The influence of Indian languages in English

One of the characteristics of English is its facility to acquire new words from other languages and insert them in the corpus of the language.
Though it is a Germanic language, a great part of its vocabulary comes from Latin, either directly from this classic language or through the Romance languages, especially French. But English has also been influenced by languages that are spoken in far away countries with which it has come into contact thanks to the expanse of the British Empire throughout the world, and one of these countries is India, the Jewel in the Crown.
The Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, belonged to the British Empire from 1858 until 1947, when it became independent after a long period of tumults mixed with the nonviolent demonstrations inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.

The British Raj
Image from Wikimedia Commons

Some of the most widely used words in English coming from Indian languages are:

• Bungalow: a small house having a single storey, from the word bangla, meaning “Bengalese”, or “house in the Bengal style”.
• Dungaree: heavy denim fabric or the trousers or overalls made with this material.
• Shampoo: originally a body massage given after pouring warm water over the body and then rubbing it with extracts from herbs. Today, it refers liquid soap for washing hair. The word comes from champo, imperative of the verb champna, which means “to press”.
• Dinghy: a small boat carried on a larger boat, or an inflatable rubber life raft.
• Cushy: easy, comfortable, making few demands. From the word khusy, meaning “pleasant”.
• Juggernaut: an overwhelming force that crushes everything in its path, a large lorry or truck. The word comes from Jagannath, title of the god Krishna, meaning “Lord of the world”.

Dinghy
Image in: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2265/2156957133_411c4afac0_m.jpg

From the times of colonialism two words that today are only heard in films are:

• sahib: a term of respect for important white Europeans, used after the name, from sahab, meaning “master”.
• mensahib: from ma’am (madam) + sahib, the term used for European women.

Thanks to the study of Hindu philosophy and Buddhism, several religious terms have entered English from Sanskrit, the classical language of Hindu India:

• Nirvana: a blissful state characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering. Literally, it means “blowing out”.
• Yoga: a Hindu discipline aimed at promoting the control of body and mind.
• Karma: destiny, fate, the idea that one reaps what one sows.

Apart from these, a whole bunch of words related to the delicious Indian culinary recipes can be found not only in English but in most other European languages: tandoori, tikka masala, samosa, chutney,... Mmmm! Yummy!

Tandoori chicken
Image in:http://www.nomad4ever.com

In the following video from the BBC “Horrible Histories” programme, we can see how many countries fell under the rule of the British Empire at any given time in History. This programme is made for children, so take it with a pinch of salt!

Where does the English language come from?

Most European languages and many others from southern and western parts of Asia belong to the Indo-European group of languages, which includes languages spoken by almost three billion native speakers all around the world. Two of these are the most widely spoken languages in the world: Spanish and English, which come from different branches of the common Indo-European trunk. This picture portrays the main languages that supposedly derive from a common tongue that has disappeared. 

Indo-European branches of the language tree.
From: http://www.postcardlanguage.com/PIEtree.jpg

 As you can see, English is a Germanic tongue, but it has been largely influenced by Latin and French, and more than half its vocabulary comes from these two languages, making it as much a Germanic as a  Romance language.

The origin of English words. From Wikipedia Commons

But why has it received such a large influence of these two languages? The reason can be found in History. 

Around the 5th century AD some Germanic tribes invaded Britain. They were mostly Angles and Saxons coming from what is now Germany. They brought with them their language and did not mix with the older inhabitants of the British Isles, the Celts, who were mostly pushed towards the westernmost part of the country, a more mountainous and unassailable area where they settled and maintained their culture and language to this day: Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh are still alive and kicking, however, they have not influenced English, and very few words remain in it, many of them being place names.

Celtic languages today: green: Irish, red: Manx, blue: Scottish Gaelic, yellow: Welsh, orange: Cornish, pink: Breton

The Romans had conquered the British Isles some centuries before the Anglo-Saxons arrived, but, unlike in other parts of Europe, their language, Latin, was not widely spoken by the original inhabitants and so, once the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, all influence of Latin died with it. However, it was much later, when the new inhabitants of the Isles became Christians when Latin became important, as it was the language of the church. Many English words such as bishop (from Latin episcopus) entered the language at this early stage. 

Latin kept on exerting some influence on the English language up to the 17th century, because it was the language of culture as teachers and students at universities used it for their studies and spoke and wrote in it. The period of the Renaissance was especially fruitful, with hundreds of words entering the language at the time and many writers, including Shakespeare, are responsible for coining new words of Latin origin.

