What’s in a Word:History and Culture as Reflected
in English Vocabulary
Timothy Taylor
7th April 2018
Today’s Talk
Part I – Words: Our Other DNA
Part II – The History of English
Part III – Etymological Evolution
Q & A
Relevant Resources: http://timsteaching.blogspot.hk
Part I
Words: Our Other DNA
Whose Words?
“We seldom realize that our most private
thoughts and emotions are not actually our
own. We think in terms of languages and
images which we did not invent, but which
were given to us by our society.”
~ Alan Watts
Etymology = Word History
When did we become human?
When did we begin to speak?
When did we begin to write?
What were early languages like?
How are human languages related?
What was the earliest recorded words?
How can one language change and evolve?
Word Origins
When did we become human? Millions of years ago
When did we begin to speak? 100,000 years ago
When did we begin to write? 2000 – 5000 years
ago
What were early languages like?
How are human languages related?
What was the earliest recorded words? 125 years
ago
How can one language change and evolve?
Words, Words, Words
Words are common to every human
language and no animal language
Words are the beginning of civilization
Words are powerful, magical, taboo, holy
The written word is more lasting than any
archeological evidence of civilization
Infinite Stars – Infinite Words
“If the stars should appear one night in a
thousand years, how would men believe and
adore; and preserve for many generations
the remembrance of the city of God which
had been shown! But every night these
envoys of beauty come out, and light the
universe with their admonishing smile.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Something Divine
In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
~John 1:1
What does the fox say?
Foxes have about 40 distinct calls, including:
“Danger!”
“I’m hungry!”
“You’re attractive!”
“Where are you?”
What does the fox say (music video)
https://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE
What does the fox actually say?
http://youtu.be/k_DVvNK7mRA
A Simple Idea
Wealth and power
are not what they
appear to be.
Ozymandiasby Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!“
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
"King of Kings am I, Ozymandias. If anyone should
like to know my grandeur and the reach of stature,
let him surpass any of my achievements."
Richard Coryby Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Digital infinity
Ten symbols can denote any number:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0
But even two symbols can denote any number:
0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 1011, 1111
Phonemes are the smallest discreet, distinguishable sound
in a language, and the number of phonemes varies widely
in different languages.
These few sounds can be rearranged to represent an
infinite variety of sound patterns (words). The sound
patterns can be rearranged to represent an infinite
number of “patterns of patterns” (sentences)
Symbols are used to represent phonemes, multiple
phonemes, or whole words.
In English 26 letters represent 44 – 46 phonemes
+ Intersubjectivity
Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling
along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when
Zhuangzi said, "See how the minnows come
out and dart around wherever they please!
That's what fish really enjoy!"
Huizi said, "You're not a fish — how do you know what fish enjoy?“
Zhuangzi said, "You're not me, so how do you know I don't know
what fish enjoy?“
Huizi said, "I'm not you, so I certainly don't know what you know. On
the other hand, you're certainly not a fish — so that still proves you don't
know what fish enjoy!“
Zhuangzi said, "Let's go back to your original question, please. You
asked me how I know what fish enjoy — so you already knew I knew it when
you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao."
DNA as Words ~ Words as DNA
We use codes everyday; alphabets are also codes. Let's take the
word "koala". In English, the letters 'k', 'o', 'a', 'l' and 'a' in that
particular order mean an animal that lives in Australia and eats
eucalyptus leaves.
If you didn't know any English, you wouldn't be able to guess what
the word means from the letters that are in it. The letters 'k', 'o', 'a',
and 'l' appear in lots of other words where they don't have anything
to do with koalas. Different languages use different alphabets to
convey meaning.
DNA's code is written in only four 'letters', called A, C, T and G.
The meaning of this code lies in the sequence of the letters A, T, C
and G in the same way that the meaning of a word lies in the
sequence of alphabet letters. Your cells read the DNA sequence to
make chemicals that your body needs to survive.
American DNA Sample
Chinese DNA Sample
Tracking human migration through DNA
Tracking human migration through
language families
The Evolution of Words –
Languages change as they are
handed down from generation to
generation.
