3. Words of the OE word-stock, i.e. words found in no other Germanic language, except OE:
hlāford, freca (hero), clipian (call).
Affixation
1. Noun-forming suffixes:
- the suffixes -ere (for Masc. gender) and -estre (for Femin. gender) were added to noun or verbal-stems to form nouns denoting the agent of the action: e.g. fiscere (fisherman), wrītere(writer), webbestre (webban – to weave).
- the suffix –inh was used in forming nouns denoting: e.g. cyninh (from “cyn” kin).
The extended form of –inh is the suffix –linh which was attached to noun- adjective- and verbal stems to make nouns with diminutive meaning having a connotation of endearment or contempt, e.g. dēorlinh (darling, from “dēor” dear), hyrlinh (hireling from “hyrian” hire)
- the suffix –þu (<*iþu) in combination with the mutation of the root vowel was used to form abstract nouns of the ferminine gender, e.g. lerhþu (length from “lång” long), strenhþu (strength, from “stång” stong).
- the suffix –scipe was used to make abstract nouns denoting state, e.g. frēondscipe (friendship from “frēond” friend), hebēorscipe (bestivity, from “bēor” beer). suffix –scipe originates from the noun “scipe”(“form”, “state”).
- the suffixes –inh and –unh were added to verbal stems to build nouns of feminie gender denoting action, state, result of product, e.g. leornunh (learning, from “tō leornian” to learn), offrunh (offering, from “tō offrian” to offer), hātunh (harted, from “tō hātian”, to hate).
- the suffix –nis, -nes was used to build abstract nouns from adjectives denoting quality, e.g. gōdnis (goodness, from “hōd” good), swētness (sweetness, from “swēte” sweet).
!!! The OE nouns: dōm (doom, judgement, decision); ræden (agreement, advice, reason); hād (rank, state, manner), lāc (gift) gradually lost their quality of being independent words and turned into derivational morphemes forming abstract nouns, e.g. wīsdōm (wisdom, from “wīs” wise), cildhād (childhood, from “cild” child), trēowræden (truth, from “trēow” true), rēoflāc (robbery, from “rēafian” to rob).
2. Adjective-forming suffixes:
- the suffix –en in combination with the mutation of the root-vowel forms adjectives denoting matter, e.g. hylden (golden, from “hold” gold), fliexen (flaxen, from “fleax” flax).
- the suffix –ful(l) (from the adjective "full") forms qualitative adjectives from noun-stems, e.g. carfull (careful, from "care" care), mōdful (courageous, from "mōd" courage).
- the suffix –ih was most productive in OE. It was combined with noun- and adjective-stems to make new adjectives, e.g. mihtih (mighty, from “miht” might), hālih (holy, from” hāl” whole), īsih (ict,, from “īc” ice).
- the suffix –lic (from the noun "līc" - body) was used to build qualitative adjectives from noun- and adjective-stems, e.g. dēadlic (deadly, from “dēad” dead), wundolic (wonderful, from “wunder” wonder).
- the suffix –lēas (from the adjective “lēas” – less) was added to noun-stems to form adjectives with the meaning “without”; “not having”, e.g. fēohlēas (without property, from “fēoh” property); slæplēas (sleepless, from “slæp” sleep).
- the suffix –isc in combination with the mutated vowel formed relative adjectives, e.g. Englisc (English from “Enhle” Angles), cildisc (childish, from “cild” child).
3. Verb-forming suffixes:
- -sian: e.g. bletsian (bless) (originally: consecrate the author with the blood of the sacrified, from “blōd).
- -læcan, e.g. nēal{can (to near, from “neah” near).
- -etan: e.g. sporettan (to spur, from "spora" spur).
4. Numeral-forming suffixes:
- -tiene – the suffix of cardinal numerals from 13 to 19, e.g. fēowertiene (fourteen, from “fēower, four), nihîntīene (nineteen, from “nhhon” nine).
- -tih – the suffix of cardinal numerals from 20 on, e.g. þrītih (thirty, from “þrīe” three).
- -t(e)oþa – the suffix of ordinal numerals, e.g. eahtoþa (eight, from “eahta” eight), nihontēoþa (nineteenth, from “nihon” nine).
Prefixes
- mis- meaning "bad, badly, wrongly", e.g. misdōn (misdo, from “tō dōn” do), mislīcian (dislike, from “līcian to like), misdæd (misdeed, from “dæd” deed).
- un- having a negative meaning, e.g. unfriD (enmity, from “friD” peace).
- for- expressing the idea of destruction or loss, e.g. fordōn ( to destroy, from “dōn” to do); forfaran (to block the way, from “faran” to go).
- he – meaning “together with” or conveying the idea of completion of the action, e.g. hefylic (a detachment of warrious, from “folc” people), hewrītan (to have written, from “writan” to write).
- tō expressing the idea of destruction, e.g. tōbrecan (to break down, from “brecan” break).
The Celtic element: avon (river), aber (mouth of the river: Aberdeen); dūn (dune): Dundee, Ilyn-dūn (later Londinium > London); loch (loch, lake), kil (church): Kilbride, Kilmacolm; weald (wood): Cetswold.
