The development of grammar - stages in grammatical growth

          

My post is based on David Crystal`s Encyclopedia connected with grammar leaning and  stages of grammatical growth. In my previous post I talked about the legal and scientific English, but this time I am going to talk about another essential part of language like grammar. As we all know grammar learning is a continuous process and connected with some stages as well. If we talk about children we should say that they are able to speak correctly without knowing the rules. They express the same word order as the  adults. By all means this do not accurse immediately,children and each of us need some time for that. We pass through several stages in order to express more correct grammatical sentences. Most of the children pass through holophrastic stage. In this stage children express one word which can have the meaning of whole phrase or sentence. For instance, a child can say daddy or papa when hears door bell. There are 50 words which children say most of all during holophrastic stage. Some of these words are uh – oh, down, baby, shoes ,coat and so on. It is interesting that words like mama and daddy are not the first words that a child pronounces. During another stage which is called two – word stage a child is able to pronounce Subject – Verb construction. For example, baby bad, baby like, gone milk and so on. I should say that this book gave us lots of information connected with the English language. Many things which are connected with the English language became more familiar to all of us.

Egypt - Abydos

ABYDOS

My current blog post  is from the Archeology: Egypt podcast. We all know that Egypt is one of the ancient countries in the world and there are many mysteries connected with that coutry`s history  and culture. The most attractive things in Egypt are pyramids by all means. Millions of tourists visit this country in order to admire fascinating picturesquare. So one of the famous archeologists Dr. David O`Coner was talking about Abydos. As he mentioned Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt and during those days it was called Addju. Abydos lies  west of the Nail river and it is considered as a sacred city. Nowadays  many steps are taken in order to protect this ancient city from modern developments, as new buildings  are constructed here. Abydos was a mysterious place for many Egyptians despite having  religious importance. Even nowadays many Egyptians visit this city for religious rituals. Abydos has some important archeological features such as ancient symmetries  and temples .According to Dr. David O`Coner the pharaohs of the first dynasty were buried here, including Narmer the creator of this dynasty. But some pharaohs of the  second dynasty also were buried here. This city is famous for its temple  Seti I in the nineteenth  dynasty.
It is interesting that many pharaohs built temples in their honor. The same thing I can say about Armenian old cities and its Kings. I think it is really nice when a nation have cities that are very important for them.

Legal and scientific english

My current post is connected with the Legal English. According to  David Crystal`s  Encyclopedia of the  English Language the legal language is connected with the two varieties such as religion and science. Firstly, I would like to define word legal - means established  by or permitted by law, lawful. In legal English language is coherent like in science and shares with religion respect towards traditions and rituals. Here I have to mention that there are several types of legal English varieties. It is used in documents which are legal like deeds, contracts, wills, policies .In legal English the language of case low and spoken language of courtroom exists.The English legal language is interesting and unique. Legal language has to carry such responsibilities that other varieties of language does not have to. Legal English in this case has developed and complicate grammatical structure. Also it is repetitive and has long list of items like debts, bills, accounts…….
The English language which is used in the courtrooms is mostly connected with  smallest of grammatical and lexical characteristics. For instance, using modal verbs there should not be misinterpretation between obligation and discretion. Here I should mention the name of Sir William Blackstone whose Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765 – 9) was the very first comprehensive description of  the main principles of English law. Sir William Blackstone is considered as one of the most interesting personalities in England. My next chapter is connected with scientific English. Definitely it has challenging vocabulary, the structure and discourse of sentences makes scientific English more complicated. In scientific English there are some words which are the typical characteristics of those things. For instance, the name of plants characterizes them .In scientific English 62 % of words are lexical and 38% of words are grammatical. Such features like noun phrases with complicated structures are normal in scientific English. I liked those two chapters because they gave me a great deal of information about two aspects of the English language scientific and legal English. I hope my peers will like them also.

