This document discusses the global influence on the English language through loanwords. It provides examples of English words with origins in other languages like Bengali, Dutch, and West African languages. Approximately 60% of English words have French or Germanic roots, while 30% have Latin roots. Words have also been incorporated from Arabic, Spanish, Indian languages and others. The document explores words from different languages commonly found in subjects like economics, politics, literature and other academic disciplines. It aims to showcase how understanding the foreign roots of words can enhance one's English vocabulary.

1. English – A Global Language!
Fun With English
1 August 2013

2. What do these 3 words have in
common?
Booze
Zombies
Bungalow
?

3. They are all English words with foreign roots!
Word
Origin
Bungalow (n.)
Bengali
(Belonging to
Bengal)
Booze (n.)
Dutch
(busen)
Zombie (n.)
West Africa
(zumbi, nzambi)
Meaning
Single-storey homes
built for early
European
immigrants in
Bengal
To drink to excess
Reanimated corpse
(in voodoo cult)

4. About 60 % of English words have
French and Germanic roots
Another 30% have origins in the
dead language, Latin
Words of Arabic origin filtered in
through trade e.g. coffee, alcohol
Words of Spanish origin often relate
to warfare and tactics e.g. guerilla,
flotilla
Words of Indian origin were coined
from the colonial era and relate to
culture e.g. pyjamas, jungle,
shampoo
* Info & Image: Wikipedia

5. Bringing the World to your
Classroom
Vocabulary & Pronunciation of Words
of Foreign Origin in the Classroom

6. Economics
• Economy (French: L’economie)
• Scarcity  Scarce (Old French: scars, escars)
• Trade & Finance
– Capitalism, Bank, Cash (Italian: capitalismo, banco,
cassa)
– Laissez-faire (French: laisser-faire, to let it be)
– Tariff (Arabic: Ta’rif, to notify)
– Debt (Latin  Old French: dete)
– Embargo (Spanish: embargar, ‘to seize or impound’)

7. General Paper
Politics & Governance:
• Coup d'état (French: "state blow“, or Overthrow of the government)
• Parliament (French: parler, ‘to speak’)
• Realpolitik (German: realist or power politics)
• Democracy (Greek)
Crime:
• Mafia (Italian  Sicilian, mafiusu)
• Contraband (French: contrebande, “smuggling”)
• Embezzlement “to steal or misappropriate” (French)
The Human Condition:
• Claustrophobia, xenophobia “fear of…” (Greek/Latin)
Society:
• Apartheid “separateness” (Dutch)

8. General Paper
Fashion:
• haute couture "high sewing“ (French)  High-class, fancy and expensive
clothing styles e.g. Chanel, Céline, Hermès
• prêt-à-porter "ready to wear“ (French)  made to wear clothing
• Denim “from Nîmes” (French)  French town where the cloth originated from
Education:
• Kindergarten “children’s garden” (German)  pre-school
Entertainment:
• The Star Wars Saga is “a long, sweeping tale or legend” (Old Norse)
Everyday:
• Rendez-vous "go to“ (noun or verb)  A date or an appointment (French: verb
se rendre ‘to go’)
• RSVP "respond please” (French: Répondez, s'il vous plaît  "Please RSVP" is
redundant

9. Literature
• Bildungsroman “coming-of-age story”
(German) e.g. Jane Eyre, Great Expectations
• Belle époque "beautiful era“ (French) e.g.
French literature at the turn of the 20th C. e.g.
Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
• Zeitgeist “Spirit of the times or age” (German)
e.g. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

10. Music & The Arts
Art (French)
•
•
•
•
•
•
belle époque "beautiful era“
The golden age of art and culture in France in the early 20th century
bas-relief "low relief/design"
Sculpture that is only slightly more prominent than its background
art déco "decorative art"
Short for art décoratif, a famous art trend in America in the Roaring Twenties
art nouveau "new art"
Characterized by flowers, leaves, and flowing lines
papier mâché "mashed paper“
Used for art
Avant garde “before guard” or “ahead of time”
Innovative, experimental art
Music (Italian)
•
•
•
•
Piano “soft” touch or the instrument
Forte “strong” touch
Fortissimo “very strong”
Guitar (Spanish)

