Know Your Roots: Grk, Ltn, Eng

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Since most of English is not originally English but borrowed from Greek and Latin, it follows that familiarity with the Classical legacy in English vocabulary will significantly contribute to one’s ability to understand our conceptual and social world in light of the words that have shaped it historically. Focusing solely on vocabulary, its historical context, and general features of language history, this course is designed to provide students with greater awareness of the nature and structure of English words derived from Greek and Latin. Topics to be addressed include: principles of historical linguistics; history of English in relation to Greek and Latin; the sounds of Greek and Latin; the Greek, Latin, and English alphabets; Greek and Latin roots and word- formation; domains of word meanings, such as politics, law, medicine, science, philosophy, and religion, and the forces in culture and cognition that condition their development.