English Vocabulary and Etymology 2016/9/22(Week2)

  ▲History of English

English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the 5th to 7th centuries AD by Germanic invaders and settlers from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands.
The Old English of the Anglo-Saxon era developed into Middle English, the language as spoken between the Norman Conquest and the late 15th century. A significant influence on the shaping of Middle English came from contact with the North Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavians who conquered and colonised parts of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries; this contact led to much lexical borrowing and grammatical simplification. Another important influence came from the conquering Normans, who spoke a form of French called Old Norman, which in Britain developed into Anglo-Norman. Many Norman and French loanwords entered the language in this period, especially in vocabulary related to the church, the court system and the government. The system of orthography that became established during the Middle English period is by and large still in use today and later changes in pronunciation, however, combined with the adoption of various foreign spellings, mean that the spelling of modern English words appears highly irregular

▲Cupid and Psyche

Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses, written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis. It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche and Cupid or Amor, and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage. Although the only extended narrative from antiquity is that of Apuleius, Eros and Psyche appear in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC. The story's Neoplatonic elements and allusions to mystery religions accommodate multiple interpretations, and it has been analyzed as an allegory and in light of folktale, Märchen or fairy tale, and myth.

▲When I Was One-and-Twenty

When I Was One-and-Twenty, or Poem XIII, is the informal name of an untitled poem by A. E. Housman, published in A Shropshire Lad in 1896. It is the thirteenth in a cycle of 63 poems. One of Housman's most familiar poems, it is untitled but often anthologised under a title taken from its first line. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations includes fourteen of its sixteen lines. Housman's New York Times obituary mentioned the poem: "Typical of his lyrics is the poem which has thrilled the world where English is spoken."

                                                        A. E. Housman

⬦Poem

   When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard a wise man say,

   “Give crowns and pounds and guineas

       But not your heart away;

   Give pearls away and rubies

       But keep your fancy free.”

   But I was one-and-twenty,

       No use to talk to me.

   When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard him say again,

   “The heart out of the bosom

       Was never given in vain;

   ’Tis paid with sighs a plenty

       And sold for endless rue.”

   And I am two-and-twenty,

       And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

   
 ▲Prefix

     ⬥in- not, opposite of, without

     For example, indiscriminate, independent

     ⬥re- back to the original place; again, anew, once more

     For example, replete, repeat

     ⬥techno- art, craft, skill

     For example, technology, technocrat

     ⬥auto- self, one's own, by oneself

     For example, automaton, autonomy

     ⬥per- through, during, by means of, on account of, as in

     For example, perceive, permanent

   

   ▲Suffix

     ⬥-ant: a person does a special thing

     For example, combatant, ac