English – A Global Language!

Fun With English1 August 2013

What do these 3 words have in common?

?

Zombies

Booze

Bungalow

They are all English words with foreign roots!

Word Origin Meaning

Bungalow (n.) Bengali(Belonging to Bengal)

Single-storey homes built for early European immigrants in Bengal

Booze (n.) Dutch (busen)

To drink to excess

Zombie (n.) West Africa (zumbi, nzambi)

Reanimated corpse (in voodoo cult)

Did you know?

About 60 % of English words have French and Germanic roots

Another 30% have origins in the dead language, Latin

Words of Arabic origin filtered in through trade e.g. coffee, alcohol

Words of Spanish origin often relate to warfare and tactics e.g. guerilla, flotilla

Words of Indian origin were coined from the colonial era and relate to culture e.g. pyjamas, jungle, shampoo * Info & Image: Wikipedia

Bringing the World to your Classroom

Vocabulary & Pronunciation of Words of Foreign Origin in the Classroom

Economics

• Economy (French: L’economie)• Scarcity Scarce (Old French: scars, escars)

• Trade & Finance– Capitalism, Bank, Cash (Italian: capitalismo, banco,

cassa)– Laissez-faire (French: laisser-faire, to let it be)– Tariff (Arabic: Ta’rif, to notify)– Debt (Latin Old French: dete)– Embargo (Spanish: embargar, ‘to seize or impound’)

General PaperPolitics & Governance:• Coup d'état (French: "state blow“, or Overthrow of the government)• Parliament (French: parler, ‘to speak’)• Realpolitik (German: realist or power politics)• Democracy (Greek)Crime:• Mafia (Italian Sicilian, mafiusu)• Contraband (French: contrebande, “smuggling”)• Embezzlement “to steal or misappropriate” (French)

The Human Condition:• Claustrophobia, xenophobia “fear of…” (Greek/Latin)Society:• Apartheid “separateness” (Dutch)

General PaperFashion:• haute couture "high sewing“ (French) High-class, fancy and expensive

clothing styles e.g. Chanel, Céline, Hermès• prêt-à-porter "ready to wear“ (French) made to wear clothing• Denim “from Nîmes” (French) French town where the cloth originated fromEducation:• Kindergarten “children’s garden” (German) pre-schoolEntertainment:• The Star Wars Saga is “a long, sweeping tale or legend” (Old Norse)Everyday:• Rendez-vous "go to“ (noun or verb) A date or an appointment (French: verb

se rendre ‘to go’)• RSVP "respond please” (French: Répondez, s'il vous plaît "Please RSVP" is

redundant

Literature

• Bildungsroman “coming-of-age story” (German) e.g. Jane Eyre, Great Expectations

• Belle époque "beautiful era“ (French) e.g. French literature at the turn of the 20th C. e.g. Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time

• Zeitgeist “Spirit of the times or age” (German) e.g. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Music & The Arts Art (French)• belle époque "beautiful era“

The golden age of art and culture in France in the early 20th century• bas-relief "low relief/design"

Sculpture that is only slightly more prominent than its background• art déco "decorative art"

Short for art décoratif, a famous art trend in America in the Roaring Twenties• art nouveau "new art"

Characterized by flowers, leaves, and flowing lines• papier mâché "mashed paper“

Used for art• Avant garde “before guard” or “ahead of time”

Innovative, experimental art

Music (Italian)• Piano “soft” touch or the instrument• Forte “strong” touch • Fortissimo “very strong”• Guitar (Spanish)

The Humanities

Geography:• Volcano (Italian)• Caldera (Spanish)• Sky, Geyser (Scandinavian, Old Norse)• Hinterland (German)• Dam (Dutch)

History:• Blitz, or Blitzkrieg “lightning war” (German military term taken from:

WW II era)• Realpolitik (German: realist or power politics)• Junta “together” (Spanish: military government)• Holocaust (

The SciencesChemistry• Alchemy (Arabic: alkimiya)• Sodium (Arabic: suwed)• Many elements on the Periodic Table e.g.• Alkali (Arabic: Alqali)

Biology:• Biology (Greek)• Many scientific and medical Terminologies (Latin & Ancient Greek)• Albino (Spanish)• Influenza (Italian)

Physics:• Quantum “how much” (Latin)• Calipers “instrument of measure” (Arabic: qalip)

Mathematics

• The number zero (Arabic: sifar Latin: zephirum Old Italian: zefiro French: zero)

• Lambda, sigma, alpha, beta… (Greek)

• Algebra (Arabic)

• Algorithm (Proper Noun: Al-khwarizmi Latin)

Physical Education

Sports, Health & Recreation:• Abseil “to rope oneself down” (German)

• Foosball “table football” (German)

• Gesundheit “health” (German)

• Muscle (Latin, literal def. “when flexed, it is a little mouse that runs underneath your skin”)

• Fatigue (French)

Identify words with foreign roots in this story!

The admiral hated to snoop, so he left the bottle of shampoo just where he had found it -- next to the tea and coffee. The bottle had a picture of a llama on the label.

The admiral's wife, who usually wore a gingham dress and moccasins when visiting their ranch on the Nebraska prairie, had just returned from her chores at the bank and the church bazaar. She was now helping the cook make the chowder and the goulash for lunch. the admiral heard them talking in the kitchen.

Someone was playing a ukulele, which the admiral did not like, so he turned on the radio and listened to a pretty mazurka by Chopin. Then he looked through his collection of pictures -- mostly of boats, rafts, and kayak he had seen.

When everyone sat down to eat, the principal of the kindergarten cried, "At last! Hurrah!" -- and by accident spilled the ketchup all over the taffy apples! This so amused another guest, who had

just returned from a safari, that he pulled a toy pistol out of his sack and ran all around the veranda, laughing like a maniac and firing his pistol at imaginary zombies. It was a grand party.

Source: http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/reference/english_language/foreignroots.html

Here are some answers!Word Origin Word Origin Word Origin

admiral Arabic tea Chinese llama Tibetan

snoop Dutch coffee Arabic/Turkish chowder Creole

bank Italian ranch Spanish safari Swahili

bazaar Persian chores Greek kayak Eskimo

shampoo Indian (Pakistani)

Kindergart-en

German ukulele Hawaiian

Word Origin Word Origin Word Origin

hurrah Hebrew pistol Czech moccasins American Indian (Powhatan)

taffy Tagalog mazurka Polish Nebraska American Indian (Sioux)

gingham Malay veranda Indian maniac Latin

If you understand the following story, you understand at least one word from thirty-two different

languages!

You are more multi-lingual than you think!

Explore further!

• Movie Reference:– Youtube clips of ‘Akeelah and the Bee’ (2006)

• ‘Argillaceous’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ84SYJmHYI• ‘Big words come from little words’:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UZxXUwQX84

• Collection of useful French expressions used in English (Good for essays!)– http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/frenchinenglish

_2.htm• Wikipedia (extensive list of words of foreign origin):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_English_words_by_country_or_language_of_origin

THE END…Thank you!