I haven’t written anything in a while as I have had some health related problems which meant that I never gave you a “Word of the Month” in October. For those who were waiting I apologise and promise that you will like this word of the month:

Set

I chose this word for one reason and one reason only. It is the word in the Oxford dictionary which currently holds the record in having the most meanings. If I let you guess how many meanings it has what would your number be? 28, 59, 100? If you are anywhere near these numbers, you are not even close.

Set has a staggering 464 number of meanings! I will not list them all here but I will give you some examples.

Word Origin

First of all, set can be used both as a noun and as an adjective. It is an Old English word of Germanic origin. Just look at the Dutch “zetten” and the German “setzen” which illustrate the close relation clearly. There is even an Egyptian God named “Set” who is the God of (thunder)storms, earthquakes and chaos. I see no obvious relation to the English meaning of the word but it’s nevertheless interesting to know.

Uses

As I said this word has exceptionally many meanings and it is used in lots of ways.

One of the more common ways of using set is to describe the action of putting or laying something in a specific place or position. Sarah set the mug of tea on the table. However, it can also mean that something is situated in a specific place. The castle was set among vineyards in the Italian countryside (OCD).

You will also find lots of phrases using set.

To set one’s heart on sth.

To set sail

To set the wheels in motion

And of course there are a bucket load of phrasal verbs:

Set about doing sth.

Set sth. apart

Set sth. aside

Sth. sets in

Set sth. off

Kira Petersen

Photo by Breather

The simple fact is that far from all native speakers have the linguistic skills needed. In fact, I have put together a little test for you below. Do you know the answers to these? Pssst, the answers are at the end of this post…

1. She had the choice between tennis ______  squash.

• and
• or
• both

2. I don’t like _______ leaving the party.

• yours
• you
• your

3. He is one of the most famous writers who _______ ever lived.

• have
• has
• had

4. Between you and _______.

• I
• my
• me

5. Hanna and _______ are best friends.

• my
• I
• me

6. Jack is the _______ of the two brothers.

• youngest
• young
• younger

7. If I _______ you.

• were
• was
• be

8. Neither Julie nor Sarah _______ at the party.

• was
• were
• went

If you answered them all correctly, well done to you! You have above average linguistic skills in English. If you got some of them wrong, don’t fret, fact is that most native English speakers would get these wrong as well and frequently do.

Is this alarming? Well, that depends on how you look at it, but right now I would be inclined to say that no, not really. It is actually quite common. Just because you are French does not mean that you can bake the perfect baguette yourself. The French also go to the bakery to buy their bread. Why? Because the baker is a specialist in his field of expertise.

Translators have specialised in language, and apart from being experts on syntax, grammar and the general functions of a language, they have also specialised in particular fields which means that they have extended knowledge of something else than “just” language. They have sufficient knowledge to know how to convey the message and the tone of a piece in one language into another whilst ensuring that the content remains at a high quality as well.

So am I saying that you shouldn’t use a native speaker? Of course not. I’m just saying that if you want a quality translation you should work with qualified translators that have sufficient knowledge of the target language and of the field in question. And not all native speakers do.

Answers:

1. Correct: She had the choice between tennis and squash.

Explanation: ‘Between’ is always followed by ‘and’.

2. Correct: I don’t like your leaving the party.

Explanation: The verb in the -ing form acts as a subject noun in this sentence. Hence the pronoun needs to agree. It is the leaving that I don’t like.

3. Correct: He is one of the most famous writers who have ever lived.

Explanation: ‘Who’ refers back to writers, the verb therefore needs to be in the plural.

4. Correct: Between you and me.

Explanation: Here ‘I’ is not the subject of the sentence but the object.

5. Correct: Hanna and I are best friends.

Explanation: ‘Hanna and I’ are the subjects of the sentence. If you changed the sentence to say “I am best friends with Hanna” it becomes more clear. “Me am best friends with Hanna” sounds like something E.T. would say, no?

6. Correct: Jack is the younger of the two brothers.

Explanation: The comparatives is used for two as in this example. The superlative is applied when talking about three or more.

7. Correct: If I were you.
   

Explanation: This is a personal pet peeve of mine. Of course, the English subjunctive, which is used to denote pure supposition, is needed here. You could of course argue that in some regions “If I was you” is common and accepted. Yes, perhaps to some extend in spoken language, but not (yet) in writing. And yes, a qualified translator will know how to distinguish between written and spoken language.

8. Correct: Neither Julie nor Sarah was at the party.

Explanation: Both sujects are in the singular, therefore the verb also needs to be in the singular. If one or both of the subjects are in the plural form, the verb also need to be in the plural. Neither Keith nor his friends were at the party.

Kira Petersen

Photo by Thomas Lefebvre

What is English?

