ИСТИНА

The presentation reveals foundations of modifications exemplified by the comparison of compound words in Old English with their equivalents in modern English translations. Our research is determined by the necessity to study the diachronic development of the compoundings in the English language and peculiarities of their translation into modern English. These peculiarities are tightly connected with the semantic changes caused by the factors of sociolinguistic and pragmatic character. On that account a diachronic aspect of the research is the field of expertise to trace semantic and structural shifts of the old English compounds.