a brief history of the english language henry, m. (1990). words: integrated decoding and spelling...
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Henry, M. (1990). Words: Integrated decoding and spelling instruction based on word
origin and word structure. Austin: PRO-ED.
Facts
Over ____ million people speak English (__________ the population of the world)
When we learn English, we are actually learning ____ languages- each with its own phonology and structure.
HERE’S WHY!
Germanic Influence
English is classified as a ____________ language However, less than ___% of the words are Germanic
The _______, _________, and _________ came from northern _________________ bringing their language with them
Later, the ______________ (known as the Danes) invaded the land and spoke a northern branch of Germanic
Germanic Words
Relatively few in number Common, everyday words in the language Includes all words on the _______ list All words on any lists of the
“_____________________” are Germanic
Features of Germanic Words
Short because over time, the endings dropped off Most of our _____________ words are Germanic
Examples: the, but, cold, sit ___________________ words in the language Least ____________________ Most difficult to ____________
Examples: they, could, was, write, old, most, thought ___________, ___________, and
_____________________ of vowels are characteristics of the Germanic strain of language
Latin Words
Over ___________ the words in the English language are based on Latin
A handful of Latin words entered during the language during the __________ era
Most of the Latin words came by way of _____________ (a _______ language) Ex. glamour
Vikings
Some of the _________ had settled in Northern France (i.e., Normandy which means “north men”) and adopted the French language
In ______, they invaded England For the next 300 years, no king of England
(keep in mind: every English king was also king of France at that time) spoke English but instead spoke ___________ (the language of the _________ and ________________)
Latin
Later, __________ in England borrowed words directly from Latin itself
_________________ (with its center in Rome) adopted Latin for its services)
As Christianity spread over western Europe, the people attending services learned Latin words
Latin was also the required language at _________ and _____________ Ex. calculus
Characteristics of Latin Words
Consist of a _________, __________, and _______ Examples: pre dic tion, in somni a
Seldom use vowel pairs Use ____________ or vowel ____________ for
long sound Examples: invade, denote
Never uses sh for /sh/; instead, the sound is spelled ti, ci, si, or xi Examples: invention, social, permission, complexion
Greek Words
_________% of the English vocabulary is based on Greek
Greek words came into the language from 2 sources:
1. _______ (as every educated Roman knew Greek)
2. Borrowed by ____________
Characteristics of Greek Words Recognized by their spelling and structure Use ___ for /f/ (Example: physics) Use ____ for /k/ (Example: chemistry) Use ___ for /i/ (Example: gym, type) Often consists of 2 elements joined by a
connecting ___ (Example: hydrogen, photograph) Scientists use Greek when they want a new word
for a __________ or _____________ Examples: neutron, electron, cardiogram Greek has become the language of _________
GREEK Specialized words used mostly in science, though some
(i.e., television) are common
ROMANCE
Technical, sophisticated words used primarily in more formal settings such as literature & textbooks
ANGLO-SAXON
Common, everyday, down-to-earth words used frequently in ordinary situations and found in school primers
More Influences
Crusaders and the trade with medieval __________ brought words such as tea, sofa, and sherbet
From ______: calico, bungalow, jungle From _________: dingo, outback,
kangaroo From __________: safari
Move to the New World
Foreign words flooded into the language The Dutch were among the first _________
which is why we have so many Dutch words (Example: cookie, landscape, coleslaw)
French explorers who settled in ____________ added chowder, pumpkin, prairie, levee, and others to the list
____________________ contributed banana, cola, goober, yam, gorilla, tote, and okra
Influence of the Native Americans
Place names of rivers, mountains, landmarks, and names of over half the states Can you think of some of these?
