On the Reasons of Rapid Development of English Vocabulary—现代英语词汇迅速发展的原因探究.doc

现代英语词汇迅速发展的原因探究on the reasons of rapid development of english vocabularyacknowledgements the existence of this thesis owes much to mrs. z. she has given me the most patient instructions during the busiest time she has ever had, and for the encouragements and trust she has placed on me. whats more, i will extend my thanks to all of the leaders and teachers who have taught us during these four years in school of foreign languages and have supplied us with the most convenient faculties, which helps me to finish my first english thesis smoothly.in addition, i would like to thank all my enthusiastic classmates who have given me lots of advice and inspirations. last but not least, my appreciation will go to the evaluation panel of theses that keep their close eyes to the development of our theses. thanks a lot!摘要现代英语，尤其是现代英语词汇发展非常迅速。据统计,目前世界上英语的词汇量最大,现代英语词汇发展迅速的原因主要是随着科学技术的飞速发展，不断产生新兴学科，带来大量新的英语词汇。政治经济形势的千变万化、社会生活和世界局势的迅速发展和变化 , 需要不断的创造新的单词及词组来满足这些变化，因此英语词汇量在不断地发展扩大。英语词汇产生和发展的途径主要有创造全新单词、利用构词法产生新词、旧词新义和外来语的借入四个方面。学习者通过对英语词汇发展原因的了解可以进一步了解英语单词的结构 ,对理解记忆单词有所裨益,可以更好地掌握英语这门语言。关键词：词汇；本族语；外来词；构词法abstractmodern english, especially modern english vocabulary, develops very quickly. the reasons for some changes are relatively obvious. for example, the rapid development of science and technology has led to the creation of many new words. in addition, the development of international trade and finance, social and political changes and political needs have supplied the english vocabulary with great quantities of new words and expressions. furthermore, some social activities have brought about many new words. in order to suit this new situation, people have created numerous new words. the development of new english words depends chiefly on the channels of word creation, word formation, semantic changes and word borrowing. it is good for english learners to keep up with the development of english new words.key words: vocabulary; native words, borrowed words, word formation.contentsacknowledgementsiabstract (chinese)iiabstract iiitable of contentsivpart one introduction11.1 research background11.2 motivations and objectives1part two reasons of rapid development of english vocabulary22.1 the influence of science and technology22.2 the influence of politics 32.3 international trade and finance 42.4 culture factors and changes of social fashion 4part three methods of vocabulary development 5 3.1 word formation 53.2 semantic changes 63.3 word creation 73.4 word borrowing 8part four conclusion9notes10bibliography1110part one introduction 1.1 research background language is a mirror reflecting the culture of a society. with the development of the society, almost all living languages are in a state of continuous change. as one of the main communication languages in the world, english not only changes, but also changes quickly. the most active and apparent changes of english can be seen in its vocabulary.the english language has a vocabulary of more than 1million. the term vocabulary usually refers to a complete inventory of the words in a language. but it may also refer to the words and phrases used in the variants of a language, such as dialect, register, terminology, etc. the english vocabulary is characterized by a mixture of native words and borrowed words. since the second world war, the english-speaking countries have experienced great changes in politics, economy, culture, education and other fields. consequently, modern english has changed a lot, especially its vocabulary.1.2 motivations and objectivesthis article shows the main reasons of development on english vocabulary. the reasons for some changes are relatively obvious. for example, the rapid development of science and technology has led to the creation of many new words. in addition, the instability of the world situation and politics in different countries and political needs have supplied the english vocabulary with great quantities of new words and expressions. furthermore, some social activities have brought about many new words. last but not the least important, the development of international trade and finance have also added many new words to the english vocabulary. this all motivated me to explore more about the reasons of the rapid development of english vocabulary. in addition, the ways that english new words developed also arouse my interest. the development of english new words depends chiefly on the channels of word creation, word formation, semantic changes and word borrowing. i aim to better my english by studying reasons and ways of the development of new words.part two reasons of the development of new words2.1 the influence of science and technologyas science and technology develop, new words are used to express new concepts, new techniques as well as new inventions. as they have developed more rapidly during the last 50 years, new words and expressions have been coined one after another.space travel, more novel still than nuclear reactors 50 years ago, has many linguistic discoveries to make. interestingly, there has been a tendency to coin nice simple words and phrases like: space suit, heat-shield, splash-down, linkup, moonscape, lunar, module, rendezvous, lunar rover, moon craft, space station, satellite, cosmonaut , moonquake, readout, black hole, lunar module, biological clock. the development of computer and internet technology has produced a new vocabulary of their own. for example, program- which has been adopted to denote a sequence of instructions fed into a computer and designed to solve a problem or attain a specific result. input- which means data introduced into a computer worn external source. output means processed data or information