1. CHANGE IN VOCABULARY
THE VOCABULARY OF OLD ENGLISH IS ALMOST PURELY GERMANIC. A LARGE PART OF THIS
VOCABULARY, MOREOVER, HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE LANGUAGE. WHEN THE NORMAN CONQUEST
BROUGHT FRENCH INTO ENGLAND AS THE LANGUAGE OF THE HIGHER CLASSES, MUCH OF THE OLD
ENGLISH VOCABULARY APPROPRIATE TO LITERATURE AND LEARNING DIED OUT AND WAS REPLACED LATER
BY WORDS BORROWED FROM FRENCH AND LATIN. AN EXAMINATION OF THE WORDS IN AN OLD
ENGLISH DICTIONARY SHOWS THAT ABOUT 85 PERCENT OF THEM ARE NO LONGER IN USE. THOSE THAT
SURVIVE, TO BE SURE, ARE BASIC ELEMENTS OF OUR VOCABULARY AND BY THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH
THEY RECUR MAKE UP A LARGE PART OF ANY ENGLISH SENTENCE. APART FROM PRONOUNS,
PREPOSITIONS, CONJUNCTIONS, AUXILIARY VERBS, AND THE LIKE, THEY EXPRESS FUNDAMENTAL
CONCEPTS LIKE MANN (MAN), WĪF (WIFE, WOMAN), CILD (CHILD), HŪS (HOUSE), WEALL (WALL), METE
(MEAT, FOOD), GŒRS (GRASS), LĒAF (LEAF), FUGOL (FOWL, BIRD), GŌD (GOOD), HĒAH (HIGH), STRANG
(STRONG), ETAN (EAT), DRINCAN (DRINK), (SLEEP), LIBBAN (LIVE), FEOHTAN (FIGHT). BUT
THE FACT REMAINS THAT A CONSIDERABLE PART OF THE VOCABULARY OF OLD ENGLISH IS UNFAMILIAR TO
THE MODERN READER.
