This book traces the remarkable reconfigurations that English lexis has undergone in the past millennium. The vocabulary is studied as an indicator of social change, a symbol reflecting different social dynamics between speech communities, on models of dominance, cohabitation, colonialism and globalisation. <br><ul><br><li>Comprehensive guide to the evolution of the English vocabulary. <br><li>Well known passages from literature are used to illustrate the variety of English words. <br><li>Accessible discussion of Latin, Greek, Germanic and Norman-French languages. <br><li>Contains original research into the make-up of the current lexical core of English. </li></ul>