As a Germanic language English has roots in both the German and Dutch languages. However, since the Norman Conquest in 1066 not only did the architecture in the English countryside change, many French words also found their way into the English lexicon. They are what we call loanwords. The Norman Conquest is not an isolated historical event that has affected the use of words in English. So do loanwords count as English words? And do inflections count for one or two words? The list goes on.

In any case, the English language still boasts a very high quantity of words. To me loanwords are an integral part of any language. All languages have at one point or another borrowed words from other languages, and some have over time become such an integrated part of the language that native speakers might not even be aware that it is a loanword. With English gaining ground as an international language, e. g. in business, many English words creep into other languages. Language sticklers may condemn these and see them as damaging to their native tongue, but the fact is that any language already contains a certain number of loanwords and foreign words that they now consider a fundamental part of their own lexicon.

The why

There are several explanations to how words find their way into another language. Throughout history people have travelled either for pleasure, for studies, for trade, or because borders were moved and countries changed nationality which meant that people would settle in a new area that had previously belonged to a different country. It was thus inevitable that people would use words heard to describe new vegetable or fruit that merchants would bring from their country, or use terms heard from their new neighbour. So Vikings, for example, didn’t only leave fear, terror and devastation behind, but also, yes, words! Have a look at the following words just to name a few: anger, bag, birth, bug, cake, club, egg, geyser, gift, guest, husband, knife, mistake, outlaw, race, run, seat, trust and window. I wouldn’t think geyser was much of a surprise, but I am pretty sure many of the others were.

New words would also be used when an idea, notion, movement or particular research came from another country. Many publications would to begin with only appear in a few languages and sometimes there quite simply was no equivalent in the target language that would describe a term carrying the same meaning as the foreign word. German, for instance, is often used for academic writing and literature. A good example of this, are the German words Schadenfreude and Gemütlichkeit. A literal translation of Schadenfreude would be ‘harmjoy’ (Schaden = harm, damage, Freude = joy), and it denotes a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction through somebody’s misfortune. This concept doesn’t exist in the English speaking culture and therefore not in the language. The German word has been adopted in its original form. The same goes for Gemütlichkeit. It means that a situation is very nice, friendly and cosy. Both loanwords exist in the English language on equal terms with other English words, and although these might be obvious loanwords others are not.

Lexical heritage

In specific fields certain languages dominate. Just take one look at a medical book and you will find it full of words of Latin or Greek origin. And while it may come as no surprise that the French have provided us with a number of cooking terms, many other foreign languages have had a great influence on the vocabulary we use today as you will see in the, by no means complete, list below.

From Arabic

Alcohol, apricot, artichoke, assassin, aubergine, average, candy, caravan, cheque, cotton, cork, giraffe, hummus, jasmine, garbage, hazard, lemon, orange, safari, tuna

From French

Beef, café, caramel, carrot, chestnut, cream, croissant, cuisine, custard, haut couture, judge, justice, lingerie, marmelade, pork, pret-à-porter, retail, sauté, spinach, veal

From German

Delicatessen, doppelgaenger, hamburger, kaput, lager, leitfaden, muesli, noodle, poltergeist, poodle, schnapps, ueber, zeitgeist

From Greek

Air, aerobics, antique, architect, athlete, bacterium, biography, butter, church, economy, encyclopaedia, dialogue, geography, grammar, idol, microscope, problem, symbol, telephone, theatre

From Hindi

Avatar, bangle, bungalow, chutney, jodhpurs, jungle, khaki, karma, mantra, nirvana, pashmina, punch, pyjamas, shampoo, sorbet, yoga

From Italian

Biscuit, bravo, broccoli, cameo, cartoon, cello, diva, duet, duo, fiasco, finale, grotesque, lasagne, madonna, motto, opera, piano, soprano, studio, sultana, villa

From Spanish

Anchovy, avocado, banana, barbecue, breeze, cafeteria, California, canoe, cigar, cocoa, guerrilla, hurricane, jade, key, macho, mosquito, oregano, patio, potato, savvy, tobacco, vanilla

Now, you may think that all these loanwords have existed in the English lexicon for a long time and the process of exchanging vocabulary across borders is something that belongs in the past. But, this is far from an extinct phenomenon. You will still find examples of this in minority communities. In a region where two or more languages co-exist it is inevitable that they borrow from each other. Just think of Quebec in Canada, Belgium where the Flemish speak Dutch and the Walloons speak a dialect of French, and Schleswig Holstein in Denmark and Germany. Sometimes calques (a direct translation) are created. Or as mentioned before, if a notion or idea is developed in one country, chances are that the original term will be reused. With the rise of computer technology and the Internet IT terminology is often kept in its original English form, e.g. words such as server, email, software, etc.

Sometimes countries will try to fight this and come up with new expressions. A good example of this is France’s battle against the widely used Anglicism email or even mail. The official term is courrier/courriel électronique but in everyday French this term is losing its functional high ground to its English forerunner because the word was already in use before the Ministry of Education decided to create a French counterpart in 2003.