transferred from the computer to an external device for storage or printing out or punching out. email - a system of sending written message electronically from one computer to another. hacker - an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer, also one who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system especially using a home computer. information highway means system of communication linking computer by fiber-optic cable. internet, mouse, download, laptop computer, telecom have been used frequently in our daily life nowadays.in the late 20th century, science and technology have been developed very quickly, there were a lot of new courses, such as behavior science, psycholinguistics, cybernetics, and bionics. ecology refers to the study of the relationship between plants, animals, people and their environment, and the balances between these relationships. as more and more people are concerned with the preservation of the environment and natural resources, quite a lot of words have appeared in this regard. for example, eco-activist, ecocide, ecocatastrophe, ecoactivity, ecofreak, ecocrisis, visual pollution, noise pollution, graffiti pollution, eco-friendly, planet- friendly, environment-friendly.in addition, fax, laser printer，walkie-lookie, lcd screen, bullet train, containership, hovercraft, instant coffee, photocopier, overhead projector, ground zero, strobe light etc, we have not heard of those words 50 years ago, but now they have become common words.2.2 the influence of politicswith the happening of world political affairs, many new words appeared. fast development, simplification and vividness are the main characteristics. political changes and political needs have supplied the english vocabulary with great quantities of new words and expressions: shuttle diplomacy (international negotiations conducted by a mediator who frequently flies back and forth between the negotiating parties), mini-summit, jungle war, euro, hot line (a direct telephone line between two officials), hard-liner, kingmaker (an important person who can bring leaders to power through the exercise of political influence) to name just a few.because the soviet union and the united states have long been opposed to each other, such words as cold war, arm race had come into play. some presidents of the western countries had carried out their specific policies, which also added to the english vocabulary. for example, blairism, bushism. the political disorder and confusion of the united states also contributed to the english vocabulary, such as sit-in (a form of civil disobedience in which demonstrators occupy seats and refuse to move), swim-in, teach-in (an extended session as on a college campus for lectures and discussion on an important and usually controversial issue). in addition, hundreds of euphemisms have sprung up to cope with politically incorrect vocabulary. the factory fired workers become “downsizing”，and the workers without work become “layoff”. a person who is very short is called “vertically challenged”, and a mentally disabled person is called “mentally challenged”. those are the so-called politically correct words.in 1972, the watergate scandal happened in the united states, from then on, people began to call scandals with the suffixes “gate”. for example, recently, a famous hong kong superstar edison chen has been involved into nude picture scandal. a lot of nude pictures have been spread widely on the internet. it was like a stone put into the quiet lake and it was quite thought-provoking. people call it “racy photogate” (艳照门).furthermore, as more and more women have taken up activities formerly reserved for men, more neutral job titles have been created. the following are some examples that can be used for both genders, especially in the united states. chairman-chairperson, chairwoman, foreman supervisor, policeman police officer, fireman fire fighter, jury foreman jury foreperson. it reflects the feminism to some extent.2.3 the development of international trade and finance with the rapid booming of international trade and finance and the globalization, there are a lot of economic organizations, the english language has adopted many new words to fit the change. some of them are famous worldwide. world trade organization, organization of petrol exporting countries. in order to fasten the economic connection among the countries, the european union created euro. in order to meet the needs of the modern economy, banking has been adopted electronic fund transfer, at the mean time, users can withdraw money at the automatic teller machine without the help of officers. it is very convenient. many words related to economy have been used frequently, such as, siege economics, bear market, unit pricing, income gap, income inequality. in the english language, there are many ways to talk about “money”. for example, penny, quarter, dime, nickel, pound, exchange, draft, interest, pin money, change, currency, note, cash, check, bucks and coin. we care about the economic growth, the gdp and the gnp.2.4 culture and the changes of social fashion in the rapid development of english vocabulary, the factors of culture can not be neglected. there are a lot of new words about education, such as: open university, alternative school. the changing of teaching method has also brought about many new words. it has been changed from teacher-centered to students-centered. the entertainment also created many new words, call-in, hot line, talk show, daytime soap opera, and channel swimmer. there are many new programs in the field of sports, and has supplied the english vocabulary with great quantity of new words and expressions. roller hockey, surf-riding, sky riding, to name just a few. by reason of contact