 

Life After Cancer

 In my blogposts I tried  to talk about different diseases from time to time. In one of my posts I was talking about  the  Parkinson`s  Disease. In this post I am going to talk  about breast cancer  and life after it. According to Yale Cancer Center Research podcast many women survived from breast cancer. Several patients were talking about their disease with  great enthusiasm and better hopes. One of the doctors said that most of the women  after finishing their treatment celebrate it with friends and family members. In this cases the support of family members is very essential  and they are involved into the process of treatment as well.The doctor also mentioned  that many women feel insecure and have some mixed  emotions after treatment but this is normal by all means.  As a matter of fact there are some treatment ways for breast cancer. For instance, treatment possibilities include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immune therapy .Of course,  many patients feel secure after every week. It is really fantastic that many women start to get well and back to normal life. Breast cancer is the second most common disease during which it is difficult to concentrate on something. Most of the women gain weight and it is one of the basic problems.
Cancer patients are not active and they need to regain their physical functioning. One of the survivors said that at first she was visiting her doctor every three months, then every fifth and sixth months, then annually. She said that everyone should follow the guideline and visit doctors on time. It is really wonderful when such people have better hopes for future. They do not give up and struggle for their lives. Actually I like such posts because they encourage me.

Personal names and types of first names

According to David Crystal`s Encyclopedia  there are many types of personal names and  first names. The  study of personal names, their origin and history is connected with Etymology. It is interesting that many people do not know  from where their names come from. Many names can be considered as different names when they are spelled differently.  For instance, Steven and Stephen are the same names but Christina or Christine are different names. One thing is obvious we like to pronounce our names in short forms. For example, my name is Anna and many people just call me An in Armenian it sounds better. There are three types of Personal names, the first name, surname and middle name. It is interesting that some children have 26 names starting with different letters of the alphabet. Many surnames derive from occupation names, from nicknames or they have relations with their ancestors. I should mention that there are several types of first names.

1.      They are connected with physical characteristics for instance, Charles means man.

2.      they may relate to a time or place of origin like George which means farmer.

3.      in some cases they may express a parent`s feelings or emotions such as Amy which means loved.

4.      In many cases names can be taken from natural objects. For example, Crystal, Holly or Fern.

The most crucial thing which I learned is that many names like Adolf, Judas or Lucifer are avoided in England  and in many countries. I found out that names like Mary, Ann or Elizabeth are the most wide spread names in England and in the USA. Lots of names came from Old Testament and those names are used around the world of course, in Christian countries.

PARKINSON`S DISEASE

This post is based on podcast  about Parkinson`s disease. Actually my current post is not connected with my previous posts  because topic itself attracted my attention and I have decided to post it. According to many doctors Parkinson`s disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. It results from the death of dopamine -generating cells in the substantia nigra. The most essential part is that there is no actual treatment for this type of disease. Doctors prescribe lots of medicine to their patients in order to help them somehow. Many doctors say that  people usually do not die from Parkinson`s disease  they simply die with it. Also it is interesting that men suffer from Parkinson`s disease more than women. In the USA nearly one million people have this type of disease.The most challenging part is that doctors do not know how it accurse. They have some hypothesis  and that is all. Many patients say they have supporting groups from different countries in  order to encourage them. In many cases people with this disease have some difficulties in walking. Their actions are slow and limited. Many of them think that life is wonderful and they should continue to live and  just have fun.

Michael J Fox ,Muhammad Ali

I know that there are many celebrities  who have such disease. In my video you can see two of them.

                                                                 

English Synonyms and Antonyms

 

In my previous post I talked about  the punctuation marks  particularly how they were created.  Actually in this post I would like to talk about English Synonyms and Antonyms.  As we all know each language needs words in order to express thoughts and ideas.  According to David Crystal`s  Encyclopedia  and postcard which I listened to,  the English Language is particularly reach in Synonyms. From the time of Julius Caesar  Romans, Normans  and Saxons   were fighting for the  soil of England and  those nationalities and armies influenced on the English Language a lot. English scholars have studied those influences thousands of years.
So Synonyms are those words which have the same meaning, as word Synonym means “same “in Greek. Talking about synonyms   I  should say that there can be a dialect differences between them in British English we say  petrol but in American English we say gas. Also there can  be  differences of emotional feeling for instance youth and youngsters have the same meaning but the usage of youth is less pleasant.
 