The Anglo-Saxons suffered invasions from other Germanic tribes such as the Vikings, but the one that brought greater influence on the language was that of the Normans, a Germanic tribe that had previously settled on the north of France and had made French their language. So, when they conquered Britain in the 11th century, after the famous Battle of Hastings (1066), French became the language of the court and the nobility, and English was consigned to the popular classes and mainly spoken at home. 

The Battle of Hastings, from the Bayeux Tapestry

For 200 years at least French remained the language of ordinary intercourse among the upper classes in England but, eventually, it was English that became widely spoken and the use of French was restricted to some legal terms only. However, this Old English was so much influenced already by French that it is known by a different name: Middle English. That is, the original Germanic language had changed enormously in the course of two centuries losing most of the inflection and adding hundreds of new words which sound perfectly English to us, even though they are originally French. One example is the word table.


Apart from Latin and French, other languages have influenced English to a smaller extent, but that will be dealt with in another blog post.

Now this test will help you check what you have learnt so far.

Both, either, neither

We use both, either and neither when we are talking about two things.

Both is used with plural nouns to mean “the two” or “the one as well as the other”.

Either can have two pronunciations: / ˈiːðər/ (mainly in American English) and / ˈaɪðər / and means “one or the other”.

Neither can also have two pronunciations: / ˈniːðər/ (mainly in American English) and /ˈnaɪðə(r)/ and means “not one nor the other.

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: San Sebastion – Spain

Both of us at the surf beach

These words can be used as determiners or pronouns. When they are determiners, they are followed by nouns:

Both books are very good.

I didn't like either book (not the one or the other)

Neither book is very good.

They can also be used with the preposition of. In this case, they can be followed by:

• The + noun: Both of the children were late.
• These /those + noun: Neither of these students will pass.
• Possessives (my, your...) + noun: Has either of your sisters visited you?

Both can be used with or without of in the three cases stated above:

Both the children were late.
Both is used without of if there is no article, possessive or demonstrative before the noun:
She was operated on both eyes.

But it's impossible to use it without of before personal pronouns:

Both of them were born in France. (*Both them is not possible).

The same holds true for either and neither:

Either of you could do it. *Either you is not possible.

Neither of us lives here. *Neither us is not possible.

Both is always used with a plural verb, whereas either and neither are usually used with singular verbs. However, in an informal context, the plural verb can be heard, and this is specially so when used with the preposition of:

Both children want to play football.

Neither of them speaks French. Neither of them speak French (informal)

Either of them is OK with me. Either of them are OK with me. (informal)

If both refers to the subject of the sentence, it can also be put with the verb (after the verb to be or auxiliary verbs and before main verbs):

We are both tired. (after to be)

We both live in Spain. (before main verbs)

We have both studied at university. (after an auxiliary verb in compound tenses).

Neither of us

Image: 'IMG_0343'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85922579@N00/953345184

Both, either and neither can also be used as pronouns, that is, they go without a noun:

I'll take both.

“Which one do you want?” “Either, I don't mind”

“Are they British or American?” “Neither. They are Canadian”.

In order to connect ideas, you can use these paired conjunctions:

• Both...and...

Both Tom and Peter are my friends.

• Either...or...

You can either drive or walk to school

• Neither...nor...

He neither smokes nor drinks.

• Not only...but also.... is similar to both... and...., but the verb accords with the last element:

Not only my sister, but also my brother lives with my parents.

Both my sister and my brother live with my parents.

Either and neither can be used instead of also or too to express agreement in negative sentences:

“I don't like smoking” “I don't either” / “Neither do I”

Notice that both structures have the same meaning but one is used with a negative verb while the other, being already negative, is used with a positive verb. Notice also the inverted word order of the last sentence. The word nor can be used instead of neither in this context, being nor slightly less formal:

He can't sing and nor/neither can I.

“I am not going” “Nor /neither am I”.

Image in: 

http://www.inspiredbrush.com/dogmagnets-p28.html

And now some exercises for you to check what you have learnt:

• both, either, neither (of) 1
• both, either, neither (of) 2
• both...and.../ either...or.../, neither...or...
• Either...or... / neither...nor...
  
  

Holiday or vacation?

The end of June is, for teachers in Spain at least, synonymous with the beginning of the summer holidays. The last few weeks are usually hectic, with classes in the morning and meetings in the afternoon and evening, followed by dinners out with fellow teachers or students, and it's only when you finish the last class that you come to realize that “this is it”, the holidays have started.

Holiday on the beach
Photo in:

    http://inanutshellenglish.blogspot.com/2009/07/holidays.html

The word holiday comes from old English haligdæg from halig meaning “holy” or “sacred” and dæg meaning “day”. So, originally, it meant a religious festival and also a time for recreation. Today, we use this word in British English to mean the period of time when you are allowed to be out of work or school, and also, the time spent in another place or country for rest and enjoyment.