In a large population, languages are
likely to be relatively stable - simply
because there are more people to
remember what previous generations
did, he says.
But in a smaller population - such as
a splinter group that sets off to find a
new home elsewhere - there are
more chances that languages will
change quickly and that sounds will
be lost from generation to generation.
Professor Mark Pagel, an
evolutionary biologist at Reading
University, said the same effect could
be seen in DNA.
Modern-day Africans have a much
greater genetic diversity than white
Europeans who are descended from
a relatively small splinter group that
left 70,000 years ago.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1377150/Every-language-evolved-single-prehistoric-mother-tongue-spoken-Africa.html
Gaga to Water
Word changes occur in cycles that
sometimes occur across centuries and
thousands of miles… and sometimes across
a few months or years in one lifetime.
https://youtu.be/RE4ce4mexrU?t=4m2s (from 4:02)
PIE (Proto-Indo European) Chart
Earliest Recordings
of the Human Voice
French song recorded in 1860
Robert Browning, reciting a poem
May 6th 1889
125 years ago
http://youtu.be/OYot5-WuAjE
http://www.cosmos
magazine.com/new
s/queens-english-
no-longer-so-posh/
What is a word?
A word is a unit which is a constituent at the phrase level and above.
We need to agree on some identifiable criteria, such as:
being the minimal possible unit in a reply
having features such as
a regular stress pattern, and
phonological changes conditioned by or blocked at word
boundaries
being the largest unit resistant to insertion of new constituents within
its boundaries, or
being the smallest constituent that can be moved within
a sentence without making the sentence ungrammatical.
A word is sometimes placed, in a hierarchy of grammatical
constituents, above the morpheme level and below the phrase
level.
http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAWord.htm
orthographic words
An “orthographic” word is a written series of
symbols marked by a white “space” on either
side.
This is a useful definition for reading and
writing
But how many words are contained in the
following?
A. ice cream
B. they‘d
C. wouldn’t’ve
phonological words
A unit of pronunciation; rules differ for
different languages.
In English, a phonological word contains only
one main stress:
“The rest of the books’ll have to go here.”
lexical items
An abstract concept
A unit of meaning, potentially represented by
many forms
take, takes, took, taken, taking
= one word or five words? Yes!
= one lexical item
The base form is the uninflected citation word
usually used by dictionaries. In this case,
“take”
GWFs – grammatical word forms
The multiplicity of inflected forms that lexical
items can take to transform their grammatical
meaning or function
Some words have only one form: with
Some have inflection but only one form:
police, oats (both plural)
Some words have different grammatical word
forms that appear identical: ate/eaten are
different GWFs, but so are walked/walked
inflection and derivation
Inflection (as we’ve seen) is a change in
form (or no change) for grammatical
purposes
Derivation is the emergence of a new lexical
item from another lexical item. This also may
or may not involve a change of appearance
(zero derivation)
Examples of derivation:
destroy…. destruction
comprehend… comprehensible
smoke (n.)…. smoke (vb.)…. smoke (n.)
multi-part or discontinuous words
The existence of one word in multiple parts
Phrasal verbs: turn off, turn up, turn over, turn
on, turn on; look out, look over, look down; made
up, made up
Prepositional verbs: She looks down on her
neighbors. “on” is syntactically part of the
prepositional phrase “on her neighbors”, but
lexically part of “looks down on”. She is
condescending to her neighbors.
Infinitives: to open, to pry, to turn on
French example: Ne le touchez pas!
clitics, abbreviations, contraction
Clitics – A lexical item and GWF but does not
stand alone phonologically.
For example: a, an, the, ‘ll, ‘d
In French: Il te le donnera (He’ll give it to you)
has three clitics, all bound to the verb to give.
