1. The English Language …and why it’s so darn complex!

2. Did you know…  Many English words consist of prefixes, suffixes, and roots; these are called morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest part of a word that can have meaning.  Ninety percent of English words with more than two syllables come from Latin and Greek.  Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIzFz9T5rhI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIzFz9T5rhI

3. Shakespeare’s English  Shakespeare’s English is a bit different than ours. It’s known as Early Modern English. It’s what the Pilgrims and Jamestown settlers spoke when they settled here in America.  We will look at some common Elizabethan terms, such as thee (you), thy (your), thine (yours). These are archaic, which means they’ve disappeared from common use.  However, Shakespeare coined MANY English words and phrases that we still use today!  Phrases: "For goodness sake" - Henry VIII, "Eaten out of house and home" - Henry IV, Part II, "Knock knock! Who's there?" – Macbeth, "A heart of gold" - Henry V, "Too much of a good thing" - As You Like It, "Lie low" - Much Ado About Nothing, "Dead as a doornail" - Henry VI, Part II  Words: "Rant" – Hamlet, "Assassination" – Macbeth, “Fashionable" - Troilus and Cressida, "Puking" - As You Like It, "Obscene" - Love's Labour's Lost

4. So why did “puke” happen, but “fetch” didn’t? What makes new words catch on?

5. What makes new words catch on?  According to the book Predicting New Words by Allan Metcalf, the acronym FUDGE explains it all:  1. Frequency. Pretty simple: how often is it being used? In Mean Girls, Gretchen uses "fetch" fairly often—often enough to make Regina notice it—but she’s the only one.  2. Unobtrusiveness. Although it’s fun to coin punny expressions, the expressions that ultimately catch on tend to be those that aren’t quite as clever. Especially contagious are new uses of old words. "Fetch" isn’t too bad at unobtrusiveness; however, a high score in one category isn’t enough to make it win overall.  3. Diversity of people using it. "Fetch" really fails here, since Gretchen is the only person using it. Jack Grieve, a linguist at Aston University in England, analyzed almost one billion tweets from the millions of Twitter users within the contiguous United States. Not surprisingly, Mr. Grieve found that “lexical innovators” – those people are in the vanguard of word usage – are overwhelmingly young. More specifically, a disproportionate number are young black women in the South and young white men in the West and North.

6. …continued  4. Generating new forms and meanings. Many popular new words are created by combining forms of other words (chocoholic, snowpocalypse). Although "fetch" looks like it probably came from "fetching," it’s not an existing combining form like –holic.  5. Endurance of the concept. Does it refer to something that is likely to continue to be talked about for the long term? "Fetch" is supposed to mean something like "cool"—a concept that is certainly enduring, and which has had lots of slang synonyms over the years. Unfortunately, each generation of teenagers tends to come up with its own synonym for coolness to distinguish itself from its parents (ON FLEEK or That’s FIRE). Even if Gretchen had managed to make "fetch" happen, her success would likely have been temporary!

7. How does Shakespeare measure up?  Frequency: Shakespeare’s plays were performed all the time.  Unobtrusiveness: Many of his phrases use very basic words to begin with (“A HEART OF GOLD”)  Diversity: Shakespeare’s plays appealed to all classes of society.  Generating new forms and meanings: Shakespeare often changed the part of speech of a word. Think “Google it.”  Endurance of the concept: Shakespeare’s works explored themes common to the human condition, even down to the most basic words and phrases. For instance, teenagers continue to eat their parents “out of house and home,” right?

8. In the spirit of Shakespeare and his love for words…  You’re going to be studying the etymology of the vocabulary in the play.  et·y·mol·o·gy (noun): the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.  Use the chart on the other side of your list to explore six words of your choosing.  You will also find and define six words that are new to you!

9. Let’s practice  To find the etymology, you will have to break the word down into the prefix, base, and suffix. These do not always correspond with the syllables!  Example: AdversaryAdversary  Etymology and part of speech: Latin: advers (root) + -ary (suffix); noun-ary  Variations, synonyms, antonyms: adversarial (adj); antagonist; ally  Symbol/Logo/Icon:  Definition: a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks; opponent; enemy; foe.  Sentence: Luke was dumbfounded to find that his main adversary, Darth Vader, was also his father.

10. Sources  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/22/upshot/internet-language- quiz.html?_r=2&abt=0002&abg=0 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/22/upshot/internet-language- quiz.html?_r=2&abt=0002&abg=0  http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/05/01/mean_girls_slang_f etch_10_years_later_why_it_didn_t_catch_on_according_to.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/05/01/mean_girls_slang_f etch_10_years_later_why_it_didn_t_catch_on_according_to.html

11. Prefixes  A prefix can negate a base (un + able = unable)  A prefix can give a base direction (sub + marine = submarine)  A prefix can intensify a base’s meaning (con + cise = concise). “Con” means “very” and “cise” means “to cut.” Concise means expressing much in few words.

12. Prefixes co- and con-  Write these first two prefixes on the first line in your chart  Meaning: with, together, very  Examples:  Contract: muscles “pull” “together” when they contract  Conductor: the conductor of a symphony “leads” the musicians “together”  How do these words include the definitions: coauthor, cooperate?