Inglise leksikoloogia 2012
Review questions
English lexicology
Size of English vocabulary. Average speaker 45,000-60,000 words, a total of about
200,000.
Core and periphery. English has been heavily influenced by other languages. 31.8 %
comes from Old English, 45% comes from French, 16,7% comes from Latin, 4,2% other
germanic languages and 2,3 other languages. The very core is mono-syllabic (93 of the
first 100 words and the other seven are two-syllabic). The core vocabulary is
predominantly germanic.
Native and foreign element. Native words belong to very important semantic group
(modal verbs-shall, will, can, may; pronouns- I, you, he, my, his; preps- in, out, under;
numerals and conjunctions::but, till, as. Native words are head, arms, back; mother,
brother, son, wife; snow, rain, wind, sun; cat, sheep, cow; old, young, cold, hot, dark; do,
make, go, come, see. Many native words have developed many meanings (nt, hand, man,
head). Most native words have become ...