A History of English Words

This book traces the remarkable reconfigurations that English lexis has undergone in the past millennium. The vocabulary is studied as an indicator of social change, a symbol reflecting different social dynamics between speech communities, on models of dominance, cohabitation, colonialism and globalisation.

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• Comprehensive guide to the evolution of the English vocabulary.
  
• Well known passages from literature are used to illustrate the variety of English words.
  
• Accessible discussion of Latin, Greek, Germanic and Norman-French languages.
  
• Contains original research into the make-up of the current lexical core of English.