Etymological classification of English vocabulary

Etymology is a subbranch of linguistics dealing with the origin of words. Words are subdivided into native and borrowed.

Native:

1) The Indo-European element (brother, брат, der Bruder);

2) The Germanic element (hair – das Haar);

3) The native English element (bird, boy, girl).

Borrowed:

1) Celtic (laugh);

2) Scandinavian (sky, they);

3) Latin (vaccina);

4) French (autumn);

5) Greek (phraseology);

6) German (kindergarden);

7) Italian (names of food).

Translation loans – a type of borrowings which were directly translated into the target language (das Meisterstück - masterpiece).

International words which sound in the same or similar way in many languages.

Etymological doublets are words having the same origin but borrowed to the language in different ways (channel - canal).

Functional classification of English vocabulary

Functional style is a limited number of words and expressive means used in a particular sphere of communication.

Informal EV can be subdivided into three groups:

1) Colloquial words are used by a wide group of people of all age groups in everyday communication. Colloquial words are subdivided into literary, familiar and low colloquialisms. Literary colloquialisms are used by educated and uneducated people in everyday speech (to start). Familiar colloquialisms are used mostly by uneducated people and often include contractions (doc). Low colloquialisms are close to slang words. Criterion is level of education. Slang words are used by a limited group of people in informal situations (mug - face). Dialectal words are used in a particular region.

2) Formal EV is subdivided into learned words, archaic words and professional terminology. Learned words are used mostly in writing. They can be subdivided into scientific prose (to vindicate), poetry (woe), officialese (to proceed), and literary learned words (to endeavor). Archaic words are old words that are not used anymore. They are subdivided into obsolete words (thou - you) and historisms (chevalier). Professional terminology is words used in a particular professional sphere (tumour).

3) Basic EV is stylistically neutral vocabulary used by all speakers.