Abbreviations – Normally, but not always,
orthographic only. Some spoken forms exist and
may become lexical items independent of their
long form. Examples: e.g., i.e., a.m., kg
contractions, acronyms,
initialisms and clipped forms
Contractions – I’m, he’s, she’d, wouldn’t’ve;
Also: ain’t, Mrs
Acronyms and Initialisms - asap, imho, btw, faq, fyi, lol
Also: scuba (self contained underwater breathing
apparatus); radar (radio detection and ranging); DNA
(Deoxyribonucleic acid ); SAT = SAT
Clipped forms – gym, lab, phone, porn, flue, gator, bio,
maths/math, sci-fi, piano, bra, prof
logograms
Part II
The History of English
How languages evolve
https://youtu.be/iWDKsHm6gTA
How English evolved
https://youtu.be/kIzFz9T5rhI
English – etymology of the word
English "people of England; the speech of England," Old
English Englisc (contrasted to Denisc, Frencisce, etc.),
from Engle (plural) "the Angles," the name of one of the Germanic
groups that overran the island 5 c., supposedly so-called
because Angul, the land they inhabited on the Jutland coast, was
shaped like a fish hook (see angle (n.)).
The term was used from earliest times without distinction for all the
Germanic invaders -- Angles, Saxon, Jutes (Bede's gens
Anglorum) -- and applied to their group of related languages by
Alfred the Great. After 1066, of the population of England (as
distinguished from Normans and French), a distinction which lasted
only about a generation.
In pronunciation, "En-" has become "In-," but the older spelling has
remained. Meaning "English language or literature as a subject at
school" is from 1889. As an adjective, "of or belonging to England,"
from late 13c. Old English is from early 13c.
English (10th century)
In 730 a monk wrote that three tribes of Germany: Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived in the British Isles in the 5th century
Angli Saxones meant the “English Saxons” as opposed to the “Old Saxons”
English meant the people and the language
Engla land later referred to the country
Before the 14th century it appeared as Engle land; Englene londe; Engle lond; Engelond; Inglad
Angle Land
Angle Land
A Brief History of English Romans leave Britain, taking Latin with them, around 500 a.d.
Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrive soon afterwards
Vikings raids begin about 800 a.d., English absorbs some 2000 words
Norman conquest 1066, English absorbs 10,000 French words, while
French rules for four hundred years
Latin is used in church for centuries
The Great Vowel Shift, 15th Century
Shakespeare introduces 2000 words, 16th Century (1564 – 1616)
King James Bible English translation, 1611
Scientific revolution, 17th century
English Empire (1583 – 1914) spreads English around the world
Samuel Jonson’s dictionary 1746 – 1755 (14,773 entries)
Oxford English Dictionary 1857 (first edition finished in 1928)
American English, World Englishes, science, popular culture, and
multimedia (television, BBC, the Internet) and technologies continue to
spread English
Timeline of the English Language
http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/learning-activities/languages/words/timeline-english-language-2/
English Uses Words
from over 350 Languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Origins_of_English_PieChart.svg
From Chinese
ketchup possibly from Cantonese or Amoy
茄汁, lit. tomato sauce/juice
kowtow from Cantonese 叩頭
(Mandarin, kòu tóu), lit. knock head
kumquat or cumquat from Cantonese name of
the fruit 柑橘 (gamgwat)
Cantonese
canton (n.) 1530s, "corner, angle," from Middle French canton "piece,
portion of a country" (13c.), from Italian (Lombard dialect) cantone "region,"
especially in the mountains, augmentative of Latin canto "section of a
country," literally "corner" (see cant (n.2)). Originally in English a term in
heraldry and flag descriptions; applied to the sovereign states of the Swiss
republic from 1610s. Related: Cantoned.
cantonment (n.) 1756, "military quarters," from French cantonnement,
from cantonner "to divide into cantons" (14c.), from canton (see canton).
Meaning "action of quartering troops" is from 1757.
Cantonese
Cantonese (n.) 1816, from Canton, former transliteration of the name of the
Chinese region now known in English as Guangzhou. The older form of the
name is from the old British-run, Hong Kong-based Chinese postal system.
Used s an adjective from 1840.
http://youtu.be/v9qpqyO_dmU
Old English ~ Beowulf
Around 700 – 800 a.d.
