TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Kate Gardoqui: How did English evolve?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

I am going to start with a challenge. I want you to imagine each of these two scenes in as much detail as you can. Scene nmuebr one: "They gave us a hearty welcome." Well, who are the people who are giving a hearty welcome? What are they wnaeirg? What are they dinnikrg? OK, scene two: "They gave us a cordial reception." How are these people standing? What eeospxrsins are on their faces? What are they wearing and drinking? Fix these pictures in your mind's eye and then jot down a sentence or two to describe them. We'll come back to them later. Now on to our story. In the year 400 C.E. the Celts in Britain were ruled by Romans. This had one benefit for the Celts: the Romans protected them from the baribaran Saxon tribes of Northern eourpe. But then the Roman Empire began to crublme, and the Romans withdrew from Britain. With the Romans gone, the gnriemac tberis, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians quickly sailed across the water, did away with the Celts, and formed kingdoms in the British Isles. For several centuries, these tribes lived in bairtin, and their Germanic language, Anglo Saxon, became the common language, what we call Old English. Although modern English speakers may think Old English sounds like a different language, if you look and listen closely, you'll find many words that are racelgobzine. For example, here is what the Lord's Prayer looks like in Old English. At first glance, it may look unfamiliar, but update the spelling a bit, and you'll see many cmoomn English words. So the cneretius peassd with Britains happily speaking Old English, but in the 700's, a series of vniikg invasions began, which continued until a treaty split the island in half. On one side were the sxnoas. On the other side were the Danes who sopke a language called Old Norse. As Saxons fell in love with their cute Danish neighbors and marriages blurred the boundaries, Old Norse mexid with Old English, and many Old Norse words like flcerke, leg, root, skin, and want are still a part of our language. 300 years later, in 1066, the Norman conquest brought war again to the British Isles. The naomrns were Vikings who slteetd in France. They had anaodbned the Viking language and ctuurle in favor of a French lieyltsfe, but they still fought like vkignis. They placed a Norman king on the English throne and for three centuries, French was the language of the British royalty. Society in Britain came to have two levels: French-speaking aristocracy and Old English-speaking peasants. The fcenrh also brought many Roman Catholic clergymen with them who aeddd Latin words to the mix. Old English adapted and grew as thousands of words flowed in, many having to do with gennreomvt, law, and aristocracy. Words like council, marriage, sovereign, govern, damage, and parliament. As the language expanded, English saerpkes quickly realized what to do if they wanted to snuod sophisticated: they would use words that had come from French or Latin. algno soxan words seemed so plian like the Anglo Saxon peasants who spoke them. Let's go back to the two sentences you thought about eirelar. When you pictured the hearty welcome, did you see an earthy scene with rlvetiaes hugging and talking lloudy? Were they drinking beer? Were they wearing lumberjack shirts and jeans? And what about the cordial reception? I bet you pictured a far more classy and refined crowd. Blazers and srtkis, wine and caviar. Why is this? How is it that phrases that are considered just about synonymous by the dictionary can evoke such different pictures and fneeigls? "Hearty" and "welcome" are both Saxon words. "Cordial" and "reception" come from French. The connotation of niilboty and authority has persisted around words of French origin. And the connotation of peasantry, real people, salt of the Earth, has psetirsed around Saxon words. Even if you never heard this history before, the memory of it persists in the feelings evoked by the wrdos you speak. On some level, it's a sroty you already knew because whether we reizlae it consciously or only subconsciously, our history lives in the words we speak and hear.

