WORDS CAN BE STUDIED BY DESCRIBING THEIR ORIGIN INDUCTIVELY OR DEDUCTIVELY. EITHER WAY, A PRECISE DEFINITION OF ETYMOLOGICAL CLASSES WHICH ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE IS NEEDED. PRESENT-DAY ENGLISH IS CLASSIFIED INTO--(1) NATIVE WORDS WHICH CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE WORD STOCK OF OLD ENGLISH, (2) LOAN WORDS NEW TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WHICH HAD PREVIOUS EXISTENCE IN OTHER LANGUAGES, AND (3) NEOLOGISMS WHICH MAY BE EITHER NEW WORDS OR OLD ONES TAKING NEW MEANINGS. WHILE ABOUT 20 PERCENT OF MODERN ENGLISH VOCABULARY CAN BE TRACED TO NATIVE WORDS OF OLD ENGLISH, LOAN WORDS AMOUNT TO LESS THAN 8 PERCENT, AND NEOLOGISMS ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF THE NEW WORDS IN PRESENT-DAY ENGLISH. HENCE, BY COMPOUNDINGS, DERIVATIONS, AND SEMANTIC CHANGE, THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CAN EASILY BE ADAPTED TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF AN EVER-CHANGING SOCIETY. BORROWING FROM OTHER LANGUAGES IS OF ONLY AVERAGE IMPORTANCE. THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "ENGLISH JOURNAL," VOLUME 55, SEPTEMBER 1966. (NS)