CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 89
English: a global language
A
|
The origins of English vocabulary
LANGUAGE
ONLINE
Some languages do not easily
accept words from other languages into their lexicon1,
but
English has always welcomed
them. It is estimated that English vocabulary has its sources2
in at least 120 languages.
Some languages have, of course, provided English with more
words than others. English
started out with a basic Anglo-Saxon3 word stock4.
Viking5 and
Norman6 invaders from the 9th century onwards enriched7
the language enormously with
large numbers of words brought
from their own languages. The Vikings brought new words
of Germanic origin while the
Normans spoke a form of French. Both sets of invaders had an
enormous impact on8
English vocabulary, explaining why English may sometimes seem
to have several words for the
same basic concept9. During the Renaissance of the 15th
to
the 17th centuries, scholars
introduced many words of classical origin10. And throughout
history, English speakers’
contact with the world as explorers, scientists, traders, pirates
and holiday-makers has had linguistic
consequences11 in a wealth of new words from
every part of the world that
they reached. These words taken from other languages are
sometimes referred to as loanwords
or borrowings.
|
1 vocabulary (specialist term)
2 where something comes from
3 Old English
4 set of words
5 Norse, from the north of Europe, e.g. Denmark or Norway
6 from Normandy, a region in the north of France
7 made richer
8 influenced, had an eff ect on
9 idea
10 from Latin or Ancient Greek
11 results aff ecting language
|
B
|
English words from other languages
language
|
word
|
meaning
|
phrase
|
Arabic
|
amber
|
yellowy-orange substance originating from tree resin and
used in jewellery
|
an amber necklace
|
Dutch
|
roster
|
list of people’s turns for jobs
|
the cooking roster
|
Farsi
|
tabby
|
grey and brown stripy cat
|
our old tabby
|
German
|
gimmick
|
an amusing or unusual way of attracting attention
|
advertising gimmicks
|
Greek
|
tonic
|
medicine to make you feel stronger and better
|
take a tonic
|
Hindi
|
cot
|
child’s bed with high vertical sides
|
sleep in a cot
|
Icelandic
|
mumps
|
a childhood illness
|
have mumps
|
Japanese
|
karaoke
|
type of entertainment where ordinary people sing to
popular music
|
a karaoke machine
|
Portuguese
|
palaver
|
unnecessary trouble
|
What a palaver!
|
Russian
|
intelligentsia
|
social class of intellectuals
|
19th-century
intelligentsia
|
Spanish
|
hammock
|
net hung and used as a bed
|
sleep in a hammock
|
Turkish
|
turban
|
type of men’s headwear, made from a long piece of cloth
|
wear a turban
|
|
C
|
False
friends
Some
English words may look like words in your language but have a diff erent
meaning. Such words are known as false friends, e.g. the German word Gift
looks like the English word gift [present] but actually means poison
in German. The English word sympathetic resembles a word meaning,
simply, nice in many other European languages, but in English sympathetic
has a much narrower meaning [understanding and caring about someone
else’s suff ering]. Note also that the pronunciation of a word borrowed into
English may be quite diff erent from its pronunciation in its language of
origin.
|
EXERCISES
89.1
|
Complete
the sentences with a word from A opposite.
1
A linguist may talk about a language’s vocabulary as its ________________.
2
Old English is also known as ________________.
3
Ancient Greek and Latin are referred to as ________________ languages.
4
A loanword can also be termed a ________________.
5
Where something originates from can be called its________________.
6
A word for something that happens as a result of something else is ________________.
7
A synonym for eff ect or influence is ________________.
8
The opposite of impoverish or make poorer is ________________.
|
|
89.2
|
Which
of the words in B opposite do these pictures illustrate?
|
89.3
|
Fill
the gaps with one of the words from B.
1
We’re having a ________ evening at school tonight – it should be great fun.
2
Most babies these days have an injection to protect them from getting ________.
3
I have some lovely ________ earrings. They match my orange scarf perfectly.
4
Have a refreshing drink of lemon and honey every morning – it’ll be just
the ________ you need to make you feel better again.
5
Who’s on the ________ for the cleaning this week?
6
The clowns went out into the street as a ________ to advertise their
circus.
|
|
89.4
|
Think
of words that have come from your own language into English. Try to find
words from these topic areas, which are particularly rich in loanwords in
English.
•
food and drink
•
animals, flowers and landscape features
•
industrial products and inventions
•
clothing and the home
•
politics and society
•
the arts, sports and leisure activities
|
|
89.5
|
Make
a list of false friends for English and your own first language. Here is a
list begun by a Spanish speaker.
English word
|
similar word in
my language + meaning
|
meaning in English
|
complexion
|
complexión
= person’s physical build
|
appearance
of skin on a person’s face (a clear complexion)
|
destitute
|
destituido
= removed from job
|
without
money, food, home or possessions
|
|
89.6
|
These
words are said to have moved from English into a number of other languages.
Which of them exist in your language?
thematic fields
|
English source
words
|
food and drink
|
beefsteak, jam, pudding, sandwich
|
animals
|
bulldog, dog, skunk
|
clothing
|
blazer, cardigan, pullover, sweater
|
political and social life
|
parliament, Tory, boycott, budget, inflation, strike
|
industry and inventions
|
car ferry, container, freight, computer chip, cable TV
|
arts, sports and leisure
|
ace [1 in playing cards], boxer, football, break-dance
|
|
ANSWER KEY
89.1
1
lexicon
2 Anglo-Saxon
3 classical
4 borrowing
5 source
6 consequence
7 impact
8 enrich
89.2
1
hammock 3 tabby
2 turban 4 cot
89.3
1
karaoke
2 mumps
3 amber
4 tonic
5 roster
6 gimmick
89.4
Here
are some possible answers for speakers of Spanish:
• food and drink – paella, tapas, rioja
• animals, flowers and landscape features – mosquito, cork, banana
• industrial products and inventions – fumidor, lasso
• clothing and the home – sombrero, mantilla, hammock
• politics and society – junta, guerrilla, embargo, mañana, macho
• the arts, sports and leisure activities – flamenco, guitar, toreador
89.5
If
possible, compare your answers with those of other speakers of your language.
89.6
Notice
that these words may not all have originated in English. Pudding originates
from an old French
word, for instance, but it seems to have moved into some other languages from
English rather than
going directly from French.
|
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