A REVIEW OF HISTORICAL CHANGES IN THE DOMAIN OF LEXIS IN ENGLISH
A REVIEW OF HISTORICAL CHANGES IN THE DOMAIN OF LEXIS IN ENGLISH

Summary/Abstract: One of the most significant changes English has undergone throughout its history involves the change in vocabulary. Lexical changes include the loss of words or their meanings, the introduction of new words, and the adaptation of already existing words by changing their meanings. English has borrowed massively from many languages, especially from Latin, Scandinavian and French, but changes that occurred in the domain of lexis were not only caused by the process of borrowing. Throughout its development, English has also derived new words and changed the meanings of the already existing ones. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the three main mechanisms of lexical change – borrowing, word-formation and semantic change, and show how they have contributed to the richness of English vocabulary.

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