The Latin element
a. the continental borrowings. wīn (wine) < Lat. vīnum, copor (copper) < Lat. cuprum, pund (pound) < Lat. pondō, pipor (pepper) < Lat. piper, mīl (mile) < Lat. millia passum
b. Roman invasion of Britain. Latin “strāta”(paved road) > OE: stræt; Latin "vallum" > OE weall > ModE wall.
c. Christianization of Britain: abbad (abbot) < Lat. abbas < Gr. abbā, biscop (bishop) < Lat. episcopus < Gr. episcopos, wīn (wine) < Lat. vīnum < Gr. abbā, munuc (monc) < Lat. monachus < Gr. monachos, cleric (clerk) < Lat. clericus < Gr. klērikos, magister (master) < Lat. magister
Conversion pairs appeared on the analogy of so-called historical homonyms: e.g. love (n) and love (v). These 2 resulted from the OE noun "lufu" and OE verb "lufian". In the course of time these 2 different parts of speech lost inflections in their initial forms (i.e. in the Common case and the infinitive) and fell together in pronunciation and later, spelling.
Borrowings
The Scandinavian element.
e.g. OE sunu – OS sunr, OE fisc – OS fiscr.
e.g. shirt (<OE sceorte) and skirt (<OS skyrte "a long skirt").
Most of these words denote the notions of everyday life, military terms, law:
- among adjectives: illr (ill), mjukr (meek), lahr (low).
- among verbs: kalla (kill), taka (take), kasta (cast).
The personal pronouns “þeir (they), þeirra (their), þeim (the), borrowed from OS, displaced the English pronouns “hīe” (N. c., pl), hira (G. c., pl.), him (D. c., pl.). The Scandinavian conjunction “þo” (though) displaced the OE “þeah”. The pronouns "same, both", positions "till, until" also came from OS.
Place names: e.g. –by (village, town): Grimsby, Kirkby, Whitby; -thorp (village, Scan. –torp): Linthorp, Althorp; -toft (land covered with grass, Scan. –toft): Nortoft, Brimtoft; -beck (brook, Scan. bekkr): Troutbeck and some others.
The French element
Semantic groups:
- government and administration: state, country, parliament, prince, court, justice, noble, servant, govern
- law and justice: prison, verdict, evidence, judge, jury, sentence, accuse, condemn.
- religion and church: religion, parish, saint, prayer, chapel, conscience etc.
- army and navy: army, enemy, battle, banner, defence, nowy, soldier, war, regiment, victory, officer
- art and literature: art, beauty, colour, image, figure, column, volume, story, paint, design etc.
Less productive prefixes are: mis-, be-, out-, co- etc.
for- and a- (forgive, forbid, arise…) are non-productive in NE: they merged with the stem of the word and are no longer recognized as derivational morphemes.
Word-composition
New nouns continue to be formed by the compounding of:
3. adjective stem + participle I stem: good-looking.
4. adjective stem + participle II stem: well-bred, well-done.
5. adjective stem + adjective stem: light-blue.
6. adverb stem + noun stem: off-key.
Some derivational compound adjectives are formed on the pattern: adjective stem + noun stem + ed: blue-eyed.
Compound verbs are formed after the pattern:
1. noun stem + verb stem: kidnap.
2. adjective stem + verb stem: whitewash.
A number of new components appeared in NE from free-phrases: marry-go-round, pick-me-up, forget-me-not.
Conversion
verbs converted from nouns: to hand < hand, to fish > fish
nouns converted from verbs: laugh < to laugh, talk < to talk.
Semantic changes in words
OE word "fuʒol" (bird) > ModE fowl /faul/ .
OE word "cnafa" (a boy) → a servant → knave /neiv/.
Borrowings
Renaissance
- exploration of New World and other territories, the development & the expansion of economic, cultural and scientific ties:
1. verbs in –ate from the Participle II stem in –atus of the 1st Latin verb-conjugation: separate, create, decorate, operate etc.
2. verbs in –ute from the Participle II stem in –tum of the 3rd Latin verb – conjugation: constitute, contribute, execute etc.
3. verbs from the Participle II stem containing the element -ct- of the 3rd Latin verb-conjugation: neglect, protect, correct.
4. verbs from the infinitive stem of the 3rd Latin verb-conjugation: admit, include, deduce.
5. adjectives from Participle I stem in –ant of the 1st conjugation and in –ent of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th conjugations: important, arrogant.
6. adjectives from the stems of the comparative degree: junior, senior, superior.
7. adjectives from the Participle II stems in –atus of the 1st Latin verb-conjugation: desperate, private, obstinate.
Greek borrowings of this period are scientific and political terms, international in character: atmosphere, aristocracy, epoch, metaphor, dogma, botany etc.
Italian borrowings represented the such fields as music and architecture: violin, fresco, balcony, finale. There was also a group of words connected with social life: carnival, motto, bandit.
Spanish borrowings include such words as: hidalgo, mosquito, sombrero, tornado etc.
French borrowings are represented by the group including military terms, such as: trophy, pilot, havoc etc, and words connected with art and culture: scene, rondeau, grotesque, vase etc.
17th century
- court and upper society relations, e.g. ball, intrigue, ballet, symphony, serenade, memoir etc.
- the colonization of North America and the expansion of trade and cultural exchange with the New World: tobacco, colibri.
18-20th centuries
- socio-economic & political developments, rapid progress of science, technology and culture.