Interestingly, loanwords will always be adapted to the existing grammatical structure of a given language. For verbs this could mean that it will be conjugated in the same way as all other verbs which is, I think, a creative way of integrating new vocabulary. Personally, I welcome changes and creative use of new vocabulary. It is exactly what makes language so fascinating.

Kira Petersen

Photo by Moritz Schmidt

One of the words that made the cut into the online version of the dictionary is: solopreneur. As one could guess from looking at the word itself, it defines:

“a person who sets up and runs a business on their own” (OED)

The term stems from the 1990s and is a combination of the word solo end entrepreneur.

Word Origin

Solo is not a new addition to the English language. The term stems from Italian and as so many Italian words that are used in English and in other languages, it is originally a musical term. It denotes a piece of music or a dance carried out by one person. Other examples of Italian musical terms used in English would be soprano, a capella and piano, the latter being an abbreviation of pianoforte.

Entrepreneur, on the other hand, comes from the French entreprendre which means to ‘undertake sth’. Funnily, in the early 19th century an entrepreneur in French was a director of a musical institution. Their is no musical meaning in solopreneur and the word enters a vast group of vocabulary for business. Enterprise, which is another word for ‘business’ and ‘company’, also comes from the French entreprise.

Why word of the month?

To me the word has a positive connotation. Many people my age and younger have gone through a great deal of their education with a looming figure peeking down at us: the crisis. I was at university when the world was first confronted with the crisis and its repercussions. And since then it has followed me like a dark shadow constantly reminding me of the difficult times ahead. There is no doubt that many people have suffered and lost jobs and consequently struggled to find a new job. Luckily, many have also found new ways and turned hardship into something they’ve learnt from. They have created jobs for themselves and sometimes also for other people. It only takes one person to start something new!

To me the word oozes self-confidence, willpower and determination.

You can find more about the new entries into the online dictionary by clicking on this link http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/

Kira Petersen

However, the summer here in Europe is nearing its end and the academic year has already started in some parts which calls for more intellectual reading. My recent trip to the university book shop in Aarhus in Denmark was the answer to my literature fix. Stacks and stacks of books in all sorts of categories such as history, science, language, psychology, etc., their respective subdivisions and, most excitingly, interdisciplinary sections! I thus came away with a book called “Talking the Talk – Language, Psychology and Science” by Trevor A. Harley.

I strongly believe that in order to truly master a language, it is essential to gain a good understanding of the culture of the country in which the language is spoken. Culture and language are inseparable as so many idiomatic expressions have their origin in the culture. In the same way, I also think that in order to be able to use language efficiently and in a professional context, be it teaching, research or studying language and/or linguistics, it is equally important to understand how the human being works and how language is produced. What happens psychologically when we speak, or when we learn a new language?

The book “Talking the Talk” deals with exactly these issues and starts with a chapter on the human vocal tract and finishes with an overall structure of the language system. I would recommend this to anyone who would like to get a more thorough understanding of how language learning works.

Kira Petersen

I have never understood the sigh of boredom that often follows when the word “grammar” is mentioned. Of course, grammar can be complex and sometimes there might not even be one perfect, final answer, but it does nonetheless give you a structure, order and guidance on how to use a language.

Language defines grammar. What is so comforting is that, opposed to language, grammar, meaning syntax, semantics and morphology, hardly ever changes and stays the same year after year, century after century. And the most fascinating is that it has come together over many years created collectively by language users, not by experts as many people falsely assume. Generally, languages and their grammatical systems weren’t produced purposely and consequently taught to people. There are exceptions to this. One example is the auxiliary language Esperanto which is a language created in the late 1870s by linguist L. L. Zamenhof whose aim was to create a politically neutral language in Białystok in the Russian Empire. Today’s so-called conlangers (a constructed language maker) create languages for films, TV series, books etc. with Tolkien being the all-time father of artificial languages. But let’s save these for another blog post. The focus of this artice is on the languages that have been created over time by humans and that are the languages you and I speak. The point I am trying to get across is that the ceation of these natural languages just happens and along with these also an elaborate grammatical system which suggests that a collective group of people have an inbuilt feeling for structure. I really think that is highly fascinating! While it develops collectively, experts have the undivided pleasure of undertaking extended research in order to categorise how you and I use language. What is not to like?

Kira Petersen

Photo by Edgaras Maselskis

I have quite often been called a nerd, and believe me it was not always meant as a compliment. For some reason those who like in-depth research, details and learning are often called nerds. Personally, I think it is a terrible shame that the expression “nerd” has such a negative connotation and would much rather prefer to use words such as inquisitive minds, intellectually curious people and experts. For isn’t that what we also are? This blog is for those out there who are self-proclaimed, proud nerds who like to be intellectually challenged. Welcome to all of you!

^©Kira Petersen

Photo by Dustin Lee