Other native words include: caribou, toboggan, papoose, raccoon, tobacco
Other Changes Cause New Words to Enter
Potato famine (1845) brought ____________ immigrants 1848 revolution caused Germans to settle in ______________
and the __________________ After the American Civil War came the Spanish, Italians, and
Scandinavians Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles followed Chinese were hired to build the ____________ (and they
remained) Japanese settled on the _____________________ Refugees from all over Europe fled from World War II Also, there followed a huge influx from Puerto Rico, China,
Hong Kong, Korea, & Thailand
Anglo-Saxon Layer of Language Beginning readers start out reading words from the
Anglo-Saxon base of language _________________ used short words typical in
early readers __________ are also of Anglo-Saxon origin In addition, prefixes and suffixes are added but
many of the Anglo-Saxon prefixes are __________ (forget, without, became, overlook, unhappy, understand, inside, befriend)
Anglo-Saxon suffixes: ed, er, ing, ly, s (es), able, hood, ful, less, ness, ship, ish)
Anglo-Saxon Letter-Sound Correspondences
CONSONANTS
Single Blends Diagraphsb, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z
bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl
br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr
sc, sk, sl, sp, st, sw …
Final: ft, lk, lt, mp, nd…
ch, sh th wh
chat ship this when
thin
(-ck, -tch, -dge, -ng)
VOWELS
Single Letter(Short/Long)
-r & -l Controlled Diagraphs
cap - capepet - Petepinning - piningrob - robecutter – cuter(y)
er, ir, ur
ar, or
arr, err
all
al
1 sound:
ee; oy, oi; oa; ai, ay;
aw, au
2 sounds:
ea, ow, ou, ie, ei, ew
Latin Layer of Language
Students encounter these words in ____rd grade Knowledge of consonants & vowels transfers directly
to these words None of the complex Anglo-Saxon digraphs are
included _______________ sound is the most notable feature
(unaccented vowel sound found in unaccented syllables) ~ Letter-sound correspondences are otherwise the same as Anglo-Saxon machine, soda, ahead, about, magazine
Latin Layer Root words: usually stressed & contain the major meaning
of the word spect, rupt, vis, aud, vent, flect, script, gress, dict, tract, lit, duct,
struct, pend, ped Prefixes: pre, re, bi, pro, mid, sub, dis, inter, intro, intra, il,
extra, per, ultra, trans Many prefixes have the schwa sound
aggressive, appearance, connect, collect, attach
Vowel diagraphs in the suffixes are ALL pronounced as schwas (nation, precious, omission) & initial consonants in the suffixes, followed by i, are pronounced as /sh/
Common Latin Prefixes
de- (from, away)
re- (back, again)
bi- (two)
tri- (three)
pre- (before)
pro- (before, forward)
co- (together, with)
dis- (separation, undo)
im- (in, not)
sub- (under)
ex- (out)
trans- (across)
mis- (wrong, bad)
con- (together, with)
in- (in, not)
non- (not)
Latin Suffixes -ist (noun, person) -ive -age -ant -or (noun) -ar (adjective) -ible -ary -ize -ance
-t(ure)
-tion
-sion
-cian
-tious
-tial
-cial
-cious
Latin Roots
rupt (to break, to burst) port (to carry) form (to shape) tract (to pull) scrib, script (to write) spec, spect (to see, watch) stru, struct (to build) dic, dict (to say, tell) flect, flex (to bend) mit, miss (to send)
cred (to believe) duc, duce, duct (to lead) pel, puls (to drive, push) pend (to hang) fac, fact (to make, do) vert, vers (to turn) jac, jec, ject (to throw,
lie)
Greek Layer of Language
Same letter-sound correspondences as those in Anglo-Saxon words, but adds 3 important patterns: ph for /f/, ch for /k/, and the use of y as a long vowel /ī/ or short vowel /ĭ/ (i.e., medial vowel)
Usually specialized words in _________, though some are ________ (___________)
Often contain silent _ (pneumonia, pseudonym) _______ as in mnemonics
Greek Combining Forms
Not called prefixes and suffixes but ___________________ since there are usually 2 parts of equal stress and importance
Greek Combining FormsBEGINNING
auto = self phono = sound photo = light hydro = water tele = distance micro = small therm = heat
biblio, hyper, chron, chrom, arch, phys, pysch, peri, bi, semi, hemi, mono, meta, mega, metro, philo, soph, theo, techni
ENDING graph, gram =
written/drawn meter = measure ology = study scope = watch, see sphere, crat, cracy, polis
Syllable Division Rules
Anglo-Saxon = VC/CV; V/CV, VC/V VC/CCV (consonant l-e) are common
Latin = Same as Anglo-Saxon but the prefixes and suffixes often consist of syllables based on these patterns (i ble, in tro)
Greek = Same as Anglo-Saxon (many v/cv such as hyper, vc/v such as hemi, also, v/cc such as hydro)
Why Students Need This Information
Students use their knowledge to decode unfamiliar words.
Teach students this process1. See if you can identify the language origin.2. Look for the morpheme units: Anglo-Saxon or Latin prefixes,
roots, suffixes. Greek combining forms, or single words making up Anglo-Saxon compound words.
3. If you can’t find a morpheme, or if you find morphemes but still can’t read the word, break the word into syllables using the common syllable division options.
4. If syllable division doesn’t work, or works for only part of the work, use letter-sound correspondences.