The Middle English and the Modern English Periods

pass (from French passer) is used in numerous composite verbs ("verb-adverb combinations") like pass away, pass by, pass for, pass through; in phraseological units like pass by the name of, pass a remark, pass the ball; in derived and compound words like passer by, passing, passbook. All these words and phrases originated in the English language and cannot be treated as borrowings, though they contain the foreign component pass.

The influx of borrowings was directly dependent on the linguistic situation in the country, on the extent of bilingualism in the community, and on the position and role of the foreign language. The linguistic situation in Middle English was most favourable for strong foreign influence – first Scandinavian, then French. Foreign words were adopted in large numbers in the succeeding periods as well and their sourced became more diverse. English freely borrowed both from classical and modern sources though at no other time the immediate effect of foreign impact was as manifest as in Middle English.

The growth of the English vocabulary from internal sources – through word formation and semantic changes – can be observed in all periods of history. Internal sources of vocabulary growth may have become relatively less important in Middle English, when hundreds of foreign words (especially French) entered the language.

In the 15^th and the 16^th centuries the role of internal sources of the replenishment of the vocabulary became more important though the influx of borrowings from other languages continued. Word-formation fell into two types: word derivation and word composition.