In the USA, the word vacation is used with these meanings. This word comes from French, and originally from the latin verb vacare, which means “to be empty, free or at leisure”.

Both in the UK and the USA the word holiday is used to mean a day when everybody is officially allowed to be away from work. This day can also be called public holiday or bank holiday in Britain, and legal holiday in America. The school will be closed on Monday because it's a holiday. A national holiday is an official day to celebrate an important national event. One national holiday that everybody celebrates in America is Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving parade
Image: 'The famous Macy's Turkey' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11080385@N05/3064244803

When Americans talk about the holidays or the holiday season, they mean the time in December and early January that includes Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year. The film was a summer release, but was so popular it ran through the holiday season.

To make things more complicated, the British use the word vacation to mean the period when university is officially closed for students. But, apart from this meaning, vacation is mainly a US word.

The word holiday is used in the singular when we mean a short period of one or two days, whereas for longer periods we usually use the plural holidays. We've got a holiday next Monday. We are going to Italy for the summer holidays. But we always use the singular in expressions like “two weeks' holiday” or “on holiday”.

In an informal context, it can be shortened to hols: On our summer hols last year we camped at a lovely site by the beach.

Holiday can also be a verb meaning “to spend a holiday somewhere”. She was holidaying with her family in Morocco.

Image: 'Moroccan Textures' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96777571@N00/75963207

Holiday or vacation can be found in expressions such as:

• To go on holiday/vacation
• To take/have a holiday/vacation
• To be on holiday/vacation

Note that we always use the preposition on with these two words.

Finally, the people who are on holiday are called holidaymakers or vacationers.

Have a nice holiday if you are as lucky as me, and if not, don't despair, you will soon have one!

Listen to Madonna's song "Holiday" and fill in the gaps.

Boring or bored? Adjectives ending in -ed or -ing

In English there is an important group of adjectives that are derived from verbs. They are formed by adding a suffix to the roots of verbs. These suffixes are -ed and -ing. For example, from the verb to relax you can have two adjectives: relaxed and relaxing.

These adjectives are, in fact, present participles (-ing) and past participles (-ed) of verbs that are used as adjectives. Have a look at these sentences:

He relaxed by the pool (past tense of relax)

As soon as he got home, he felt relaxed ( adjective)

She is relaxing in a spa. (present participle of the verb to relax)

It's quite relaxing to have a massage. (adjective)

Massage
Image: 'Rama Day Spa' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035727839@N01/208808609

Bear in mind that verbs express action or state, whereas adjectives qualify nouns or pronouns, that is, they tell us what someone or something is like or how a person feels.

Some participles have almost entirely lost their verbal connections and are regarded primarily as adjectives. These can be modified by the adverb very: “I am very tired today”. “That's a very interesting book”. Others still retain strong verbal associations and cannot be modified by the adverb very. Some other suitable adverb must be used: “We had to leave the beach in a hurry because of the swiftly rising tide” (the very rising tide is not possible).

But we have two adjectives formed with the same root of the verb. Why? There must be a difference in meaning, otherwise the language would use just one word, not two. Adjectives ending in -ing are “active”, so as to speak: they perform the action of the verb and mean “having this effect”, whereas those ending in -ed are “passive”, that is, they receive the action and mean “affected in this way”. Compare:

“The exhibition was quite interesting”

“I was quite interested in the exhibition”

Exhibition
Image: 'La Fée Electricité' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44921934@N00/3730244402

In the first example, we mean that the exhibition interests people. In the second sentence I feel an interest in the exhibition. In fact, both sentences give the same idea but from two different points of view: what was the exhibition like in the first sentence and how I felt about it in the second one.

Learning the difference between these two types of adjectives can be difficult for foreign speakers, especially when they are translated by the same word in their language. It's the case of bored/ boring for Spanish speakers because they both translate as “aburrido”. In order to get it right, here's a clue: if you mean that something bores you, that thing is boring and you feel bored. I hope you will never feel embarrassed like a Spanish student who went to England and when asked if he was having a good time he said “I am boring”, and the friendly English lady he was staying with kindly replied “No, you are not boring, you are just bored”.

Bored

Image: 'Bored' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27261720@N00/91147636

Most adjectives ending in -ed are pronounced as /d/ /t/ or /ɪd/ according to the rule that we saw in another entry in this blog, but a few of them have a special pronunciation: the last sylable is pronounced /ɪd/ instead of /d/ or /t/. These are: blessed, crooked, dogged, learned, ragged, wicked, wretched, naked, aged.

