Lecture 1 Introduction

Native OE words can be subdivided into 3 following layers:

1. 
   Common IE words – the oldest and the largest part of the OE vocabulary that was inherited by the Proto-Germanic, and later by all the Germanic languages, from the Common Indo-European Language.
   

Semantic fields:

• 
  family relations (father, mother, daughter, brother, etc. (except aunt, uncle – words of the Germanic origin));
  
• 
  parts of human body (eye, nose, heart, arm, etc.);
  
• 
  natural phenomena, plants, animals (tree, cow, water, sun, wind, etc.).
  

Parts of speech:

• 
  nouns (eye, brother, etc.);
  
• 
  verbs (basic activities of man) (to be, can, may, to know, to eat, to stand, to sit, etc.);
  
• 
  adjectives (essential qualities) (new, full, red, right, young, long, etc.);
  
• 
  pronouns (personal and demonstrative) (I, my, this, that, those, these, etc.);
  
• 
  numerals (most of them) (1-10, 100, 1000, etc.);
  
• 
  prepositions (for, at, of, to, etc.).
  
1. 
   Common Germanic words – the part of the vocabulary that was shared by most Germanic languages. These words never occurred outside the Germanic group of languages. This layer was smaller than the IE layer.
   

Semantic fields:

• 
  nature, plants, animals (earth, fox, sheep, sand, etc.);
  
• 
  sea (starve, sea, etc.);
  
• 
  everyday life (hand, sing, find, make, etc.).
  

Parts of speech:

• 
  nouns (horse, rain, ship, bridge, life, hunger, ground, death, winter, evil, etc. );
  
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