Antonyms are words which have opposite meanings. We can call antonyms , as opposite words.
The most essential thing is that there are three types of antonyms
1) Gradable pairs

2)  relational opposites

3)  complementary pairs.

It is obvious that all those three types are very important for language.

Gradable pairs are for instance when we say – big-small , happy – sad

This antonyms are capable in comparison.

Relational opposites are – teacher-pupil, parent –offspring

This type of antonyms are  mutually dependant on each other.

Complementary pairs are – alive –death, present –absent  and so on.

and finally those types of antonyms are completely different in their meaning.
They can not be mutually dependant or . they are not capable in comparison. I  hope my post will be helpful somehow to my peers. To my mind synonyms and antonyms are major part of each language.This video is very useful  especially for children.  I think we can teach them synonyms and antonyms using songs.

RENAISSANCE PUNCTUATION

     

In my previous post I  talked about Renaissance and its influence on the English Literature, in this post I would like to share my findings about punctuation marks which emerged  during  RENAISSANEC. In  the 16 ^th  century many marks like commas, semi-commas or question marks emerged. Before that English writers had to use

symbols like    virgules, or oblique strokes  ( /) colons( :) or periods (.). It is often asserted that  those symbols were used instead of  contemporary punctuation marks. For instance,   virgule had the function of modern comma  and so on.  It is essential to  notice  that the  many writers were  trying to do their best in order to create proper punctuation marks for the  English Language. John Hart a   signer of the United States Declaration of Independence  had a  great deal to say concerning the punctuation marks like commas, question marks, square brackets capital letters and so on. I should say that during the end of  the 16 ^th century when the Modern English was spread all those punctuation marks   were established.   I strongely suggets to watch this 

By all means each punctuation mark is very crucial but I want to say some more words about comma. The comma is undoubtedly the punctuation mark that gives people most trouble   and confusion. I hope my video  will  illustrate that.Commas provide the rhythm of a sentence.Sometimes the omission of comma in the sentences can confuse the reader. Some linguists say that there are nine rules for commas and if we remember those rules our writing will be very   clear in    meaning  and correct.

TO be , or not to be .......the questio is. Is this Shakespeare ?

In my previous post I talked about England during the RENAISSANCE and about the influence of WILLIAM   SHAKESPEARE   on the RENAISSANCE. In this post I would like to share my findings  from CNN  NEWS about William Shakespeare`s  life  and mainly what   he looked like. 

He was   born in Stratford –upon –Avon, baptized 23 April 1564 but his birth date is unknown  to scholars.  He went to grammar school  in 1582 and married Ann Hathaway, they had three children. He died 23 April 1616. His will was made in March 1616. Shakespeare`s  works were translated into 37 languages.

But the most essential part of his life is unknown till now  concerning     his  appearance. By all means William Shakespeare is the most well –known name in literature. All images which scholars have seems unsatisfactory. The famous portrait in National Gallery he looked like with ear ring and dark eyes.

FIRST FOLIO

On the title page of his  book  FIRST FOLIO 1623  he looked  like  in this picture. All portraits   differ from each   other.  But most of the scholars do not accept that image of William Shakespeare.

Famous scholar Stanley Wells says that he is sure 90 %  that William Shakespeare looked like this. 

On the other hand Professor Katherine Duncan –James (  Oxford University)says that Shakespeare  in that picture   looked like too young. She says that it is very difficult to believe anyone of the scholars.

There are 20 copies of this image  and most scholars believe that  this is the closest one.  There cannot be satisfactory answer for anyone. I think no one would have opportunity to find out what he looked like in his real life. As for me I am a real fan of William Shakespeare and wanted to share my knowledge about  him.  I hope that one day we `ll  know more about William Shakespeare and his life.

