As I've mentioned in previous blog posts about the English language, it is a very complicated language. With estimates ranging anywhere from half a million to 2 million words. This is based on whether a word can be thought of as an English word, but that might not necessarily be the case.
The language is so complex, that you could argue until the cows come home about whether or not certain words are single words, two words or should include a hyphenation. You'll quickly discover that your word count will change because there are so many words with different meanings that are spelt the same. Oh it's very complicated.
English Words Spoken in Different Places
You'll also have the English spoken by educated people, and the English that's spoken by one of the many countries that uses it as their primary language, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada etc. These countries have their own particular culture, and thus create words to describe things in their own customs that aren't British words.
There have been a number of massive projects to catalogue all of these words, but there are so many, where do you start? Records are kept of local English dialects all around the world, but these kinds of surveys are long and costly. In today's globalised world, people use there own dialects and words to describe things. These areas can include London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, San Francisco etc.
Conversational English, such as slang and obscenities can be found online in one of the many slang dictionaries. And some of the words may be a little shocking for many English speakers. Slang words are difficult to track because they can be in fashion one minute and out the next.
The Case for Abbreviations
Of course you can't mention the English language without talking about abbreviations. Some of these have become embedded in the language, and are used quite commonly. Some of the most common abbreviations used are: AIDS, RAC, NATO, FBI.
People, Places and Animals
You can also include place names such as Whitehall which means 'the Government'. The amount of words in the English language also includes scientific terms referring to plants, animals and insects.
Different Kinds of Vocabulary
So far we've looked at a number of different kinds of vocabulary, and words brought from other languages that fall into the category of 'loan words' or 'borrowings'. Here are some examples: hummus, curry, yoghurt, mammoth, kiwi, tai chi, taekwondo, ski, salsa, ukelele, typhoon, tornado.
Words With Prefixes and Suffixes
Then we have 100 common prefixes and suffixes that are used singly or in various combinations. Here are some examples of the prefixes: anti-, de-, co-, un-, ultra-. Here are some examples of the suffixes commonly used: -able, -ation, -eer, -ful.
Conversion
Another easy way to create words is to change the words that are used in a sentence, minus the use of suffixes and prefixes. Here are some examples:
Using the noun:
Email: "Email the details", or "check your email."
Google: "Google is a search engine," or "Google the answer."
Using verb to noun:
"I doubt his story," "I have doubts about his story."
Compound
Another system is compound, which is joining two words together. For example: backdrop, armpit, airplane, teaspoon, airport, cheesecake.
Evolution of the English Language
Throughout the history of the English language you can find words from all over the world, perhaps more than any other spoken language. And even today new words are being woven into the everyday language spoken by its natives.
Things are changing so much these days, it's difficult to say what the future will hold for the speakers of the English language.
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