English vocabulary has evolved over time from multiple sources: 1. Old English provides the most common modern words and basic concepts but the language was then influenced by Old Norse through Viking invasions, adding words like "happy" and "wrong." 2. The Norman conquest in 1066 introduced many French words related to government, food and places of living. 3. As the British Empire expanded, English adopted words from territories around the world, incorporating words for new concepts from languages like Hindi, Japanese, Arabic and more. Modern English now contains vocabulary from numerous global languages.

1. Sources of English Vocabulary - Presentation Transcript
1. Sources of English Vocabulary
2. From Small Beginnings
o English had tiny beginnings. In 500 AD it was spoken by perhaps twenty
thousand people; less than today speak Cherokee Indian, an endangered language
Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy Anglo-Saxon helmet Typical settlement
3. Old English Legacy
 Old English provides all the most common words in modern English:
 The, is, man, house, drink, here, there .
 Prepositions .
 Fundamental concepts:
 life, death, day, night, month and year .
Anglo-Saxon Warrior Extract from The Anglo- Saxon Chronicle
4. The first great promoter of English
 Alfred the Great, king of Wessex translated St. Agustine´s Latin for his
countrymen to read. He also made peace with the invading Vikings
King Alfred
5. The Dane invasion Old English was enriched by Scandinavian words: happy, ugly,
wrong, die. This provided English with synonymous pairs Anglo-Saxon Norse wish want
craft skill rear raise
6. The Norman conquest influence
o Food synonyms
o Norman Anglo-Saxon
o beef cow
o pork pig
o venison deer
o Places to live
o Norman Anglo-Saxon
o city town
o palace house
o residence home
Everything changed when the Norman invasion of 1066 subjugated the English. Bayeux
Tapestry
7. Other Norman synomyms
o Professions
o Norman Anglo-Saxon
o carpenter baker

2. o painter builder
o tailor fisherman
o shoe-maker
o Abstract
o Norman Anglo-Saxon
o liberty freedom
o affection love
o truth veracity
Still today, people regard words of Anglo-Saxon origin as less intellectual than words
with French and Latin origins – and therefore, more trustuworthy
8.
9. New Horizons As the age of Colonialism brought English to a new shores, native
languages from Canada, Australia, South Africa and India enriched it with new
vocabulary New Animals Kangaroo, chimpanzee New plants tea, tobacco Clothes
pyjama, anorak British Empire map from Wikipedia Daughters of the British Empire
10. Modern English Modern English is half Germanic and half Romance, but it has acquired
the largest vocabulary of any language by freely adopting words from countless
languages. Old English (Anglo-Saxon) England, man, child, water, house Old Norse
(Viking) seat, window, ill, ugly French : royal, beef, manu, hotel Latin : family, wine,
school. Greek : telephone, grammar. Italian : crescendo, vibrato, belvedere, grotto,
estragaganza. Spanish : cannibal, guerrilla, mosquito, tornado, vanilla. Portuguese :
mermalade, flamingo. Dutch : yatch, boss, cookie, apartheid, commando, trek
Gaelic/Irish : hooligan, clan, slogan, whisky. Japanese : kimono, tycoon, hara-kiri,
samurai, tsunami. Hindi : guru, jungle, cheetah, shampoo, pyjamas, polo.
11. Other examples Persian : paradise, divan, lilac, bazaar, caravan, chess. Aboriginal
Australian : Kangaroo, wallaby, boomerang, budgerigar. Hebrew : cherub, hallelujah,
messiah, jubilee. Arabic : alchemy, alcohol, assassin, cipher, syrup, zero. Norwegian :
ski. Finnish : sauna. Czech : robot. Turkish : coffee, kiosk, caviar Chinese : tea. Malay :
Ketchup, bamboo, junk, orangutan. Polynesian : taboo, tattoo Inuit (Eskimo): kayak,
igloo, anorak.