with the outside world, or constant representation in fiction and the press, some jargons of sports have risen in status and become part of standard speech. for example, play with (cooperate), straight from the shoulder (directly), behind the eight ball (in disadvantageous position).american labeled the young generation from the hippies of 60s，to the yapese of 70s，to the yuppies of 80s, the lost generation after world war ，to the beat generation after world war . part three methods of vocabulary developmentthe development of english new words depends chiefly on the channels of word formation, semantic changes, word creation and word borrowing. to know the methods of the development of vocabulary also contributes to our knowledge of reasons of new english words.3.1 word formation 3.1.1 affixation the process by which words are formed by adding affixes to a root is called affixation. english affixation can be divided into prefixes and suffixes. affixes that come before the root are called prefixes; those that come after the root are called suffixes. most prefixes when added to words, effect a change in meaning, but without converting one word-class to another (natural- unnatural, like- unlike). some suffixes, when added to words, can transform one word-class into another (laugh-laughable, willing- willingness).3.1.2 conversionconversion means using a form that represents one part of speech as another part of speech without changing the form of the word. in effect, a zero affix is added: for example, someone who can say “the lights gleam in the night”, uses “gleam” as a noun as in a sentence like “i can see the gleam in the night.” a similar process may create verbs out of adjectives. the process of creating new words without adding any affixes is also called zero derivation.3.1.3 compoundingcompounding is a process of word-formation by which two independent words are put together to make one word. words formed by compounding are called compounds. a compound occurs as an inseparable semantic unit that differs in meaning from a free phrase. for example, silence vows, an off-the-cuff opinion, round-the-clock discussion, the ahead-of-schedule general election, a break-in period, take-home pay (the pay left after deductions for taxes and dues and insurance etc), and a keep-fit class, baby-sit (care for children, usually during a short absence of the parents), window-shop (look at displays of goods in store windows without entering the stores to buy anything).3.1.4 back- formationback- formation is a process of word-formation by which a word is created by the deletion of a supposed affix. it is also known as a reverse derivation. this means that a derived form has preceded the word from which it is derived. thus editor entered the language before edit, automation before automate, enthusiasm before enthuse.3.1.5 abbreviation(1) clipped words clipped words are those created by clipping part of a word, leaving only a piece of the old word. the shortening may occur at the beginning of the word, at the end of the word or at both ends of the word. such as telephone - phone, helicopter- copter, modern- mod, professional-pro, detective- tec, refrigerator- fridge. the clipped form is normally regarded as informal.(2) initialismsinitialisms are words formed from the initial letters of words and pronounced as letters: imf= international monetary fund, ioc = international olympic committee, cod= cash on delivery.(3) acronymsacronyms are words formed from the initial letters of words and pronounced as words: nato=north atlantic treaty organization, salt= strategic arms limitation talks.3.1.6 blendingblending is to create a word by combining parts of other words. words formed by blending are known as blends or portmanteaus. blends originally occurred as humorous coinages. but with the passage of time, blending has become one of the important processes of word-formation and provided a considerable number of new words for contemporary english. for example, breakfast + lunch = brunch, twist + whirl =twirl, smoke + fog = smog, car +barbecue = carbecue.3.2 semantic changes 3.2.1 generalization generalization refers to the stretching of meaning. most words begin as specific names for things. with the passage of time, this precise denotation is lost and the words meaning is extended, generalized, or blurred. for example, “picture” once meant only a painted picture, then also a drawing, then a photograph, a tv picture, and now even a radio-telescope picture.3.2.2 specializationspecialization means shrinking of meaning. when a word is equally applicable to a number of different objects which resemble each other in some respects, or to a vague or general category of ideas, it may at any moment become specialized by being used to name one of those objects or to express one of those ideas. the old meaning of “artillery” was “munitions of war”. today it means mounted guns.3.2.3 elevation elevation means the meaning narrows toward a more favorable meaning. for example, “naughty” once meant wicked and depraved. today, it means only mild mischief. “mischief” itself once meant wicked behavior. today it can apply to a merely naughty child.3.2.4 degeneration degeneration means the meaning of a word narrows toward an unfavorable meaning. a “villain”, for example, was originally a man who worked on a farm or villa. such a person was naturally felt by his social superiors to have a low sense of morality, and the word “villain”, at first a term implying no contempt, came to be a term of reproach.3.3 word creation in english, some proper nouns suggest allusions which it tickles our fancy to remember. they may come from history or from literature differently. examples of such nouns are: judas, the disciple who betrayed jesus,