SEMINAR PROFILE

H29 -
English Etymology through Language and Literature

In this seminar we look at some significant ways in which the English language has developed over the last thousand years. How did Old English "cniht" become Modern English "knight," with both a different pronunciation and spelling, and with a modified meaning-and what about those silent letters? We'll look at how English has "borrowed" thousands of words from other languages, especially Latin and Greek, and how they have enriched the language. We will read passages from Beowulf. Chaucer, Shakespeare, and T. S. Eliot, observing how English has changed from a virtually "foreign" language into the familiar vernacular we use today.

Scholar:

Graeme Bird

Location:

Harvard Hillel

Dates:

1/7/2011, 1/14/2011

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H29 -	English Etymology through Language and Literature

	In this seminar we look at some significant ways in which the English language has developed over the last thousand years. How did Old English "cniht" become Modern English "knight," with both a different pronunciation and spelling, and with a modified meaning-and what about those silent letters? We'll look at how English has "borrowed" thousands of words from other languages, especially Latin and Greek, and how they have enriched the language. We will read passages from Beowulf. Chaucer, Shakespeare, and T. S. Eliot, observing how English has changed from a virtually "foreign" language into the familiar vernacular we use today.

		Scholar:	Graeme Bird
		Location:	Harvard Hillel
		Dates:	1/7/2011, 1/14/2011