Vocabulary

All the words of a given language constitute its native vocabulary. Vocabularies are recorded more or less completely in dictionaries. Widely and frequently used words constitute the active vocabulary, and rarely used or specialized words such as archaisms and neologisms constitute the passive vocabulary. Certain words actively used by all speakers of a language over a lengthy period of history constitute the basic vocabulary and are subject to the fewest changes. As society develops, vocabularies expand owing to the formation of words through derivation and the assimilation of borrowings. These layers of borrowed words within a language's vocabulary reflect the cultural and historical ties between peoples. Some language groups have sought, by edict, to preserve their language intact, and to bar borrowed words. This is sometimes referred to as linguistic chauvinism.