The Middle English and the Modern English Periods

citel "town with a cathedral", duke, duchess, prince – new ranks and titles; New English bourgeois, potato, nylon.

Many additions to the vocabulary were due to the differentiation of synonyms. They co-existence of synonyms did not necessarily result in the ousting of one by the other. Both words, or even several words of close meaning, could survive with certain differences in stylistic connotations, combinability and other features: Old English nēāh, nēār, nēāra survived as Middle English neer (its Middle English synonyms were cloos and adjacent; their New English decendants and synonyms are near, close, adjacent. neighbouring).

The development of new meanings in the existing words extended the vocabulary and led to the growth of polycemy and homonymy: Old English cræft meant "science", "skill", and "strength". In Middle English and in New English craft lost the meaning "science" but acquired new meanings "group of skilled workers, guild" and "vessel".

The sources of new words are usually divided into internal and external. Internal ways of developing the vocabulary were productive in all historical periods. Word-formation and semantic changes were equally prolific in the creation of new words and new meanings. They were exceptionally productive in the periods of rapid vocabulary growth, such as the Renaissance period. The role of external sources in the extension of the English vocabulary is very considerable, perhaps far more so than in most other languages.

It is commonly acknowledged that one of the most drastic features in the English vocabulary is the change in its etymological composition. While the Old English vocabulary was almost entirely Germanic and on the whole was highly resistant to borrowings, the language of later periods absorbed foreign words by the hundred and even made use of foreign word components in word formation. As a result the proportion of Germanic words in the English language has fallen. According to the estimates the native Germanic elements constitute from 30% to 50% of the vocabulary. The other two thirds (or half) come from foreign sources, mainly Romance.

This does not mean, however, that the native element in English is insignificant or that over half of all the words are direct borrowings. The importance of the surviving native words is borne out by the fact that they belong to the most frequent layer of words, and that native components are widely used in word-building, in word-phrases and phraseological units.

It should also be realized that the foreign origin of a morpheme does not mean that every word containing this morpheme is a borrowing. When the loan-words were assimilated by the language – which happened some time after their adoption – they could yield other words through word-formation or develop new meanings on British soil. These new items are specifically English words and meanings and are, therefore, as 'native' as the Germanic heritage. For instance, the foreign root