Back to Basics: Understanding the Latin and Greek Roots of ...

[Pages:2]Back to Basics: Understanding the Latin and Greek Roots of English Words

Continuing Studies, Spring Quarter 2014 Barbara Clayton

A Note from the Instructor: Course Goals

? To acquire a basic knowledge of the many English words derived from Latin and Greek, and to understand how this process of derivation works. The primary intention is not to build vocabulary; rather students will learn how to decipher unfamiliar words and understand how these words relate to words with which they are already familiar.

? To explore thematically the many words we have acquired from Latin and Greek by looking at specific topics (government and medicine, e.g.), and to learn something about the ancient context of these topics.

? To enjoy the pleasures of philology ("love of words") and to appreciate the extent to which these `dead' languages are still very much with us today.

Required Text: The Greek and Latin Roots of English, Tamara M. Green (2008, Rowman & Littlefield)

? All students should have access to a good English dictionary. ? Some students may wish to purchase an inexpensive Latin

dictionary, such as The Bantam New College Latin & English Dictionary, but this is absolutely not necessary.

Course Format: New material will be presented each week. We will practice what we are learning by doing some of the exercises at the end of the chapter together in class. Before the next class, students will review the new material by reading the chapter at home, and then complete the suggested exercises. We will begin the next class by going over the assigned exercises before moving on to the presentation of that week's new material.

Grading: No grade requested: this is the default; just show up for class! Credit/Non-credit: students must complete the assigned exercises to the best of their ability Letter grade: students must complete the assigned exercises (which will be corrected but not be graded); students will complete 8 take home quizzes and a cumulative final exam

Schedule

Week 1: agent and act (doer and deed) How Latin works as an inflected language Skillset: how to find the stem of Latin nouns, adjectives and verbs

Week 2: avian, aviary, aviation Endings, endings, endings! (part 1) Skillset: recognizing and identifying endings of English nouns and adjectives derived from Latin nouns and adjectives

Week 3: dominant, dominator, dominatrix Endings, endings, endings! (part 2) Skillset: recognizing and identifying endings of English nouns and adjectives derived from Latin verbs; suffixes from Latin verbs

Week 4: Insomniac blames cosmetics! Drama or hysteria? Greek words in English Skillset: recognizing and identifying English word endings that indicate a Greek derivation

Week 5: compose, depose, oppose, propose, suppose, transpose Latin prefixes Skillset: identifying Latin prepositions used as prefixes and learning how consonants affect spelling changes

Week 6: catastrophic catheter; catholic catalog Greek prefixes Skillset: identifying Greek prepositions used as prefixes; learning prefixes based on Greek and Latin adjectives and adverbs

Week 7: Et tu Brute? Sic semper tyrannis! Words pertaining to government and politics; historical background for Greek and Roman politics

Week 8: Can a hospital be inhospitable? Words pertaining to human biology and medicine; basic background for Greek and Roman ideas about the body, disease and its treatment

Week 9: Scholars are people of leisure and all actors are hypocrites! Words pertaining to education and the arts; education in Greece and Rome; fundamentals of Greek theater

Week 10: Wrapping things up

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