This is a completely revised version of English Words. We reorganized and expanded the material on word-origins in Chapter 1, updating it with references to the most recent trends of blending and shortening associated with texting and other forms of electronic communication. Our chapters on the morphological composition and phonetic structure of English are also rewritten and updated, and now include a new classification of the types of allomorphy, as well as discussions of important topics such as segment sonority and the historical shifting of long vowels in English. Revisions in Chapters 6 and 7 will provide more information and clarify obscure points concerning the word-formation rules. Chapter 8 has a new section on Grimm's Law, explaining some of the deep historical allomorphic links between Germanic and Latinate cognates. Our discussion of semantic change, in Chapter 9, was reorganized and significantly enriched. Chapter 10 contains new sections on syllable division and syllable weight, leading to a more principled account of the stress-rules of the loan vocabulary of English. The Appendix, which contains all root morphemes from the Workbook and the affixes in Chapter 5, has been thoroughly revised.

This second edition is also accompanied by a Workbook arranged to correspond to the chapters in the textbook. All Workbook exercises and root lists have been revised and updated; many new exercises have been added. The link to the Workbook includes a special chapter on recently borrowed words from both ancient and modern languages, and one on technical vocabulary in law and medicine.