English 12

 Etymology is the study of the origin of words. Every word in English, even our prepositions (on, in, under, etc) come from somewhere. English first began forming from settlers of the British isles. Germanic settlers came during the 5th century; a combination of Saxon, Angles, and Jutes. Having become isolated from their homeland, their language gradually changed from what it once was into what we refer to as "Old English". Eventually, we began to form new, distinct words that were altered from their Latin (and possibly French) roots. 

Where did our words come from?

We're going to make a word map that outlines the origin of a content word we select from 1984. The best ones are those that we feel may have some ambiguous meaning. In my example, I used the word, "passion". Here are the steps:

1. Search through 1984 for a content word - that is a word that means something on its own.
2. Write it in the middle of a blank page.
3. Find synonyms for this word. Write 3 or 4 down above this word and web them to the original word.
4. Under the original word, write the root word - this you will have to look up.
5. From the root word, find 3-4 new synonyms, and write them below. Web them to the root word. You should now have a few synonyms for your original word above, and a few below for your root word.
6. You may considering adding a choice dictionary definition for the root and original word. This will help you discover how they are different, and you may be able to hypothesize why these definitions may differ.

This is the visual component. From this, we can include a writing piece that outlines your hypothesis. This is descriptive etymology. That means we're attempting to describe the origin of our word through observations of the root. You may only need a paragraph or two. To earn marks here, check that you do the following:

• Complete the visual component as described above
• In your argument, clearly hypothesize why you believe the root word of your selection is, in fact, where your selection came from. For example, Why is the root word for "passion" defined as "suffering"?
• In your response, you may research an additional two sources if you feel it may substantiate your hypothesis. If you use an outside source, cite it at the end.