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

1、现代英语词汇迅速发展的原因探究on the reasons of rapid development of english vocabulary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

2、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

3、 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 si

4、tuation, 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; nat

5、ive words, borrowed words, word formation.table of 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 tec

6、hnology22.2 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 conclusion9notes10bibliography11par

7、t 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 chang

8、es 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 var

9、iants 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 fiel

10、ds. 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

11、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

12、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 d

13、eveloped 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

14、 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.spa

15、ce 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, s

16、pace 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 a

17、nd 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

18、 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

19、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 scienc

20、e, 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, q

21、uite 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 scree

22、n, 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

23、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 f

24、lies 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

25、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

26、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 c

27、ontroversial 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 per

28、son 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

29、 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, mo

30、re 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

31、 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

32、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 m

33、oney 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”. f

34、or 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

35、 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

36、 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 contac

37、t 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 label

38、ed 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

39、, 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-