Vocabulary

Historical Background of English Spelling

The way in which letters are arranged in sequence to produce the pronunciation of a word is referred to as spelling or orthography. In some languages, such as Spanish, the correspondence between the letter and the sound is fairly straightforward as each letter or letter combination almost always represents one certain sound. For example, compare the Spanish maleta with its English equivalent suitcase. The pronunciation of the vowels a and e in the former remains relatively constant across words, whereas that of u, i, a, and e in the latter is far from being stable across the English vocabulary, the largest and richest of all languages.

The Evolution of English Vocabulary

How is it that English has such a huge vocabulary, larger than any other language on earth? In addition to various word formation mechanisms existing in other languages, such as onomatopoeia, derivation, affixation, compounding and functional extension, the major source for the large variety of English words is its dramatic history. The 1,600 years of English existence have been witness to massive revolutionary changes in the language as it mixed with and continuously borrowed from other languages, with which it came into contact.

7 Tips for Building Your English Vocabulary

A key factor contributing to the success of language learners is creativity and imagination. In the following sections, you are welcome to start thinking a bit differently about how you remember the words you study in English. These strategies derive from different learning styles people use. Learning styles open new channels to learning, which not necessarily use verbal intelligence or purely academic procedures. Remember that mastering the grammar of the language is not enough to master the language. In the long run, it is your level of vocabulary and how you use it in your English writing, which determines how well you are at English. Whether you need English for personal, academic, or business purposes, always use any opportunity to acquire more and more words.

How (con)texts Help Us Remember Words

Review the following tips to aid you in building your English vocabulary. As you gain more experience with learning vocabulary, you will be able to figure out which strategies and tips best work for you.

Learning Vocabulary Using a 2-Column-Table in The Notebook

You will encounter new vocabulary in the texts you read, word lists your teacher gives you, foreign language phrasebooks, songs and movies in English, speaking with a native speaker, or even from the instructions for your textbook’s exercises or those in your new DVD manual. No matter the source, you should concentrate all new vocabulary items in one place. The best option is a notebook, small enough to carry around everywhere to review your vocabulary at all times and big enough to accommodate neatly organized vocabulary lists.

English Word Series: Nature

The word ‘nature’ is over 5000 years old but it has only been used in the English language for 700 years. The word was adopted from Old French which meant, ‘course of things, character, the universe, and birth’. This word originally came from the Proto-Indo-European word ‘*gene’, ‘to give birth, or beget’.

English Word Series: Justice

The word ‘justice’, meaning ‘the exercise of authority in vindication of right by assigning reward or punishment’ is over 860 years old (c. 1140 AD). ‘Justice’ was once ‘justitia’ an Old French word that descended from Latin to mean ‘righteousness and equity’.

English Word Series: Work

The English verb ‘work’ was once known as ‘wircan’ 1500 years ago meaning, ‘to operate and to function’. The noun ‘work’ was once ‘worc’ which meant, ‘something done: deed, action, proceeding, business, or military fortification’.

English Word Series: Friend

What does it mean to be a ‘friend’? The word ‘friend’ is one of the rare cases in the English language whose meaning has remained consistent throughout hundreds of years of usage. The word of Germanic origin has existed in the English language since its founding in Old English.

English Word Series: Passion

The word ‘passion’ can be traced back to its 5000 year old Proto-Indo-European base ‘*pei’, which meant ‘to hurt’. In approximately 1175 this word was adopted from Old French to Old English to mean the, ‘sufferings of Christ on the Cross’.

English Word Series: Sweet

The word ‘sweet’ can be traced back to the Old English ‘swete’, an adjective that meant, ‘pleasing to the senses, mind or feelings’. The word can be traced back to its Proto Indo European origins by ‘*swad’ (Sanskrit sv?du) which makes the word over five thousand years old.

English Word Series: Life

What is the meaning of ‘life’? The answer to this question is almost five thousand years old and leads us to the Proto-Indo-European word ‘*lip’ meaning, ‘to remain, persevere, and continue’. When this word was adopted into the English language as ‘l?f’ about 1500 years ago, it stayed true to its original meaning but closely resembled its Germanic predecessors meaning of ‘body’.

English Word Series: Love

‘Love’ is a word used to describe one of the most, if not the most, potent experiences available to humans. But what ‘love’ means from person to person, let alone from century to century, is one of the most varied in the English language. The word ‘love’ was once ‘*leubh’, a word used by the Proto-Indo-Europeans approximately five thousand years ago to describe care and desire.

English Word Series: Play

The origin of the word ‘play’ is unknown- all we do know is that English adopted the word ‘pleien’ meaning to ‘dance, leap for joy, and rejoice’ from Dutch in the later Middle Ages (c. 14th century). This was adopted into English as ‘pleg(i)an’, ‘to exercise, or frolic’.

English Word Series: Black

All of the words humans use have a mysterious past- just like any living entity, words change their function and meaning over time. This is true in the case of the word ‘black’ which can be traced back five thousand years to the Proto-Indo-European word ‘bhleg’ meaning ‘to burn with black smoke’ or ‘to burn black with smoke’.

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odalys
Posts: 4

Thank you
Reply #1 on : Sun November 15, 2009, 17:48:28

You are very good at teaching.The most thing that I liked was TIPS FOR BUILDING YOUR ENGLISH VOCABULARY.Thank you so much.ODALYS.