Open Cloze

I am going to start with a challenge. I want you to imagine each of these two scenes in as much detail as you can. Scene ______ one: "They gave us a hearty welcome." Well, who are the people who are giving a hearty welcome? What are they _______? What are they ________? OK, scene two: "They gave us a cordial reception." How are these people standing? What ___________ are on their faces? What are they wearing and drinking? Fix these pictures in your mind's eye and then jot down a sentence or two to describe them. We'll come back to them later. Now on to our story. In the year 400 C.E. the Celts in Britain were ruled by Romans. This had one benefit for the Celts: the Romans protected them from the _________ Saxon tribes of Northern ______. But then the Roman Empire began to _______, and the Romans withdrew from Britain. With the Romans gone, the ________ ______, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians quickly sailed across the water, did away with the Celts, and formed kingdoms in the British Isles. For several centuries, these tribes lived in _______, and their Germanic language, Anglo Saxon, became the common language, what we call Old English. Although modern English speakers may think Old English sounds like a different language, if you look and listen closely, you'll find many words that are ____________. For example, here is what the Lord's Prayer looks like in Old English. At first glance, it may look unfamiliar, but update the spelling a bit, and you'll see many ______ English words. So the _________ ______ with Britains happily speaking Old English, but in the 700's, a series of ______ invasions began, which continued until a treaty split the island in half. On one side were the ______. On the other side were the Danes who _____ a language called Old Norse. As Saxons fell in love with their cute Danish neighbors and marriages blurred the boundaries, Old Norse _____ with Old English, and many Old Norse words like _______, leg, root, skin, and want are still a part of our language. 300 years later, in 1066, the Norman conquest brought war again to the British Isles. The _______ were Vikings who _______ in France. They had _________ the Viking language and _______ in favor of a French _________, but they still fought like _______. They placed a Norman king on the English throne and for three centuries, French was the language of the British royalty. Society in Britain came to have two levels: French-speaking aristocracy and Old English-speaking peasants. The ______ also brought many Roman Catholic clergymen with them who _____ Latin words to the mix. Old English adapted and grew as thousands of words flowed in, many having to do with __________, law, and aristocracy. Words like council, marriage, sovereign, govern, damage, and parliament. As the language expanded, English ________ quickly realized what to do if they wanted to _____ sophisticated: they would use words that had come from French or Latin. _____ _____ words seemed so _____ like the Anglo Saxon peasants who spoke them. Let's go back to the two sentences you thought about _______. When you pictured the hearty welcome, did you see an earthy scene with _________ hugging and talking ______? Were they drinking beer? Were they wearing lumberjack shirts and jeans? And what about the cordial reception? I bet you pictured a far more classy and refined crowd. Blazers and ______, wine and caviar. Why is this? How is it that phrases that are considered just about synonymous by the dictionary can evoke such different pictures and ________? "Hearty" and "welcome" are both Saxon words. "Cordial" and "reception" come from French. The connotation of ________ and authority has persisted around words of French origin. And the connotation of peasantry, real people, salt of the Earth, has _________ around Saxon words. Even if you never heard this history before, the memory of it persists in the feelings evoked by the _____ you speak. On some level, it's a _____ you already knew because whether we _______ it consciously or only subconsciously, our history lives in the words we speak and hear.

Solution

centuries
settled
french
recognizable
anglo
germanic
number
saxon
plain
feelings
spoke
loudly
persisted
culture
relatives
freckle
saxons
government
barbarian
earlier
expressions
added
lifestyle
skirts
britain
passed
words
common
wearing
mixed
speakers
vikings
realize
normans
story
viking
nobility
tribes
sound
abandoned
europe
drinking
crumble

