Q1 of 18 Page 9

English is a language that contains words from many other languages. This inclusiveness is one of the reasons it is now a world language, For example:

petite – French


kindergarten – German


capital – Latin


democracy – Greek


bazaar – Hindi


Find out the origins of the following words.


tycoon, barbecue, zero,


tulip, veranda, ski,


logo, robot, trek,


bandicoot

Tycoon- It originated from the Japanese word “taikun”, means great lord.


Barbecue – It originated from Carrebian word “barbacoa”, refers to a wooden structure used to cook. Meat- It has Germanic origins.


Zero- The word zero has French origins but originally its originated from Arabic ‘cipher’.


Tulip – It originated from French but has its origins in Persian dulband means flower shaped turban.


Veranda – It originated from Hindi ‘baranda’ means railing.


Ski- Norwegian ‘snowshoe’


Logo – It has its origins in Greek logos means ‘imprint’


Robot – It originated from Czech word ‘forced labour’


Trek- South African word means to travel in Dutch


Bandicoot- Telegu word pandikokku, means pig-rat


More from this chapter

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2

What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you think they can keep their language alive? For example:

Punjabis in Bangalore


Tamilians in Mumbai


Kannadigas in Delhi


Gujaratis in Kolkata

 3

Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far?

Do you know what ‘linguistic chauvinism’ means?

 2

Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the option that best explains their meaning.

(a) “What a thunderclap these words were to me!”


The words were


(i) loud and clear.


(ii) startling and unexpected.


(iii) pleasant and welcome.


(b) “When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison”


It is as if they have the key to the prison as long as they


(i) do not lose their language.


(ii) are attached to their language.


(iii) quickly learn the conqueror’s language.


(c) Don’t go so fast, you will get to your school in plenty of time.


You will get to your school


(i) very late.


(ii) too early.


(iii) early enough.


(d) I never saw him look so tall.


M. Hamel


(a) had grown physically taller


(b) seemed very confident


(c) stood on the chair

 1

Read this sentence

M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles.


In the sentence above, the verb form “had said” in the first part is used to indicate an “earlier past”. The whole story is narrated in the past. M. Hamel’s “saying” happened earlier than the events in this story. This form of the verb is called the past perfect.


Pick out five sentences from the story with this form of the verbs and say why this form has been used.