Hillingdon U3A Linguistics Group

1. English as an ever
changing language

2. Words that narrowed their meaning
• Hound originally meant any dog, but now means a hunting dog.
• Meat originally meant food of any kind, such as in meat and drink,
mincemeat, sweetmeat, but now refers to only edible animal flesh.
• Deer originally meant any animal, but now means only a particular
(antlered) species. It has been replaced by “animal” from Latin and
“beast” from French.

3. • To starve used to mean to die, eg to starve of cold, but now means
to die from lack of food.
• Lecture or lesson in Elizabethan times meant a reading of any kind,
but today have a more specific meaning.
• Undertaker originally meant someone who undertook to do a task,
but today refers specifically to a funeral undertaker.

4. Words that broadened their meanings:
• Dilapidated should apply to stone or brick buildings (from Latin
“lapis” for stone) but today is used much more widely to refer to any
structure, as in “a dilapidated wooden shed”.
• Equipped should apply just to ship (from French “équiper”, and
Scandinavian “skipa”) but can now refer to anything, such as “the
army was well equipped”.
• Sailed should apply to vessels on water propelled by wind in the sails,
but now applies to any vessel propelled on water by whatsoever
means, as “the ocean liner sailed to Africa”.

5. • Man used to refer to the human male, but now refers to “mankind”,
and the verb “to man” means something can be done by anyone, as
“the boat was manned by WRENS”.
[“Chairman” and “manhole” are words sometimes disputed.]
• Bird meant a young bird
• Pigeon meant a young dove
• Pig meant a young swine.
These words have expanded their meanings.

6. Words have developed wider new
meanings
• Place originally from the Latin root meaning a group of buildings
possessing some of the characteristics of a square, as plaza in Spanish,
piazza in Italian, Platz in German and place in French, as in “Place de la
Concorde”.
Wider modern uses are:
Keep him in his place,
It is not my place to say anything,
There is a place for everything,
I have lost the place in my book,
That remark was out of place,
In the first place.

7. • Paper comes from the word for papyrus, the reed originally used to
make paper in Ancient Egypt, and was then used for paper made
from any other material, such as linen or other fibres. Now it can
refer to many things as in:
A Government White Paper
An essay or dissertation
A set of questions in an exam
A journal or newspaper.

8. • Power was originally the ability to do something, but has extended its
meaning in such phrases as:
The power of intellect or the power of movement,
Mechanical or natural power as HEP, candle power, horse power,
Political strength as in “the balance of power”,
A political state, as in “the four great powers”,
A mathematical conception as in “ to the power of ten”.

9. Head is the part of the body containing the brain and is at the top of the human body and the word
is now applied to:
anything that is at the top, as in the head of a nail, screw or pin; the head of a flower, a cabbage or
a hammer;
anything in a high position, as in the head of a page or a list, the head of the bed, the head of the
table or at the head of the stairs;
anyone in a position of authority, as in the head of the business, the head of the family, the head of
state, the head of a school, the head of the church.
the side of a coin showing a monarch’s head;
a headland or promontory eg Beachy Head.
referring to a single thing, as in “fifty head of cattle” or “ lunch is £12 a head”.

10. Words adopted into English
• From French:
• Chauffeur, piste, aprés ski, restaurant, café, bistro, boutique,
chateau, chalet,
• Menu, chef, sauté, crème brulée, crème caramel, gateau, éclair,
choux
• Haute couture, carte blanche, RSVP.

11. Words from Italian
• In architecture: pedestal, pilaster, piazza, balustrade, belvedere,
balcony, pergola, corridor, portico, pavement.
• In art: relief, profile, vista, filigree, attitude,
• In literature: buffoon, sonnet, stanza, burlesque.
• In food; pasta, spaghetti, pizza, risotto, lasagne, espresso
• In music: opera, madrigal, sonata, solo, cantata, orchestra,
violin, viola, piccolo, pianoforte, crescendo, largo, allegro.
Al fresco, stiletto, graffiti,

12. Words from other European languages
• From Dutch: cambric, muff, scone, dock, monsoon, reef, yacht,
furlough, knapsack, onslaught, uproar, waggon,
• From Spanish: anchovy, sherry, cask, armada, embargo, galleon,
paella, and from S. America via Spanish: banana, cannibal, potato.
• From Russian: vodka, tsar, rouble, steppe, tundra, sputnik.

13. Words from Asian languages
• From Hindi: bungalow, dinghy, loot, pundit, sari,
• From Persian: azure, bazaar, caravan, chess, paradise, pyjamas,
scarlet, tiger.
• From Turkish: coffee, fez, horde, kiosk, tulip, turban.
• From Chinese: tea, silk.
• From Malay: bamboo, sago, machete
• From Dravidian: atoll, calico, curry, teak
• From Japanese: bonsai, origami, kimono, kung-fu.

14. Words from other languages
•From the Caribbean: hammock, hurricane, maize.
•From Arabic: almanac, arsenal, calibre, cipher, cotton, mosque, nadir,
zenith, zero, minaret.
•From Inuit: igloo, kayak
•From Polynesian: taboo, tattoo

15. New technologies, new words.
• telephone, television, videophone, video-recorder, tape-recorder,
• tumble-drier, dishwasher, microwave oven, extractor fan,
• computer, byte, keyboard, internet, flash-drive, email
• motorway, aeroplane, photograph, photocopier.

16. American English
This has been influenced by the many migrants speaking so many
different languages.
Although it said to be English there are many differences;
•pavement --- sidewalk tap-----faucet
•film ---movie car --- automobile
•mobile phone ---cell phone lift --- elevator
•flat --- apartment crisps –chips
•jam ---jelly chips --- (French) fries
•cinema --- movie theatre luggage --baggage

17. American spelling
Noah Webster (1758- 1843)
His aim was to reform and simplify spelling, partly to help immigrants learning
English, with its oddities of spelling.
1783 American Spelling Book 1828 American Dictionary of the English
Language
Webster’s International Dictionary of 20th
century has become the official guide to
the government printing office and the accepted authority in American courts.
•favor, labor, honor, odor, valor for favour, labour, honour, odour, valour.
•center, fiber, meter, theater, for centre, fibre, metre,theatre.
•traveler etc for traveller, jewelry for jewellery, wagon for waggon.
•catalog for catalogue, jail for gaol, program for programme, ax for axe.
•check for cheque, story for storey, defense for defence,