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. Þ æ t wæs god cyning!
https://youtu.be/CH-_GwoO4xI
Listen! We of the Spear-Danes in days of yore
Of those folk-kings the glory have heard,
How those noblemen brave-things did.
Often Scyld, son of Scef, from enemy hosts
from many people mead-benches took,
terrorized warriors. After first he was
helpless found, he knew the recompense for that,
grew under the sky, in honors thrived,
until to him each of the neighboring tribes
over the whale-road had to submit,
tribute yield. That was a good king!
Middle English ~
The Canterbury Tales (Around 1400)When April with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein in liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,
Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram his half-course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimages,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in distant lands.
And specially from every shire’s end
Of English they to Canterbury went,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek
Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.
http://youtu.be/QE0MtENfOMU
SONNET 116 (Original
Pronunciation)Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
https://youtu.be/LRTkthIMUeE
Early Modern English ~ Shakespeare
The First English Dictionary ~
Samuel Johnson (1755)
Cough: A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity.
Distiller: One who makes and sells pernicious and inflammatory spirits.
Dull: Not exhilaterating; not delightful; as, to make dictionaries
is dull work.
Far-fetch: A deep stratagem. A ludicrous word.
Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies
himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words.
Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in
Scotland appears to support the people.
The Oxford English Dictionary
The compilation of the OED began in 1857, it was one of the most ambitious academic
projects ever undertaken.
As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray,
discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand.
When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr.
Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the
criminally insane.
Over the next four decades work on the Dictionary continued and new editors joined the
project. In April, 1928, the last volume was published. Instead of 6,400 pages in four
volumes as originally anticipated, the Dictionary published under the imposing name A
New English Dictionary on Historical Principles – contained over 400,000 words and
phrases in ten volumes. The Dictionary had taken its place as the ultimate authority on
the language.
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
http://public.oed.com/history-of-the-oed/
OED
http://80-www.oed.com.edlis.ied.edu.hk/
Part III
Etymological Evolution
The Evolution of Words ~
How do words change?
1. Borrowing
Loan words
2. Semantic changes
Generalization
Transformation
Functional Shift or
Conversion
3. Modifications
Doublets
Folk Etymology
4. Generation
Baby talk
Onomatopoeia
Coinages
How do words change?
1. Borrowing
Loan words – Words ‘borrowed’ from other
languages to fill a gap in English. The British and
American global reach was the source of massive
borrowing. Most of the words have not been
returned.
English Empire
From the Caribbean:
cannibal
canoe
barbeque
English Empire
From India:
yoga
bungalow
English Empire
From Africa:
zombie
chimpanzee
banana
English Empire
From Australia:
nugget
boomerang
English Empire
From America:
raccoon, squash, moose,
tobacco, tomato, skunk
Dutch:
coleslaw, cookies, boss
German:
pretzels, hamburger, poodle
Italian:
pizza, spaghetti, lasagna
Hawaiian
wiki, taboo,
English Empire
New words would immigrate to England:
cool
movies
groovy
jazz
And old(er) English words survived and went
on to a life in other countries, including China
fall (not autumn)
diapers (not nappies)
candy (not sweets)
World Englishes
Hinglish
Chinglish
Singlish
Spanglish
Untranslatable?
1 | German: Waldeinsamkeit
A feeling of solitude, being alone in the woods and a connectedness to nature.
Waldeinsamkeit
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
I do not count the hours I spend
In wandering by the sea;
The forest is my loyal friend,
Like God it useth me.
In plains that room for shadows make
Of skirting hills to lie,
Bound in by streams which give and take
Their colors from the sky;
Or on the mountain-crest sublime,
Or down the oaken glade,
O what have I to do with time?
For this the day was made.
Untranslatable?
2 | Inuit: Iktsuarpok
The feeling of anticipation that leads you to go outside and check if anyone is coming, and probably also indicates an element of impatience.
Untranslatable?
3 | Russian: Pochemuchka
Someone who asks a lot of questions. In fact, probably too many questions. We all know a few of these.
