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Vocabulary Introduction:. The Indo-European family of languages. Guess this word…. Guess this word…. Guess this word…. What causes the similarities in these languages?. Hypothesis: Borrowing? Spoken by people living relatively close to one another
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Vocabulary Introduction: The Indo-European family of languages
What causes the similarities in these languages? • Hypothesis: Borrowing? • Spoken by people living relatively close to one another • Unlikely, because these are fundamental words.
What causes the similarities in these languages? • Most likely: Descendants of a single parent language • “Proto-language” • Proto-Indo-European
Cognate languages • All come from a common ancestor • Can have similar • Vocabulary • Elements of grammar
Development of English Vocabulary • Most of our “English” words are not native to English at all.
Began with Julius Caesar’s invasion Latin spoken in town, Celtic spoken in farmland. Blend of both languages spoken in villages Romano-Celtic period: 50 B.C. to A.D.410
Anglos and Saxons West Germanic dialects Basic vocabulary established Love say live have own do be will bury name reach long strong high quick sun food hand finger friend brother father mother stone earth Old English: 450-1066
1066 to 1500 Battle of Hastings English became a fiefdom of France Hut (Engl) vs. cottage (Fr) Bill vs. beak Clothe vs. dress Folk vs. people Middle English
Invention of printing: Phonetic spelling Pronunciation has changed Middle English
P WHAN that Aprille with his shoures soote The droghte 2 of Marche hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne, And smale fowles maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open ye, (So priketh hem nature in hir corages: Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmers for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes; And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The holy blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke. The Canterbury Tales: Prologue When fair April with his showers sweet, Has pierced the drought of March to the root's feet And bathed each vein in liquid of such power, Its strength creates the newly springing flower; When the West Wind too, with his sweet breath, Has breathed new life - in every copse and heath - Into each tender shoot, and the young sun From Aries moves to Taurus on his run, And those small birds begin their melody, (The ones who 'sleep` all night with open eye,) Then nature stirs them up to such a pitch That folk all long to go on pilgrimage And wandering travellers tread new shores, strange strands, Seek out far shrines, renowned in many lands, And specially from every shire's end Of England to Canterbury they wend The holy blessed martyr there to seek, Who has brought health to them when they were sick.
3 great developments in 1500s: British colonialism (political) Modern English: 1550 to present
Word trading goes both ways: Spanish: sherry patio anchovy matador cordovan lime Italian: pasta balcony sonnet corridor grotto opera fascist German: pretzel delicatessen kindergarten noodle Russian: steppe samovar vodka Arabic: sherbet caraway sash alcove hashish harem assassin zero algebra alcohol chemistry zenith Modern English: 1550 to present
Renaissance and Enlightenment “Latin worship” Modern English: 1550 to present
Economic and technical development Modern English: 1550 to present
70% of the words in the dictionary can be traced to Latin or Greek. Only 10% of those words do NOT have a French intermediary. Modern English: 1550 to present
