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.

• Comprehensive guide to the evolution of the English vocabulary.
• Well known passages from literature are used to illustrate the variety of English words.
• Accessible discussion of Latin, Greek, Germanic and Norman-French languages.
• Contains original research into the make-up of the current lexical core of English.