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What are the
characteristic of English
language?

 Table content

English grammar system and phonetic system are very stable and
not easily influenced by other languages
English language divide into 2 layers
How many words are there in English vocabulary nowaday and in old period

Enlish language is still undergoing, considerable change

The basic word stock

5 groups a basic stock of words
 1.

English grammar system and

phonetic system
 ֍ English grammar system

Are very stable and not easily influenced by other languages

e.g: The simple present tense: S+V(s,es)+O
The simple past tense : S+V(ed) +O
=)) the form of this tense has not changed so far
 ֍ English phonetic system
As English grammar system, English phonetics system is
very stable. There are 26 letters in English alphabet.
And there are approximately 44 sounds in English, with
some variation dependent on accent and articulation.
Each sound has one way to pronounce
E.g /u/, /i:/
 2.
English language divide into 2 layers
The English vocabulary consists of different kinds
of words. By origin divided into 2 layer:
+ Native language
+ Borrowed language
Native word:
Words of Anglo-Saxon origin are native words. They form the great
majority of the basic word stock of the English language.Most native
words in modern English are monosyllabic.
In the native stock, we find the most frequently used words denoting
the commonest things necessary for life, such as: names of natural
phenomena,plants, parts of body,....
Borrowed word
The English vocabulary has replenished itself by
continually taking over words from other
languages over the centuries. Those words
borrowed from other languages are loan words or
borrowed words. It has adopted words from almost
every known language, especially from Latin,
French, and Greek.....
 The native element The borrowed element

I. Indo-European element I.Celtic ( 5 th - 6 th c. AD)

II. Latin
1st group: 1st c. B.C
II. Germanic element 2nd Group: 7th c. A.D
3rd group: the Renaissance period

III. Scandinavian (8th - 1 Ith c. AD)

IV. French
III. English Proper element (not V. Greek (Renaissance)
earlier than 5th c. A.D) VI. Italian (Renaissance and later)
VII. Spanish (Renaissance and later)
VIII. German.
Indian
Russian
And some other groups
3. Word count in both modern and ancient

English
 3. Word count in both modern and ancient English

Nowadays:
• more than a million total words,
• 750,000 in an unabridged dictionary of today.
• about 170,000 words in current use,
• 20,000-30,000 words used by each individual person.
The old English (Anglo-saxon) :
• about 30.000 words
English language undergoing
change
 All languages change over time, and
there can be many different reasons for
this. The English language is no different

Old words New words

disappear show up
5. The basic stock of word
The basic stock of word : words that can't be be
changed or replaced. They place an important
part in communication,work and daily life
Eg
The names of action:live,go,come,..
The names of animals and plants: trees,
flowers,cat,dog,..
The modal verbs:can,could,would,might,..
The preposition:in,of,with,at,..
6. The 5 group of basic word
stock :
The basic word stock is the foundation of the vocabulary
accumulated over centuries and forms the common core of the
language. Though words of the basic word stock constitute a
small percentage of the English vocabulary, yet it is the most
important part of it.
 Characteristics
Productivity Collocability
All
national
character

Stability Polysemy
 "All national character" is the most important of
all features that may differentiate words of
common use from all others.
-All national character : Words of the basic word stock denote the
most common things and phenomena of the world around us,
which are indispensable to all the people who speak the language.
Natural phenomena: rain, snow, fire, water, sun, moon, spring, ...
Human body and relations: head, foot, hand, face, father, mother....
Names of plants and animals: oak, pine, grass, pear, ...
Action, size, domain, state: come, go, eat, hear, beat, carry, good, ....
Numerals, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions: one, ten, hundred, I,
you, your, who......
 -Stability :Words of the basic word stock have been in use for
centuries,
E.g. man, fire, mountain, water, sun, moon....................

-Productivity: Words of the basic word stock are mostly root words
or monosyllabic words. They can each be used alone, and at the
same time can form new words with other roots and affixes,

foot: footage, football, footpath, footer, foot-fall, footed,

footloose, and many others.
：
friend friend, friendly, unfriendly, friendlessly,
unfriendliness, friendship, friendlessness......
-Polysemy: Words belonging to the basic word stock often possess
more than one meaning because most of them have undergone
semantic changes in the course of use and become polysemous.
Take may mean: to move or carry from one place to another; to remove or use
without permission or by mistake; to seize or capture; to get for oneself; to get
hold of (something) with the hands; to be willing to accept;

-Collocability: Many words of the basic stock enter quite a number

of set expressions, idiomatic usages, proverbial sayings and the like.
Take:Take part in,Take place,Take the lead ,
Take measures,Take turns...........
Cảm ơn!