You will find a complete list of adjectives ending in -ed and -ing here.

And now a few exercises to revise what we have learnt:

Choose one of the options

Drag the adjectives into the gaps

Choose an option

This is for advanced students

Fill in the gaps

Have/get something done

The structure we are going to have a look at today is quite difficult to understand for Spanish speakers, because it doesn't exist in this language. A typical mistake my students make is to say “I will cut my hair tomorrow”, when they really mean that they are going to tell the hairdresser to cut their hair. They don't realize that for an English speaker that sentence means that that person is cutting his/her own hair himself /herself. In English, if you want to say that somebody will cut your hair for you, you can say: “I will have my hair cut tomorrow”. Everybody will understand that a hairdresser will do it for you.

He's having his hair cut

Image: 'Raphael in action' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45334966@N00/19852513

If we analyze the previous sentence, we find the structure have + object + past participle, or to put it more nicely: have something done.

Let's see another example: Your car is broken and you take it to the garage to...

a) repair it

b) have it repaired

If you chose the second option you are right, because I suppose you wanted a mechanic to repair your car and not do it yourself!

A mechanic at work

Image: '2cv_phil_repair_small' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64588110@N00/8206134

Instead of using the verb have, you can also use get if you want the sentence to sound more colloquial. Besides, get is preferred in the imperative form: “Go and get your hair cut, you look like a hippy”.

Image: 'Keeping it Real, West Jerusalem' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25652278@N03/3076551831

This structure can also be used in cases in which nobody is asked to do the action: “ He had all his money stolen while he was on holiday” (He didn't ask anybody to steal his money, it just happened), and even to say that something disagreable happened to someone: “We got our house flooded last night”.

The verbs have and get in this structure can be found in all the tenses.

You will find some more examples in this presentation:

Have something done

View more presentations from Asuntos

Now, check what you have learnt by doing these exercises:

All tenses

Complete the sentences

Match the two halves of the sentences

Drag the past participles to the correct sentences.

To marry or to get married?

On April 29^th the future king of Great Britain got married to the beautiful Katherine Middleton in a magnificent ceremony that was broadcast to millions (some even say billions) of viewers all over the world. I told my students to write a composition on the topic of the Royal Wedding and when it came to marking, I realized that they didn't know how to use the verb to marry correctly. The problem comes because in Spanish this verb is constructed with the preposition con (with) and so my students wanted to translate word for word and they would write sentences like: *“ Prince William married with Kate Middleton”, which is wrong and sounds awful in English. Consequently, I decided to write a blog post on the matter.

Image:  'Royal kiss'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33166549@N05/5678103297

The verb to marry is mostly used as a transitive verb in English, which means that it must be followed by a direct object. So, in the previous example, we could say:

“Prince William married Kate Middleton”,

            subject        verb       direct object

The direct object is never preceded by a preposition, that's why the sentence my students wrote is incorrect.

On the other hand, it can also be used as an intransitive verb, in which case, there is no need for the direct object. “They married in London”. However, in this case, to get married is preferred: “The couple got married in London”.

To get married can also be used with an object, but the preposition to is needed:

“Prince William got married to Kate Middleton”.

A synonym is to wed, which is mostly used in newspapers: “Supermodel to wed pop star”.

There are also idiomatic expressions with the same meaning:

• To get hitched: “The couple had been together for a long time and intended to get hitched by the end of the year”.
• To tie the knot: “We'll show you how to tie the knot in this tough economy”.

But before getting married, William had to ask Kate to marry him, that is, he proposed to her, or more colloquially, he popped the question and she didn't refuse him, so they became engaged and they were no longer boyfriend and girlfriend but he was her fiancé and she was his fiancée. William gave her the engagement ring that his mother used to wear and they fixed a day for their marriage.

Image in: 

http://www.brides.com/blogs/aisle-say/2010/11/kate-middleton-engagement-ring-options.html

On the wedding day, Kate was the bride and William was the groom or bridegroom. They walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey accompanied by the best man, William's brother, Harry, and the bridesmaid, Kate's sister, Phillippa. After making their marriage vows, the Archbishop declared them husband and wife, and then, the newlyweds rode in a beautiful carriage that took them to Buckingham Palace, where they saluted the crowds that had gathered to witness an unforgettable historical event.

In the following video taken from one of the funniest films about weddings that I can remember,”Four Weddings and a Funeral”, an inexperienced priest (Rowan Atkinson) is reading the vows to the couple and gets confused with their names and even with the Holy Ghost, which he calls “Holy Goat”! 

Finally, check the new vocabulary with this hotpotatoes exercise: