On Biological Principles In The Development Of Culture And Vocabulary

Memetics is a set of brand-new theories and there blew a hurricane in the world of culturology and linguistics. Memetics, developed on the basis of the genetic theory of biology, is a kind of cultural gene for interpreting cultural transmission and evolution. Gene is propagated through heredity, while meme is transmitted by imitation and language is one of its carriers. Memetics provides a new approach to understanding the evolution of language. It brings to light the laws governing the spread of language. It is because of the function of memes that new lexical items coined by the individuals are replicated and used by the collective. From this theory, we can fully explain the change and development of language.The first part, after giving a detailed explanation of meme's origin, biological principles and originality, deals with the relationship between meme and the generation and expansion of vocabulary. The second part analyzes the process of language meme's replicating, spreading and affecting factors. The third part explores the trend of vocabulary development based on the classification of memetic genotype and phenotype: the same core content being inherited in various forms, and the identical set pattern being followed by different contents. The author of this thesis tries to justify the ways of vocabulary generation and expansion with a collection of additional linguistic data taken from both at home and abroad. The fourth part, after illustrating the importance of word-formations, assumes that they are the ways to increase fecundity, fidelity and longevity. Finally, this paper tries to explore the reasons for forming successful language memes.