|
| | HAPPY-go-LUCKY ENGLISH
by Dr. ALEC GILL MBE
OPENING / INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS: I used to
asked these questions - during my former teaching days
GLOBAL ASPECTS
- How many millions speak English (have a rough guess if unsure)
- How many words are there in the English language today?:
- Name some of the Indo-European group of languages?
- Where in the world is Celtic still spoken?
- What are the Romance (Latin-based) languages in Europe today?
- Name one state in which Latin is still the official language?
- What events were key turning points in the evolution of English?
TEUTONIC TRIBES
- Are you familiar with any Anglo-Saxon verse?
- How did King Alfred (849-899) save the Anglo-Saxon tongue from oblivion?
- During the Anglo-Saxon period, can you name some of the major kingdoms (Mercia,
Essex...)?
- Jot down a few place names with the following suffixes:
- -caster, -Chester =
- -ham, -ing, -ton =
- -by, -dale, -thorpe =
- -borough, -brough =
NORMAN CONQUEST 1066+
- After the Normans conquered England, which words were they keen to impose upon the
Anglo-Saxon natives (as the new land-owning aristocracy)?
- Who was the first king of England, after the Norman Conquest, to speak English as
his mother tongue: ______________?
- Which Biblical words and expressions are used in everyday English (writing on the
wall, the good Samaritan...)?
William SHAKESPEARE
- Which of the Bard's well-known expressions do we use in everyday sayings (every dog
has his day, all's well that ends well...)?
- Should English be protected by an Academy like the French proudly defend their
native tongue?
- Does the vast English vocabulary provide too wide a range of words?
SCHOLARS and FOREIGN WORDS
- Why did the scholars from Bede to Bacon prefer Latin to their native English?
- What foreign words do you know which are now part of
English?:
AMERICAN and FUTURE ENGLISH
- What words did the early settlers in North America borrow from the natives and
introduced into English (canoe...)?
- What Spanish / Mexican words are used in English (stampede...)?
Think 'cowboy' here.
- What American neologisms can you list (e.g., ball-park
figure)?
- What modern words have entered into common usage in English during the 20th.century
- especially since WWII?
HOW big is the English language - how many words does it possess?
Do DICTIONARIES hold the answer?
- 1755 Sam. Johnson
43,000 words
- 1961 Webster's 3rd.Int. 450,000 "
- 1989 Oxford Eng Dict 615,000
"
But do counts of words in dictionaries give us an accurate number of words in
any
language?
RETURN
TO 'ENGLISH' PAGE ^
|