Untranslatable?
4 | Indonesian: Jayus
Slang for someone who tells a joke so badly, that is so unfunny you cannot help but laugh out loud.
Untranslatable?
5 | Hawaiian: Pana Po’o
You know when you forget where you've put the keys, and you scratch your head because it somehow seems to help your remember? This is the word for it.
Untranslatable?
6 | Tartle
Scottish – The act of hesitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their
name.
Duncan, I’d like you to meet mycolleague… umm… my colleague…umm... Blimey! Pardon my tartle!
Untranslatable?
7 | Cafuné
Brazilian Portuguese – “The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s
hair.”
Untranslatable?
8 | Urdu: Goya
Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, but is also an official language in 5 of the Indian states. This particular Urdu word conveys a contemplative 'as-if' that nonetheless feels like reality, and describes the suspension of disbelief that can occur, often through good storytelling.
How do words change?
2. Semantic changes
Generalization – When a particular word meaning is
generalized:
bread – from the word for piece or bit… to bit of bread… to bread.
nausea – from seasick… to sick in the stomach
thing – from OE assembly (cf OGerman ding)… to a matter before
the assembly… to any matter / any thing
Transformation – When the meaning of a word
changes
nice – stupid/ignorant… fussy… precise… good/agreeable
Shift – A change from one part of speech to another
out – see following
Career (transformation)
chariot – carrus (Latin)
carriera – course (Italian)
carriere – course (French)
career – a course (English, 16th century)
career – a job or profession
Out, 9th century (Functional shift)
Out (t. verb) expel something
Out (preposition) out the door
Out (exclamation) Out! Alas!
Out (adjective) The out crowd.
Out a person (t. verb) – a transformation in meaning; to
publicly declare a previously undisclosed sexual
orientation
The OED lists the following number of definitions for
“out”: nouns (22); adjectives (8); verbs (15);
adv./prep./int. (98); prefixes (465). Total = 608
How do words change?
3. ModificationsDoublets – A pair of words with a common origin
mouse/muscle – From Latin, mus (mouse) and musculus (little mouse).
Some muscles are shaped like mice?
cloak/clock – Both from Old French cloque, meaning ‘bell’. Cloaks were
‘bell-shaped’ and clocks sounded each hour with a bell.
tradition/treason – From Latin traditio, meaning to hand over. Tradition
came to English from Old French and treason from Latin.
Folk Etymology – New meaning from popular
misunderstanding
spitting image – From Spirit-in-image… spit ‘n image
plummet the depths – Actually plumb the depths; from plumb line
How do words change?
4. Generation
Baby talk – wee-wee, pee-pee, poo-poo, doo-doo,
doody, bunny, icky, jammies, teddy, tummy, wawa,
yummy
Onomatopoeia – haha, hohum, bark, buzz, moo,
hiss, thump, wow, bang, boom, boo-hoo, wham
Coinages – The creation of a new meaning from a
new or familiar sound.
Coinage ~
Celebrity Wordsmiths
William Shakespeare
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/14/shakespeare-words_n_4590819.html
Thank you Shakespeare for…
Gloomy
Definition: Somewhat dark: not bright or sunny
Origin: "To gloom" was a verb that existed
before Shakespeare converted the word into an
adjective in a number of his plays.
Quote: "Forced in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy
woods?" - Titus Andronicus
Thank you Shakespeare for…
Laughable
Definition: Bad in a way that seems foolish or silly
Origin: Derived from the verb "laugh."
Quote: "Though Nestor swear the jest be
laughable." - The Merchant of Venice
Thank you Shakespeare for…
Lonely
Definition: Sad from being apart from other
people
Origin: "Alone" was first shortened to "lone" in
the 1400s.
Quote: "Believe it not lightly – though I go alone
/ Like to a lonely dragon that his fen –Coriolanus
Thank you Shakespeare for…
Hurry
Definition: Move or act with haste; rush
Origin: Likely derived from the verb "harry“
Quote: "Lives, honors, lands, and all hurry to
loss." - Henry VI Part 1
Thank you Shakespeare for…
Generous
Definition: Freely giving or sharing money
and other valuable things
Origin: From the Latin "generosus," meaning
"of noble birth."
