Linguistic Development of Names for Common Herbs from Old English to Modern EnglishPolanc, Neža (Avtor) Kavalir, Monika (Mentor) herbs namestraditional medicinelanguage changeEnglish etymologyhistory of EnglishThe thesis analyses the evolution of nouns denoting twelve commonly used herbs in present-day medicine. It studies the diachronic development of selected nouns as it aims to uncover their origin and the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors modifying their structure, meaning and usage. The thesis investigates the relationship between changes in society and changes in language over time from a sociolinguistic perspective. The first part of the thesis provides a short overview of the factors affecting language change, focusing primarily on the external reasons. The second part analyses the evolution of the names for a dozen frequently used medicinal herbs. The sample for the analysis is based on “A Review of 12 Commonly Used Medicinal Herbs”, an article published in the Archives of Family Medicine in 1998. The analysis starts with all the known forms of nouns referring to the twelve individual herbs in Modern English, Middle English, and Old English. After determining the time period in which the name of the herb was first used in English, it states the etymological origin of the noun. The formal and semantic changes of the appellations are described and, finally, examples are provided of whether and how an herb is used in a selected authentic Old English medical text from the Early Middle Ages. The third part summarises the findings of the analysis and discusses why certain noun forms appeared at specific times in the history of the English language and aims to pinpoint the common denominator and causes for the linguistic changes.20242024-07-19 07:45:04Magistrsko delo/naloga159716sl