2020-21 Academic Catalog

We speak it every day on campus, and it is the second most common language on the planet, but where did English come from? While its basic grammar is Germanic, much of its vocabulary—probably around 60 percent—comes from Greek and Latin. This course explores the varied and fascinating contributions that these two languages have made to English, focusing on the basic building blocks of words—bases, prefixes, and suffixes—while also considering the many routes the Classical languages have taken to enter modern English. This course is suitable for students of science, linguistics, and literature, as well as language lovers generally.