LING 1109 - English Words: Histories and Mysteries

(crosslisted) CLASS 1699
(HB) (HA-AS, ETM-AS, HST-AS)

Spring. 3 credits. Student option grading.

A. Nussbaum.

Where do the words we use come from? This course examines the history and structure of the English vocabulary from its distant Indo-European roots to the latest in technical jargon and slang. Topics include formal and semantic change, taboo and euphemism, borrowing, new words from old, “learned” English loans from Greek and Latin, slang, and society.