1 / 5

Latin and Greek Elements in English

Latin and Greek Elements in English. Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation DEGENERATION : “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse ( < “between + run/go”) monster : Lat. monstrum (“omen, marvel”)

stanley
Télécharger la présentation

Latin and Greek Elements in English

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • DEGENERATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse (< “between + run/go”) • monster: • Lat. monstrum (“omen, marvel”) • > “a horrific thing, a cruel person” • rococo: • Fr. roche, rocaille (“rock, rock-work”) • > “florid and tasteless”

  2. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • DEGENERATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse (< “between + run/go”) • demon: • Greek daimon (“god”), cf. Socrates’ “guiding spirit” • > “evil spirit” • innocuous: • “not/harmful” > “bland, insipid, boring” • cf. “square”: “upright” (as in “four-square”) > “tedious, conventional”

  3. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • DEGENERATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more objectionable or contemptible than it did before,” e.g. intercourse (< “between + run/go”) • precocious: • Lat praecox, “ripening early” (prae- + COQU- “cook”) • cf. apricot: orig. “early-ripening (apple, sc. malum)” • > “young and cocky, obnoxious”

  4. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • ELEVATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more pleasant or lofty than it did before” • eutopia: orig. utopia (“no-place”) • from Thomas Moore’s satire Utopia • > “an idyllic locale” (lit. “good-place”) • for u- prefix, cf. uchronia (“no-time”), a novel about an imaginary historical period, e.g. Hitler winning WWII • angel: orig. “messenger” (Greek angelos) • > “a heavenly herald, a savior”

  5. Latin and Greek Elements in English Lesson 14: Degeneration and Elevation • ELEVATION: “the process by which a word comes to mean something more pleasant or lofty than it did before” • hidalgo: “a Spanish nobleman of a rank below grandee” • orig. hijo de algo (“son of someone”) • progress: orig. “walk forward” • > “do better” • cf. regress, “do worse”: degeneration

More Related