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See also [[Language and etymology]] | See also [[Language and etymology]] | ||
== Word parts & types == | |||
=== lexemes === | |||
* noun, verb, adjective and adverb "stems" (basic word by itself | |||
=== morphemes === | |||
* sounds that are added to lexemes to create new words | |||
** including prefixes, suffixes and stem changes | |||
*** ''pre-, -ly, -en, -s'' | |||
== English word origin == | == English word origin == | ||
[[Image:Old norse, ca 900.svg|right|350px|thumb| | |||
The approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century:<br> | |||
<span style="color:#fff; background:#ff0000>Old West Norse dialect</span><br> | |||
<span style="color:#fff; background:#ff9933>Old East Norse dialect</span><br> | |||
<span style="color:#fff; background:#ff00ff>Old Gutnish dialect</span><br> | |||
<span style="color:#000; background:#ffff00>Old English</span><br> | |||
<span style="color:#fff; background:#0000ff>Crimean Gothic</span><br> | |||
<span style="color:#fff; #00ff00>Other Germanic languages with which Old Norse still retained some mutual intelligibility</span>]] | |||
==== Angles / Anglo-Saxon ==== | ==== Angles / Anglo-Saxon ==== | ||
* from the Angles, a Germanic peoples who migrated to the British Islands in the 400s-600s AD. | * from the Angles, a Germanic peoples who migrated to the British Islands in the 400s-600s AD. | ||
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|} | |} | ||
== The most common words in English== | == The most common words in English== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|+ Top Ten Most Common Words in English | |||
|1) the | |||
|(article) | |||
| 6) in | |||
|(preposition) | |||
|- | |||
| 2) be | |||
|(verb) | |||
| 7) that | |||
|(relative pronoun, dependent marker) | |||
|- | |||
|3) to | |||
|(particle, preposition) | |||
|8) have | |||
|(verb) | |||
|- | |||
|4) and | |||
|(conjunction) | |||
|9) I | |||
|(pronoun) | |||
|- | |||
|5) a | |||
|(article) | |||
|10) it | |||
|(pronoun) | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
== English synonymous & part of speech word use == | == English synonymous & part of speech word use== | ||
*the English language has a huge number of words that have multiple definitions | *the English language has a huge number of words that have multiple definitions | ||
*other languages may be more explicit with distinct words that English will cover with a single word. | *other languages may be more explicit with distinct words that English will cover with a single word. | ||
*for example: | *for example: | ||
== English words & parts of speech distribution == | ==English words & parts of speech distribution== | ||
* English contains about 600,000 words | *English contains about 600,000 words | ||
** as counted by the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 171,476 words in current use and 47,156 obsolete words | **as counted by the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 171,476 words in current use and 47,156 obsolete words | ||
*** the Dictionary also counts 250,000 "distinct" words, excluding inflections (word ending changes) | ***the Dictionary also counts 250,000 "distinct" words, excluding inflections (word ending changes) | ||
** when word definitions are counted, English has 1,402,895 words | **when word definitions are counted, English has 1,402,895 words | ||
*** i.e., the word "love" generally has five definitions in the dictionary | ***i.e., the word "love" generally has five definitions in the dictionary | ||
** when counting "headwords" and "lemmas" (words produced from a headword), English has 578,707 words | **when counting "headwords" and "lemmas" (words produced from a headword), English has 578,707 words | ||
*** "headword" = a word from which other words are derived, such as "break > broken > broke | ***"headword" = a word from which other words are derived, such as "break > broken > broke | ||
** see | **see | ||
*** [https://web.archive.org/web/20170909203258/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/how-many-words-are-there-in-the-english-language How many words are there in the Engli... | Oxford Dictionaries (archive.org)] | ***[https://web.archive.org/web/20170909203258/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/how-many-words-are-there-in-the-english-language How many words are there in the Engli... | Oxford Dictionaries (archive.org)] | ||
*** [[wikipedia:Corpus_linguistics#English_corpora|Corpus linguistics - Wikipedia]] | ***[[wikipedia:Corpus_linguistics#English_corpora|Corpus linguistics - Wikipedia]] | ||
*** [https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/language-most-words Which Language Has The Most Words? (babbel.com)] | ***[https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/language-most-words Which Language Has The Most Words? (babbel.com)] | ||
*** [[wikipedia:List_of_dictionaries_by_number_of_words|List of dictionaries by number of words - Wikipedia]] | ***[[wikipedia:List_of_dictionaries_by_number_of_words|List of dictionaries by number of words - Wikipedia]] | ||
=== Parts of Speech frequency as percent of all words === | ===Parts of Speech frequency as percent of all words=== | ||
=== parts of speech as percentage of all words === | ===parts of speech as percentage of all words=== | ||
* in general, English consists of | *in general, English consists of | ||
** Adjectives: 25% | **Adjectives: 25% | ||
** Nouns: 50% | **Nouns: 50% | ||
** Verbs: 7% | **Verbs: 7% | ||
*** see: [https://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/oed.html#:~:text=Subtracting%20the%20archaic%20words%20leaves%20us%20with%20about,made%20up%20of%20interjections%2C%20conjunctions%2C%20prepositions%2C%20suffixes%2C%20etc. How Many Words are in the Oxford English Dictionary? * alphaDictionary] | ***see: [https://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/oed.html#:~:text=Subtracting%20the%20archaic%20words%20leaves%20us%20with%20about,made%20up%20of%20interjections%2C%20conjunctions%2C%20prepositions%2C%20suffixes%2C%20etc. How Many Words are in the Oxford English Dictionary? * alphaDictionary] | ||
=== parts of speech as percentage of word usage, conversational v. formal/academic: === | ===parts of speech as percentage of word usage, conversational v. formal/academic: === | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+English Language Percent Frequency of Use of Parts of Speech | |+ English Language Percent Frequency of Use of Parts of Speech | ||
! | ! | ||
!Adjectives | !Adjectives | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|Formal/ Academic | |Formal/ Academic | ||
|10% | |10% | ||
|3% | | 3% | ||
|5% | | 5% | ||
|10% | |10% | ||
|30% | |30% | ||
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| | | | ||
|Adjectives | |Adjectives | ||
|Adverbs | |Adverbs | ||
| | | | ||
| | | | ||
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|} | |} | ||
* source: [https://ginsengenglish.com/blog/parts-of-speech-in-english#:~:text=Take%20a%20look%20at%20the%20following%20table%20showing,to%20give%20a%20general%20sense%20of%20the%20proportions. The 9 Parts of Speech in English | Ginseng English] (from Biber, et. al., (1999). ''Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English.)'' | *source: [https://ginsengenglish.com/blog/parts-of-speech-in-english#:~:text=Take%20a%20look%20at%20the%20following%20table%20showing,to%20give%20a%20general%20sense%20of%20the%20proportions. The 9 Parts of Speech in English | Ginseng English] (from Biber, et. al., (1999). ''Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English.)'' | ||
[[Category:Language Arts]] | [[Category:Language Arts]] | ||
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[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] | ||
[[Category:History of language]] | [[Category:History of language]] | ||
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