The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European RootsThere are no direct records of the original Indo-European speech. By comparing the vocabularies of its various descendants, however, it is possible to reconstruct the basic Indo-European roots with considerable confidence. In The Origins of English Words, Shipley catalogues these proposed roots and follows the often devious, always fascinating, process by which some of their offshoots have grown. Anecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science. |
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Page xiii
The French have long objected to the assimilation of foreign terms ; they speak scornfully of Franglais , the acceptance of English expressions . And recently the Soviet Union has protested against the " corruption " of Russian by ...
The French have long objected to the assimilation of foreign terms ; they speak scornfully of Franglais , the acceptance of English expressions . And recently the Soviet Union has protested against the " corruption " of Russian by ...
Page xviii
... he speaks- Note , notes , forsooth , and nothing . For fear that the word crotchets will not alert the modern reader , a footnote in the 1952 G. B. Harrison edition notes : " Nothing : a pun on noting . " ( We need not make much ado ...
... he speaks- Note , notes , forsooth , and nothing . For fear that the word crotchets will not alert the modern reader , a footnote in the 1952 G. B. Harrison edition notes : " Nothing : a pun on noting . " ( We need not make much ado ...
Page xx
Latin prunum became Anglo - Saxon plum be- fore it came again into the language as prune . Agatha Christie , in Elephants Can Remember , speaks of twin sisters Dorothy and Margaret , " known colloquially as Dolly and Molly .
Latin prunum became Anglo - Saxon plum be- fore it came again into the language as prune . Agatha Christie , in Elephants Can Remember , speaks of twin sisters Dorothy and Margaret , " known colloquially as Dolly and Molly .
Page xxvii
While such differences may confuse a person trying to speak a foreign tongue , they have contributed to word formation : from French gentil , pronounced zhontee , has come English jaunty . Other odd shiftings play from tongue to tongue ...
While such differences may confuse a person trying to speak a foreign tongue , they have contributed to word formation : from French gentil , pronounced zhontee , has come English jaunty . Other odd shiftings play from tongue to tongue ...
Page xxx
or may more learnedly speak of in- testinal fortitude ; conversely , one's bowels are loosed with fear . Names of living things begin with the species , which , for the animal kingdom , is defined as " a group of populations capable of ...
or may more learnedly speak of in- testinal fortitude ; conversely , one's bowels are loosed with fear . Names of living things begin with the species , which , for the animal kingdom , is defined as " a group of populations capable of ...
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The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots Joseph Twadell Shipley No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
ancient animal applied bhel bird called caput coined columns comes compounds dheigh dheigh N dheu earlier early earth element ending England English especially figuratively four French frequent genus gher gives Greek hand head hence horse human imitative Italy John King kleu known Latin letters lists literally live Lord meaning meant nebh Note one's onomen originally perhaps person plant play plek Possibly prefix probably Roman root says sense Shakespeare shape song sound speaks stand ster suer term things tree turn ueid usually whence woman words beginning
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots |
| Author | Joseph Twadell Shipley |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | JHU Press, 2001 |
| ISBN | 0801867843, 9780801867842 |
| Length | 672 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |