The English Department Website

Language Study Unit

Think about: what we use language for, what types of language there are, when we use language and when we do not. 

Write down the names of all the languages that you can speak, and how well you can use them. Put the name of each language in the left hand column and tick the box you think fits:

Which Languages are you able to read?

Which language are you able to write in and how well can you do this?

Do you use different languages to talk to different people – for example parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends?

Where did you learn the languages that you are able to speak?

The English Language contains lots of words that it has borrowed from other languages. Look at this list of words:

Café    Bamboo    Typhoon    Vodka    Chocolate    Umbrella    Anorak    Automatic    Judo    Caravan    Thug    Restaurant    Zebra    Pyjamas    Whisky

Now look at  this list of languages:

Russian    Gaelic    Malay    Greek    Italian    Hindi    French    Japanese    Persian    Bantu    Chinese    Nahuatl    Eskimo

Try to match the words in the first list to the language from which they originally came.

You will need to guess, but try to see if you can make 'educated guesses'. For example, it is very unlikely the language of a hot country, like Persian, would have invented the word 'anorak'. For every match you make make sure you can explain your guess.

answers

Although Americans speak English, there are some words that were first used in American English before being used in Britain.

In the short story below, there are five words which were first used in America - can you find them?

I went to the supermarket with my teenage son who desperately wanted me to buy some cornflakes. He was so annoying that I completely forgot to buy detergent, which is what I went in for really. Because I was angry, I started shouting at my son, and I was so loud that the boss of the shop came out to calm me down. It was very embarrassing.

Can you think of any other words that you know have come from another country?

The word derivation desribes the way that new things grow from older sources.

As well as borrowing words from other languages, much of the English vocabulary derives from that of other languages. lots of words we use come from words that look very similar in other languages.

Take a look at the following list of words,from French or German:

appel    difficile     sensible     rund    junge    haus    mouton    boeuf    strasse    chat    nacht    schule    sel    pieds    schwimmen    heure

match the words with their English derivatives:

cat    young    apple    mutton    pedestrian    street    beef    salt    sensitive    hour    night    school    swim    round    house    difficult

To understand why so much of the English language has derived from other languages, it is necessary to know a little bit about the turbulent history of the British Isles. Through its history, Britain has been invaded and conquered by lots of different peoples including the Romans (who spoke Latin), the Saxons, Jutes and Vikings (who spoke Germanic languages) and the Normans (who spoke French). Each set of invaders had an influence on the language the native peoples of Britain speak.

The Romans were in this country for about 400 years, but they didn't really influence the English language. Why might this have been?

When the Saxons invaded in about 450AD, the original language spoken by people in what is now Britain (Celtic) began to die out - now only a few groups of people in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Cornwall can use Celtic languages. Why might this have happened?

The Normans, led by William the Conqueror, invaded England in 1066. When William became King, French was made the official language of the law courts, and of parliament. Why do you think English didn't die out completely and become replaced with French?

Often, poets invent words (you could call this 'poetic licence'). Below is a famous poem called Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, he was famous for writing 'nonsense'poetry. In this poem, a lot of words seem extraordinary, but somehow you can still understand what is going on. Read it through and answer the questions underneath.

Lewis Carroll- Jabberwocky

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimber in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
  The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
  Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
  And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
  He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
  Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

Questions

1. What is the story of this poem? Write one sentence (in Standard English) for each verse to tell the story of the poem.
2. Make a list of all the words in the poem that you don't think are proper words.
3. Some words in the poem are completely made up, others are made by the poet by mixing two proper words. See if you can tell which.
4. Try to write a definition for each of the following words:         slithy    frumious    vorpal    manxome    tulgey    galumphing    beamish
5. Why do you think the poet has written the poem like this? Why hasn't he just used ordinary language?

Here's a picture of the Jabberwock