Quote: "Free me so far in your most
generous thoughts." – Hamlet
Thank you Shakespeare for…
Critical
Definition: Expressing criticism or
disapproval
Origin: From the Latin "criticus," which
referred specifically to a literary critic.
Quote: "For I am nothing if not critical" –
Othello
Coinage ~
U.S. Presidents –
George Washington
Coinage ~
U.S. Presidents –
George Washington
Coinage ~
U.S. Presidents –
Thomas Jefferson
Coinage ~
U.S. Presidents –
George Bush
“I’m the decider.”
http://youtu.be/irMeHmlxE9s
My daughter –
Jessica
“I’m wild awake.”
“You unabled me from
finishing my homework.”
“Is the line
unworthitly long?”
Food
pork (n.) c.1300 , "flesh of a pig as food," from Old French porc "pig,
swine, boar," and directly from Latin porcus "pig, tame swine," from
PIE *porko- "young swine" (cf. Umbrian purka; Old Church
Slavonic prase "young pig;" Lithuanian parsas "pig;" and Old
English fearh, Middle Dutch varken, both from Proto-
Germanic *farhaz).
Body Partscalf (n.1) "young cow," Old English cealf (Anglian cæ lf) "young
cow," from West Germanic *kalbam (cf. Middle Dutch calf, Old
Norse kalfr, German Kalb, Gothic kalbo), perhaps from PIE *gelb(h)-
, from root *gel- "to swell," hence, "womb, fetus, young of an
animal." Elliptical sense of "leather made from the skin of a calf" is
from 1727.
calf (n.2) fleshy part of the lower leg,
early 14c., from Old Norse kalfi; possibly
from the same Germanic root as calf (n.1).
Body Parts and Food
knuckle (n.)
mid-14c., knokel "finger joint; any
joint of the body, especially a
knobby one; morbid lump or
swelling;" common Germanic (cf.
Middle Low German knökel,
Middle Dutch cnockel,
German knöchel), literally "little
bone," a diminutive of Proto-
Germanic root *knuck- "bone" (cf.
German Knochen "bone).
gnocchi (n.)
1891, from Italian gnocchi,
plural of gnocco,
from nocchio "a knot in wood,"
perhaps from a Germanic
source akin to knuckle. So
called for their shape.
They exploded with applause!explode (v.) 1530s, "to reject with scorn," from Latin explodere "drive out or off by
clapping, hiss off, hoot off," originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by
making noise," hence "drive out, reject" (a sense surviving in an exploded theory),
from ex- "out" (see ex-) + plaudere "to clap the hands, applaud," of uncertain origin.
Roman audiences were highly demonstrative. clapping and shouting approval,
stamping, hissing, and hooting for disapproval. At the close of the performance of a
comedy in the Roman theatre one of the actors dismissed the audience, with a
request for their approbation, the expression being usually plaudite, vos plaudite,
or vos valete et plaudite. [William Smith, "A First Latin Reading Book," 1890]
English used it to mean "drive out with violence and sudden noise" (1650s), later, "go
off with a loud noise" (American English, 1790); sense of "to burst with destructive
force" is first recorded 1882; of population, 1959. Related: Exploded; exploding.
explode1.wav
explode2.wav
applaud (v.) late 15c. (implied in applauding), "to express agreement or approval; to
praise," from Latin applaudere "to clap the hands in approbation, to approve by
clapping hands; to strike upon, beat," from ad "to" (see ad-) + plaudere"to clap"
(see plaudit). Sense of "express approval of" is from 1590s; that of "to clap the
hands" is from 1590s. Figurative sense arrived in English before literal.
Related: Applauded; applauding.
Oxymorons ~
Self-contradictory Set Phrases
pretty bad
awfully good
now then
seriously funny
deafening silence
http://youtu.be/WQQ1oGmCoeE
found missing
liquid gas
student teacher
clearly confused
almost exactly
From the word for 1 + 100 zeros: googol
Semantic shift from proper noun to verb in less
than 4 months in 1998.