11. The Humanities
Geography:
• Volcano (Italian)
• Caldera (Spanish)
• Sky, Geyser (Scandinavian, Old Norse)
• Hinterland (German)
• Dam (Dutch)
History:
• Blitz, or Blitzkrieg “lightning war” (German military term
taken from: WW II era)
• Realpolitik (German: realist or power politics)
• Junta “together” (Spanish: military government)
• Holocaust (

12. The Sciences
Chemistry
• Alchemy (Arabic: alkimiya)
• Sodium (Arabic: suwed)
• Many elements on the Periodic Table e.g.
• Alkali (Arabic: Alqali)
Biology:
• Biology (Greek)
• Many scientific and medical Terminologies (Latin & Ancient Greek)
• Albino (Spanish)
• Influenza (Italian)
Physics:
• Quantum “how much” (Latin)
• Calipers “instrument of measure” (Arabic: qalip)

13. Mathematics
• The number zero (Arabic: sifar  Latin: zephirum
 Old Italian: zefiro  French: zero)
• Lambda, sigma, alpha, beta… (Greek)
• Algebra (Arabic)
• Algorithm (Proper Noun: Al-khwarizmi  Latin)

14. Physical Education
Sports, Health & Recreation:
• Abseil “to rope oneself down” (German)
• Foosball “table football” (German)
• Gesundheit “health” (German)
• Muscle (Latin, literal def. “when flexed, it is a little
mouse that runs underneath your skin”)
• Fatigue (French)

15. Identify words with foreign roots in this story!
The admiral hated to snoop, so he left the bottle of shampoo just where he had
found it -- next to the tea and coffee. The bottle had a picture of a llama on the label.
The admiral's wife, who usually wore a gingham dress and moccasins when visiting
their ranch on the Nebraska prairie, had just returned from her chores at the bank
and the church bazaar. She was now helping the cook make the chowder and the
goulash for lunch. the admiral heard them talking in the kitchen.
Someone was playing a ukulele, which the admiral did not like, so he turned on the
radio and listened to a pretty mazurka by Chopin. Then he looked through his
collection of pictures -- mostly of boats, rafts, and kayak he had seen.
When everyone sat down to eat, the principal of the kindergarten cried, "At last!
Hurrah!" -- and by accident spilled the ketchup all over the taffy apples! This so
amused another guest, who had just returned from a safari, that he pulled a toy
pistol out of his sack and ran all around the veranda, laughing like a maniac and firing
his pistol at imaginary zombies. It was a grand party.
Source: http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/reference/english_language/foreignroots.html

16. Here are some answers!
Word
Origin
Word
Origin
Word
Origin
admiral
Arabic
tea
Chinese
llama
Tibetan
snoop
Dutch
coffee
Arabic/Turkish chowder
Creole
bank
Italian
ranch
Spanish
safari
Swahili
bazaar
Persian
chores
Greek
kayak
Eskimo
shampoo
Indian
(Pakistani)
Kindergart German
-en
ukulele
Hawaiian
Word
Origin
Word
Origin
Word
Origin
hurrah
Hebrew
pistol
Czech
moccasins
American
Indian
(Powhatan)
taffy
Tagalog
mazurka
Polish
Nebraska
American
Indian
(Sioux)
gingham
Malay
veranda
Indian
maniac
Latin

17. If you understand the following story, you
understand at least one word from thirty-two
different languages!

You are more multi-lingual than you think!

18. Explore further!
• Movie Reference:
– Youtube clips of ‘Akeelah and the Bee’ (2006)
• ‘Argillaceous’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ84SYJmHYI
• ‘Big words come from little words’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UZxXUwQX84
• Collection of useful French expressions used in English
(Good for essays!)
– http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/frenchinenglish
_2.htm
• Wikipedia (extensive list of words of foreign origin):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_English_words_b
y_country_or_language_of_origin

19. THE END…Thank you! 