creativereading3unit11-20.doc

UNIT ELEVEN: English words

Notes on the Topic:

The English language is relatively new in terms of the history of most world languages. In the time of Shakespere, a mere 400 years ago, perhaps only a million people were using English and it took a very different form to what it is today. Yet English has become the most widely spoken of all languages. A huge percentage of the world’s mail (perhaps 70%) is written in English and a similar percentage of phone calls worldwide are made in English. It is the world language of many important fields such as aviation and medicine. English has the largest vocabulary of any world language and this unit explains how one of the reasons for this is ‘loan words’. Very few native speakers would in fact be familiar with even most of the items in the English lexicon. Second language learners need to be aware of which items are high-frequency and which are not and which lexical items may be needed for active production when writing and speaking as opposed to lexical items only needed for recognition when listening and reading.

This unit presents some interesting facts about the diverse origins of many English words. There is a small derivation section focussing on prefixes and suffixes and how recognition of these can unlock the meanings of words. The final activity requires students to create their own compound words.

Before you read:

In groups or pairs, students might brainstorm any words they know from the foreign languages in the table. They might decide if these words may also be used in English as well. There is a likelihood that the most common internationally known words from these languages have been borrowed into English as well eg. spaghetti.

Alternatively, the languages in the table could be written up on the board on the left, and one by one a number of ‘loan words’ (taken from the reading text) could be written up on the right. The class could compete to see who can identify which language each word originated from (i.e. match them with the language of origin). Students can also discuss this with a partner or in a small group and note down their answers. The correction activity could be based on what the group as a whole thinks is correct. After they have completed the reading of the main text, students might correctly match up the languages and the words as a comprehension check.

In fact, all boxes may be ticked as English has borrowed words from each language listed and some other languages have been added to the list below:

Languages
ü
Chinese
ü
Russian
ü
German
ü
Japanese
ü
French
ü
Spanish
ü
Greek
ü
Filipino
ü
Arabic
ü
Thai
ü
Italian (mentioned in text)
ü
Dutch (mentioned in text)
ü
North American Indian languages “ “
ü
Hebrew
ü
Yiddish
ü
Indonesian
ü

Further information on the text

Words are mirrors of the times in which they are used. New words reflect and chronicle social, economic, technological and other developments. In different decades in recent years the vocabulary of English has grown most noticeably in different semantic fields:

1950s space

1960s computers

1970s business media

1980s finance environment

1990s Internet

Examples of new words coming into general use from these fields include:
Space: black hole, pulsar, count-down, blast-off, re-entry, splash-down
Computers: software, modem, on-line, print-out, spreadsheet, laptop
Business: prioritize, downsizing, buy-outs, first-time buyer (of a house), hypermarket, privatization, marketization
The media: videotape, chat show, phone-in, sitcom, camcorder
Finance: golden hello (a bonus to start work), golden handshake (a bonus to finish employment), single currency, euro,
The environment: noise pollution, passive smoking, bioethics, renewable sources of energy)
The Internet: the Web, website, home page, cybercafe, spam

There are six main ways of making new words in English.
§ Combining, the most common way of forming new words in English (accounting for between 60 and 70%), by combining existing words or parts of words to make a new one. This is done firstly by making a compound out of existing words so that the combination means something different from the separate words: blockbuster ( a very successful fim or novel), ground zero (a centre of an explosion or change), toy-boy (the younger boyfriend of an older person).A combination can be made by adding a prefix or suffix: eco-awareness, eco-design, ecomanagement, cyberspace, cybernaut, cybercafe; hamburger, cheeseburger, fishburger, vegeburger; workaholic, chocoholic, cyberholic.
§ Shifting in grammar or meaning (about 17% of new words) happens when, nouns are shifted from verbs - backup, flashback, takeover, cease-fire, checkout – or when verbs are shifted from nouns – bleep, mastermind, pressure, microwave, cutback.
§ Shortening (about 8% of new words), in which part of a word can be omitted (often this is the suffix, in ‘backforamtion’): ad (advert – advertisement), babysit (babysitting – babysitter), fax (facsimile transmission), photo op (photo opportunity), demo (demonstration). This includes using initials or acronyms: DVD (digital video disc), yuppie (young urban professional), AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
§ Blending (about 5% of new words), which is the process of simultaneously combining and shortening: biopic (biography + picture: a film biography), infotainment (information + entertainment: a TV programme which presents information in an entertaining way), motel (motor + hotel), botel (boat + hotel), avionics (aviation + electronics), Benelux (Belgium + Netherlands + Luxembourg).
§ Borrowing words from other languages (2-5% of new words): pizza (Italian), doner kebab (Turkish), au pair (French: a foreign girl who receives board and lodging in exchange for housework or childcare), karate (Japanese), robot (Czech), sauna (Finnish), intelligentsia (Russian), anorak (Inuktitut, West Greenland), slogan (Gaelic, Scotland), zero (Arabic), macho (Spanish), kung-fu (Chinese), wok (Cantonese).
§ Creating new words from scratch, or at least not from other words (less than 1%): nylon, zip (originally from Zipper, a trade name for a fastener), blurb (the description on the back of a a book cover), googol (the number represented by 10 followed by 100 zeros), wimp (someone who is not brave, strong or confident).