And other words from technology:
• firewall, download, blog, reboot
Etymology
DoMiddle English do, first person singular of Old English don "make, act, perform, cause; to put, to place," from West Germanic *don (source also of Old
Saxon duan, Old Frisian dua, Dutch doen, Old High German tuon, German tun), from PIE root *dhe-"to set, put, place.“ Use as an auxiliary began in
Middle English. Periphrastic form in negative sentences ("They did not think") replaced the Old English negative particles ("Hie ne wendon"). Slang
meaning "to do the sex act with or to" is from 1913.
YouOld English eow, dative and accusative plural of þu (see thou), objective case of ge, "ye" (see ye), from Proto-Germanic *juz-, *iwwiz (source also of
Old Norse yor, Old Saxon iu, Old Frisian iuwe, Middle Dutch, Dutch u, Old High German iu, iuwih, German euch), from PIE *yu, second person
(plural) pronoun.
Pronunciation of you and the nominative form ye gradually merged from 14c.; the distinction between them passed out of general usage by 1600.
Widespread use of French in England after 12c. gave English you the same association as French vous, and it began to drive out singular
nominative thou, originally as a sign of respect (similar to the "royal we") when addressing superiors, then equals and strangers, and ultimately (by c.
1575) becoming the general form of address. Through 13c. English also retained a dual pronoun ink "you two; your two selves; each other."
WantNoun. From 1200, "deficiency, insufficiency, shortage," from want (v.) and from Old Norse vant, neuter of vanr "wanting, deficient;" related to Old
English wanian "to diminish" (see wane). Meaning "state of destitution, poverty" is recorded from early 14c. Meaning "thing desired, that which is lacking
but needed" is from 1560s. Phrase for want of is recorded from c. 1400. Newspaper want ad is recorded from 1897. Middle English had wantsum (c.
1200) "in want, deprived of," literally "want-some.“
Verb. c. 1200, "to be lacking," from Old Norse vanta "to lack, want," earlier *wanaton, from Proto-Germanic *wanen, from PIE *weno-, suffixed form of
root -eue "to leave, abandon, give out." The meaning "desire, wish for, feel the need of" is recorded by 1706.
CandyFrom late 13 century, "crystallized sugar," from Old French çucre candi "sugar candy," ultimately from Arabic qandi, from Persian qand "cane sugar,"
probably from Sanskrit khanda "piece (of sugar)," perhaps from Dravidian (compare Tamil kantu "candy," kattu "to harden, condense"). The sense
gradually broadened (especially in U.S.) to mean by late 19c. "any confection having sugar as its basis." In Britain these are sweets, and candy tends to
be restricted to sweets made only from boiled sugar and striped in bright colors.
https://youtu.be/AzVL432lEWA
Do you want candy?
Lessons from Etymology
Words are organic; they are forever being
born, growing, changing, dying.
A dictionary is a photograph of a word; some
meanings and uses at a moment in time
The true meaning of a word is exactly what
we understand and agree that it means:
“Those fish are __________ .”
You are as much an authority as anyone else
on the meaning of words!
The End
Questions or Comments?
Further Study:
Google ngram viewer
Food Example: sushi, ketchup, catsup, pizza
Cities Example: Hong Kong, Canton, Peking,
Guangzhou, Beijing
Clothes Example: sunglasses, jeans, hat
Ethnicities Example: Chinese-American,
African-American, Italian-American
https://books.google.com/ngrams
Further Study:
Recommended Reading
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of English by David Crystal
The English Language by David Crystal
Genes, Peoples and languages by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza
How to Read a Word by Elizabeth Knowles
The Life of Language by Sol Steinmetz and Barbara Ann Kipfer
The Miracle of Language by Richard Lederer
The Story of English by Joseph Piercy
The Story of English in 100 Words by David Crystal
Word Routes: Journeys through Etymology by Alexander Tulloch
The Words We Use by Robert Lord