English Word Origins

Lexicology Quizzes

2008-04-24T01:23:00.001-07:00

Hi Everybody,

Visit the following links and complete the related quizzes

http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/materialsbank/mb044/Grammar.htm
http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/materialsbank/mb044/LangFamEx.htm
http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/materialsbank/mb044/LangFamExDD.htm

Good Luck,

Tuncer Can

Last Years Mid-Term Questions

2008-04-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

English Words Mid-Term 2007

1) Identify the processes involved in the formation of the words below.(20 p.)

written, disco, heliport, Anglophile, mish-mash, flu, İÜ, morphine,

2) wordsmith (10 words) (20 p.)

3) How could you explain the relationship among the following English words: captain, chief and chef, give other examples? (You might want to consider the English language history while answering.) (30 p.)

4) Identify the Morphemes of the following English words, then write the meanings of these Morphemes and guess their origins. (30 p.)

theogamous
psychometri
boys
captain
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
politics
prescription
fifth
suggest
idiosyncracy

Sources of English Words

2008-03-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Last week we studied the sources of words in English. In this context, find Turkish examples for the following concepts:

1) Inheritence
2) Neologisms
3) Blending
4) Acronyms
5) Creation by Shortening
6) Derivation
7) Compounding
8) Eponyms
9) Echoic words an Reduplication

P.S.Make sure that your examples are unique (no other friend of yours gives it as an example).

Good Luck,

Tuncer Can

Etymology

2007-03-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings Everybody,

We also studied the concept of "Etymology" (the history of words). Your second assignment is finding the etymology of city words in Turkey. Click on "Comments" to see the 81 city names of Turkey. Everyone must find the etymology of a different city, preferrably the city you come from or closer.

Good luck,

Tuncer Can

Our Lexicology Course

2007-02-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

This course applies linguistic principles to the study of the English vocabulary. We will examine the rich stock of morphemes, or meaningful elements, in English words, and observe how these combine to derive much of the vocabulary of English. Other topics include the development of the English vocabulary, derivational processes, articulatory (i.e. pronunciation) processes, etymology (word histories), sound change and meaning change, the linguistic relations of English, sources of new words, usage and variation, and slang. As far as possible, students will be encouraged to make their own investigations and discuss their findings and questions about words in class. Students will work to increase their mastery of English vocabulary from the technical, literary, scientific and other domains by acquiring recurrent morphemes and words incorporating them; and by generally increasing their awareness of the structure, history, and use of English words.

Course objectives
By the end of the course, the student should
· have an awareness of the internal structure of words and of the systematic relationships among words in English
· have a basic understanding of the history of the English language, with particular reference to the major periods of vocabulary expansion that it has undergone and how those periods are reflected in the modern lexicon
· understand some basic principles of language change that have affected the English language, including principles of sound change and meaning change
· know the basic stock of Classical roots and affixes that recurrently appear in English words; be able to interpret newly encountered words incorporating elements of that stock
· be familiar with a wide range of words and their origins, meanings, and domains of use; be able to apply the knowledge gained so as to be able to say something about the origin and/or meaning of unfamiliar words
· understand how the study of words can be used as an access point into knowledge and history of an entire culture, and be able to further pursue such knowledge via the study of words
· have a good working knowledge of the incredibly rich lexical resources available in the English language, providing a basis for increased mastery of the spoken and written language