Original Text

I am going to start with a challenge. I want you to imagine each of these two scenes in as much detail as you can. Scene number one: "They gave us a hearty welcome." Well, who are the people who are giving a hearty welcome? What are they wearing? What are they drinking? OK, scene two: "They gave us a cordial reception." How are these people standing? What expressions are on their faces? What are they wearing and drinking? Fix these pictures in your mind's eye and then jot down a sentence or two to describe them. We'll come back to them later. Now on to our story. In the year 400 C.E. the Celts in Britain were ruled by Romans. This had one benefit for the Celts: the Romans protected them from the barbarian Saxon tribes of Northern Europe. But then the Roman Empire began to crumble, and the Romans withdrew from Britain. With the Romans gone, the Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians quickly sailed across the water, did away with the Celts, and formed kingdoms in the British Isles. For several centuries, these tribes lived in Britain, and their Germanic language, Anglo Saxon, became the common language, what we call Old English. Although modern English speakers may think Old English sounds like a different language, if you look and listen closely, you'll find many words that are recognizable. For example, here is what the Lord's Prayer looks like in Old English. At first glance, it may look unfamiliar, but update the spelling a bit, and you'll see many common English words. So the centuries passed with Britains happily speaking Old English, but in the 700's, a series of Viking invasions began, which continued until a treaty split the island in half. On one side were the Saxons. On the other side were the Danes who spoke a language called Old Norse. As Saxons fell in love with their cute Danish neighbors and marriages blurred the boundaries, Old Norse mixed with Old English, and many Old Norse words like freckle, leg, root, skin, and want are still a part of our language. 300 years later, in 1066, the Norman conquest brought war again to the British Isles. The Normans were Vikings who settled in France. They had abandoned the Viking language and culture in favor of a French lifestyle, but they still fought like Vikings. They placed a Norman king on the English throne and for three centuries, French was the language of the British royalty. Society in Britain came to have two levels: French-speaking aristocracy and Old English-speaking peasants. The French also brought many Roman Catholic clergymen with them who added Latin words to the mix. Old English adapted and grew as thousands of words flowed in, many having to do with government, law, and aristocracy. Words like council, marriage, sovereign, govern, damage, and parliament. As the language expanded, English speakers quickly realized what to do if they wanted to sound sophisticated: they would use words that had come from French or Latin. Anglo Saxon words seemed so plain like the Anglo Saxon peasants who spoke them. Let's go back to the two sentences you thought about earlier. When you pictured the hearty welcome, did you see an earthy scene with relatives hugging and talking loudly? Were they drinking beer? Were they wearing lumberjack shirts and jeans? And what about the cordial reception? I bet you pictured a far more classy and refined crowd. Blazers and skirts, wine and caviar. Why is this? How is it that phrases that are considered just about synonymous by the dictionary can evoke such different pictures and feelings? "Hearty" and "welcome" are both Saxon words. "Cordial" and "reception" come from French. The connotation of nobility and authority has persisted around words of French origin. And the connotation of peasantry, real people, salt of the Earth, has persisted around Saxon words. Even if you never heard this history before, the memory of it persists in the feelings evoked by the words you speak. On some level, it's a story you already knew because whether we realize it consciously or only subconsciously, our history lives in the words we speak and hear.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
saxon words	3
british isles	2
english speakers	2
anglo saxon	2

Important Words

abandoned
adapted
added
angles
anglo
aristocracy
authority
barbarian
beer
began
benefit
bet
bit
blazers
blurred
boundaries
britain
britains
british
brought
call
called
catholic
caviar
celts
centuries
challenge
classy
clergymen
closely
common
connotation
conquest
consciously
considered
continued
cordial
council
crowd
crumble
culture
cute
damage
danes
danish
describe
detail
dictionary
drinking
earlier
earth
earthy
empire
english
europe
evoke
evoked
expanded
expressions
eye
faces
favor
feelings
fell
find
fix
flowed
formed
fought
france
freckle
french
frisians
gave
germanic
giving
glance
govern
government
grew
happily
hear
heard
hearty
history
hugging
imagine
invasions
island
isles
jeans
jot
jutes
king
kingdoms
knew
language
latin
law
leg
level
lifestyle
listen
lived
lives
loudly
love
lumberjack
marriage
marriages
memory
mix
mixed
modern
neighbors
nobility
norman
normans
norse
northern
number
origin
parliament
part
passed
peasantry
peasants
people
persisted
persists
phrases
pictured
pictures
plain
prayer
protected
quickly
real
realize
realized
reception
recognizable
refined
relatives
roman
romans
root
royalty
ruled
sailed
salt
saxon
saxons
scene
scenes
sentence
sentences
series
settled
shirts
side
skin
skirts
society
sound
sounds
sovereign
speak
speakers
speaking
spelling
split
spoke
standing
start
story
subconsciously
synonymous
talking
thought
thousands
throne
treaty
tribes
unfamiliar
update
viking
vikings
wanted
war
water
wearing
wine
withdrew
words
year
years