Textbook: 夏洋、邵林著,《英语词汇学课程》. 北京：北京大学出版社. 2017. Chap2.
主要内容：1.古英语、中世纪英语、现代英语三个发展时期的社会文化背景、语言发展特点和时间起止。

2. 英语属于印欧语系，是日耳曼语的一支。

难点：the nature of English --- extremely rich and heterogeneous, a heavy borrower, full of synonyms, a global language.
I Notions
Language family
The 5000 or so languages around the world are grouped into about 300 language families, on the basis of their similarities in their basic word stock and grammars.
English is a member of the Indo-European language family.
English is a member of the Germanic group of languages.
二、辅助阅读：理解与深化
Read Texts in unit 2 & 3
三、自检
Check your understanding by finish the exercises given in the UNIT.
思考题：
1. Illustrate the language features in each historical period of English and analyze the related historical and social backgrounds that result in the features.
2. What is the contribution of Shakespeare to the English language?
3. Use facts and events to illustrate the nature of English.
四、预习
Unit 3 & 4。