiththepreservationoftheenvironmentandnaturalresources,quitealotofwordshaveappearedinthisregard.Forexample,eco-activist,ecocatastrophe,coactivity,ecofreak,ecocrisis,visualpollution,noisepollution,graffitipollution,eco-friendly,planet-friendly,environment-friendly.
Inaddition,fax,laserprinter,walk-lookie,LCDscreen,bullettrain,containership,hovercraft,instantcoffee,photocopier,overheadprojector,groundzero,strobelightetc.,wehavenotheardofthosewords50yearsago,butnowtheyhavebecomecommonwords.
2.2politicsandeconomics
Withthehappeningofworldpoliticalaffairs,manynewwordsappeared.Fastdevelopment,simplificationandvividnessarethemaincharacteristics.PoliticalchangesandpoliticalneedshavesuppliedtheEnglishvocabularywithgreatquantitiesofnewwordsandexpressions:
shuttlediplomacy(internationalnegotiationsconductedbyamediatorwhofrequentlyfliesbackandforthbetweenthenegotiatingparties),mini-summit,junglewar,Euro,hotline(adirecttelephonelinebetweentwoofficials),hard-liner,kingmaker(animportantpersonwhocanbringleaderstopowerthroughtheexerciseofpoliticalinfluence)tonamejustafew.
BecausethesovietUnionandtheUnitedStateshavebeenopposedtoeachother,suchwordsascoldwar,armracehadcomeintoplay.SomepresidentsoftheWesterncountrieshadcarriedouttheirspecificpolicies,whichalsoaddedtotheEnglishvocabulary.Forexample,blairism,bushusm.ThepoliticaldisorderandconfusionoftheUnitedstatesalsocontributedtotheEnglishvocabulary,suchassit-in(aformofcivildisobedienceinwhichdemonstratorsoccupyseatsandrefusetomove),swim-in,teach-in(anextendedsessionasonacollegecampusforlecturesanddiscussiononanimportantandusuallycontroversialissue).Inaddition,hundredsofeuphemismshavesprunguptocopewithpoliticallyincorrectvocabulary.Thefactoryfiredworkersbecome“downsizing”,andtheworkerswithoutworkbecome“layoff”.Apersonwhoisveryshortiscalled“verticallychallenged”,andamentallydisabledpersoniscalled“mentallychallenged”.Thosearetheso-calledpoliticallycorrectwords.
In1972,theWatergatescandalhappenedintheUnitedStates,fromthenon,peoplebegantocallscandalwiththesuffixes“gate”.Forexample,afamousHongKongsuperstarEdisonChenhasbeeninvolvedintonudepicturescandal.Alotofnudepictureshavebeenspreadwidelyontheinternet.Itwaslikeastoneputintothequietlakeanditwasquitethought-provoking.Peoplecallit“RacyPhotogate”
Furthermore,asmoreandmorewomenhavetakenupactivitiesformerlyreservedformen,moreneutraljobtitleshavebeencreated.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesthatcanbeusedfor
bothgenders,especiallyintheUnitedStates.Chairman-chairperson,chairwoman,foreman-supervision,policeman-policeofficer,fireman-firefighter,juryforeman-juryforeperson.Itreflectsthefeminismtosomeextent.
2.3cultureandeducation,sportsandentertainment
IntherapiddevelopmentofEnglishvocabulary,thefactorsofculturecannotbeneglected.Therearealotofnewwordsabouteducation,suchas:
openuniversity,alternativeschool.Thechangingofteachingmethodhasalsobroughtaboutmanynewwords.Ithasbeenchangedfromteacher-centeredtostudents-centered.
Theentertainmentalsocreatedmanynewwords,call-in,hotline,talkshow,daytimesoapoperaandchannelswimmer.Therearemanynewprogramsinthefieldofsports,andhassuppliedtheEnglishvocabularywithgreatquantityofnewwordsandexpression.Rollerhockey,surf-riding,sky-riding,tonamejustafew.Byreasonofcontactwiththeoutsideworld,orconstantrepresentationinfictionandthepress,somejargonsofsportshaveriseninstatusandbecomepartofstandardspeech.Forexample,playwith(cooperate),straightfromtheshoulder(directly),behindtheeightball(indisadvantageousposition).
3.Thewaysofthedevelopment
3.1Createneologisms
Neologismsarenewlycoinedwordsorwordsthataregivennewmeaningtofitnewsituationbecauseofsocial,economic,political,cultural,scientificandtechnicalchangesinhumansociety.Inshort,neologismsarenewwordsornewmeaningforestablishedword.Theyarealsocalledfashionablewords,thatis,thenewlypopularandmuchusedwords.
3.2Word-formation
(1)Derivationoraffixation
Derivationoraffixationisaword-formationprocessbytheadditionofawordelement,suchasaprefix,suffixorcombiningform,toanalreadyexistingword.Itissubdividedintoprefixationandsuffixation.Awordformedinthiswayiscalledaderivative.E.g.usestheprefixation:
micro→microwave;anti→antiparticle;super→superstar;usesthesuffixation:
-phonic---periphonic,一cide---ecocide
(2)Blending
Itisaprocessofword-formationinwhichanewwordisformedbycombiningthemeaningsandsoundsoftwowords,oneofwhichisnotinitsfullformorbothofwhicharenotintheirfullforms;awordformedinthiswayiscalledablendandmostofwhicharejournalisticcoinagesandshort-livednovelties.E.g.communication+satellite=comsat;air+hotel=airtel;Chinese+English=Chinglish
(3)Clipping
Thedeletionofoneormoresyllablefromaword.E.g.ad=advertisement;flu=influenza;homo=homosexuality
(4)Acronymy
Usingthefirstlettersofwordstoformnewunit.E.g.WWW=WorldWideWeb;CEO=ChiefExecutiveOfficer;
(5)Compoundingorcomposition
Compoundingorcompositionisaword–formationprocessconsistingofjoiningtwoormorebasestoformanewunit,acompoundword(acompound).E.g.moonwalk→awalkonthemoon;test-tubebaby;summertime;take-off;halfwayhouse
(6)Neoclassicalformation
Itistheword-formationprocessbywhichnewwordsareformedfromelementsderivedfromLatinandGreek.E.g.telephone
Themajorityofsuchwordsarescientificandtechnical.E.g.centisecond(n.)“ISV”…onehundredthofasecond
(7)Reduplication
Itisaprocessofwordformationbywhichacompoundwordisformedbytherepetition.E.g.go-go;tick-tick;zigzag;clever-cleve…
3.3Oldwordswithnewmeaning
Thevocabularyisthemostunstableelementofalanguageasitisundergoingconstantchangesbothinthesign-shapesandsigncontents.Comparatively,thelatterisevenmoreunstablethantheformer.Changinginwordmeaninghasneverceasedsincethebeginningoflanguageand
willcontinueinthefuture.Yetnoonehasbeenabletosystemizethewaysinwhichchangesoccur.Empiricalstudieshaveidentifiedafewpatternsthatchangesfollow.Thischapterwilldiscussinsomedetailthemajorpatterns,themechanismunderlyingthesepatternsandthecausesofchange.
(1)Extensionofmean