Famous people mentioned in the text:
l William Shakespeare is generally acknowledged as the greatest English playwright (1564 – 1616), and is also famous as a poet for his 154 sonnets. He wrote approximately two plays a year and was also an active member of a theatre company for 20 years. His plays have often been translated to other languages and many of them have been made into films.
l Ben Jonson was an English playwright and poet (1577-1637). He was made Poet Laureate and is best known today for his comedies.
l Isaac Newton is often called the greatest English scientist (1642-1727) but was also a philosopher. He is known particularly for his theories of gravitation and the spectrum in physics and for the development of the calculus in maths. His ‘laws of motion’ are still known as Newtonian physics.
l Sir Thomas More was an English humanist and writer (1477-1525). He was a lawyer and became the Lord Chancellor of England. As a well known Catholic he refused to recognize Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Bolyn and was executed.
l Samuel Coleridge was an English poet, critic and philosopher (1772-1834). His literary partnership with William Wordsworth was a key element in the English Romantic movement. His ideas on the poetic imagination provided much of the philosophical basis for Romanticism.
l Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish historian, philosopher, essayist and critic (1795 – 1881). He was thought of as the leading thinker of his day but is less well known today. He emphasized concepts of work, duty and the importance of the individual in an age of mass movements, besides the public life of heroism of leaders.
l Sir Thomas Elyot was an English diplomat, administrator and author (1499 - 1546). He was a lexicographer of Latin and English and was also a translator of the ancient classics into English.
l Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and jurist (1748-1832). As a philosopher of social and moral reform, he is known for the development of Utilitarianism – the idea that all reform should be dictated by the greatest happiness of the greatest number as a measure of right and wrong - and the idea that human motivation is based on self-interest.
l George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic and novelist (1856 – 1950). He was a well-known socialist. His plays suggested intelligent debate and asked people to encounter controversial points or unpalatable truths.

Words to note

Column A
Column B
1. absurdity
the unreasonableness or stupidity of something
2. centrifugal
moving around a central point and also moving away from the center
3. centripetal
moving towards the center when also moving around that centre
4. decadent
involving pleasure that is considered immoral
5. defunct
not existing or working any more
6. dwindle
to become gradually less or smaller over time
7. frugal
spending very little money
8. genteel
typical of polite people, especially those belonging to a high social class
9. hinterland
an area that is a long way from a town or city
10. jaunty
appearing to be happy and carefree
11. manipulate
to control or change something in a clever way
12. sordid
immoral, dishonest and unpleasant
13. thriving
very successful, happy or healthy
14. versatile
able to be used in many different ways

Words to note in context:

1. Fighting for peace seems to be plain absurdity – it is a contradiction to do so.
2. A washing machine uses centrifugal force to spin the water out of the clothes.
3. Centripetal force pulls a rotating object in towards the centre.
4. The rock star enjoyed a decadent lifestyle of sex drugs and parties day and night.
5. When computers took over in the workplace, the typewriter became somewhat defunct .
6. Towards closing time in the clubs and bars, the crowds start to dwindle as people start to go home.
7. My father was so frugal he never carried a wallet to avoid spending money!
8. Genteel is a nicer word to describe someone who is classy, stylish and elegant.
9. The coastal areas of Australia are very green and fertile but the hinterland is mostly desert.
10. After discovering he had won some money, he walked home in a jaunty manner, a smile on his face and a spring in his step.
11. One way to manipulate someone who loves you, is to cry when they don’t do what you want.
12. The little boy had a sordid interest in lighting fires and hurting cats.
13. The computer industry is still thriving in most parts of the world.
14. Plastic is so versatile it is used to make thousands of different products.

Understanding the text

Part A: Table completion
This activity encourages students to identify the main idea of each paragraph and in doing so, they create a summary of the text in the form of the table below. By filling in the right-hand column, students also differentiate between main ideas and supporting ideas. This activity could be likened to a reverse plan of an essay with the controlling idea being “There are a number of reasons why the English language is the largest of any language in the world.”

Reasons
Examples
1. English borrows words from other languages
Ketchup from Chinese and sofa from Arabic
2. Influential individuals create words which may be accepted into the language
Shakespeare: excellent, lonely, hurry
Isaac Newton: centrifugal
Sir Thomas More: exact
3. New words forms are created through the use of prefixes and suffixes
Disbelieve, invisible, impossible
4. Existing words may be joined together to form compounds
Airport, seashore, wristwatch

This next activity aims to give students scanning practice for very specific items. They need to skim the text for the names and then find the words the person introduced into the English language. Students might briefly want to know who these people were and when they lived. An interesting point to note is that while there could be contention as to whether or not Shakespeare, for example, actually created all of the English words attributed to him, what is generally accepted is that those words were first found in his writings.

Names
Examples of words created by the individual
Jeremy Bentham
international
Sir Thomas Elyot
exhaust
George Bernard Shaw
superman
Thomas Carlyle
environment
William Shakespeare
dwindle

Part B: Sentence completion
Sentence completion is another way of testing reading comprehension for both main ideas and specific details, although students may feel that their grammar is also being tested. The students should understand that the objective initially is to make their meaning clear and correct and grammatical accuracy can be attended to subsequently.

a. According to the speaker, foreign learners of English may find English prefix negation confusing because there are at least eight ways of expressing negation using prefixes.

b. English can also be confusing for the learner because two different word forms may mean the
same thing e.g. flammable and inflammable.

c. The suffix –less usually makes a word negative except for priceless.

d. The word hazardous is one of only four uses of the suffix –dous.

e. The –en suffix is a very useful way to form verbs from adjectives.

Developing your skills

Part A: Language origins
The answers for this exercise are all found in the second paragraph. This activity requires students to recognize language denoting origin and sets and sub-sets. Expressions such as “belongs to”, “is a branch of” and “is split into” refer to members of a larger set. “English is a Germanic language” indicate that German was the origin. Students may not have heard of Indo-European languages and to summarise briefly, some historians believe that the ancestor of the following languages can be traced to Asia rather than Europe: Armenian, Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, Greek, Latin, Albanian, Baltic, Indo-Iranian to name the main language groups. Around half the world’s population today speaks an Indo-European language.

[Indo-European Family [Sino-Tib