Early Modern English Vocabulary Summary Flashcards
with The Renaissance came Renewed interest in:
classical (Latin and Greek) languages and literatures
in the Renaissance, Scientific texts were still written in :
Latin
Exploration by European nations to:
other parts of the world
Discovery of many new
foods and phenomena
)________were needed to talk about them
new words
Influx of :
thousands of new words into English
Counter trend:
: the Reformation
: the Reformation:
access to scriptures in the vernacular language
aim of the reformation:
to reach mass audience with accessible language
In EME, borrowings from Latin far outnumbered those from all other languages. Reason:
Latin was the language of scholarship and science up to the eighteenth century.
Works in philosophy and science were written mostly in ____. Example:
Latin, Newton’s Principia (1689)
English equivalents were not available for many of the new scientific terms.
- Translators used:
the Latin or Greek terms
influx of Latin words examples:
integer, genius, vertigo, folio, exit, area, premium, specimen, series, census, medium,
species, militia, virus, album, complex, minimum, stimulus, status
influx of greek words examples:
anachronism, anonymous, anarchy, heptagon, archaeology, enthusiast, epigraph,
diagnostic, apocalypse
Words formed from Greek and Latin roots:
atmosphere,
barometer, biosphere, electrolysis, invertebrate, microspecies, synchrotron, zoology
Words from French:
accent, anatomy, bizarre, chocolate, detail, elegance, equip, erosion, exist,
entrance, grotesque, invite, muscle, pioneer, ticket, volunteer
Words from Italian:
balcony, carnival, design, giraffe, lottery, macaroni, opera, sonata, violin,
volcano, umbrella
Words from Spanish and Portuguese:
alligator, banana, cargo, cockroach, embargo, flamingo,
guitar, hurricane, molasses, mosquito
Words from German:
cobalt, hamster, paraffin, plunder, quartz, vitamin, zinc
Words from Dutch:
cruise, dock, dollar, easel, knapsack, landscape, yacht
Words from Indic:
punch, guru, dungaree, bungalow
Words from Iranian languages:
shah, dervish, caravan, shawl
- Disadvantage of so many borrowings from Greek and Latin:
Their meanings are not immediately evident to native speakers.
- advantage of so many borrowings from Greek and Latin:
They are understandable internationally.
- They were borrowed into many other languages as well.