-ENGLISH DURING THE RENAISSANCE------THE INFLUENCE OF SHAKESPEARE

§  In the 16 th century the influence of RENAISSANCE  on English literature was really huge and noticeable. Actually RENAISSANCE  brought many cultural , artistic and historical changes in England , but today`s post is  based on literature changes    only . Many writers concentrated on creating new words for literature  as the English language was poor in words at those times. For instance , the major literary figures in the English Renaissance include

§   Francis Baco

§  Thomas Dekker  

§  John Donne

§  John Fletcher

§  John Ford

§  Ben Jonson

§  Thomas Kyd

§  Christopher Marlowe

§  Phillip Massinger

§  Thomas Middleton

§  John Milton

§  Sir Thomas More

§  Thomas Nashe

§  William Rowley

§  William Shakespeare

They took words in order to enrich  language .For example from French they took words like battery , explore, progress ,from Italian balcony ,opera ,concerto and so on. So the major  influence on English literature during Renaissance connected with borrowing words from foreign languages. I talked about King James Bible in my previous post , so it is essential to notice that his and William Shakespeare`s influence on English Literature during Renaissance were the greatest  ones. All textbooks share this opinion about King James Bible and William Shakespeare . King James Bible as a work of translation and as a linguistic and literary accomplishment. The Bible  brought cultural impact and precise literary influence during that century    in English literature, until today. The King James Bible  was essential  from the perspectives of literary, linguistic, religious or cultural history. It is wide known that William Shakespeare created many words  using them for the first time in his poems , sonnets or comedies  .The famous  quotation “TO BE or NOT TO BE “  was used by him and became famous . So many people did everything to enrich English Language  and Literature as well. 

THE KING JAMES BIBLE - LET THERE BE LIGHT READING

KING JAMES

I think my post would be very special  and interesting for many people, it is about the Holy Bible known as  King   James version which I took from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language. In 1611 the “Authorized Version ‘’ or King James Bible was published. Through that time King James Bible was read mainly in churches. In 1603 King James was travelling from Edinburgh to London and 750 reformers showed there the Bible translation versions. After that King James gathered 54 translators but university scholars were following their work. To tell the truth I did not know  that  translation of Bible took so long   to  illustrate this point I would say,   at first the translation  took four years, then nine months translators and scholars did revision. It is obvious, that  the translation of the Holy Bible was very serious work,   The most crucial thing was the translators agreement between each other. Some companies who worked on translating had to  discuss materials  thou roughly. When one of the translators or companies was not agree with the material or translations everything was discussed again and again,  The agreement or improvement of translation was the most challenging and essential thing. It is undeniably true that  the Bible is very crucial  for religious people.  I have   no doubt that many people have no idea how the Bible was translated I hope my post will be helpful   and more over useful for them. As we all live in Armenia I want to inform those who do not know that Armenian Apostolic Church accepts King James Bible translation version  as the best one among other books  and those who want to read the Bible in English should take that one. To be honest this chapter is very special for me I could no imagine the seriousness of the translation,  I thought people just translated the Bible for interest but I was wrong it became part of their lives.

                                             

Children illnesses and diseases

This page contains some information about  childhood illnesses and  diseases about which I listened to in (ESL pod. 725 ). It is very crucial to know that some  diseases are mostly   spread among children.  One of such diseases is chicken pox.

 This type of disease is caused by primary inflection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) and it starts as a matter of fact with vesicular skin rash main in the body and on the head. One thing is clear that  chicken pox is an airborne  disease.  The symptoms include headache , pain in bones,  sore throat and fever (Google mumps wikipedia .com.).   To tell the truth I did not know that this disease is so dangerous, I hope that readers will get some useful information about chicken pox.  Another illness is cold mumps  and causes

 pain near ears.This disease is painful and serious one. (Google mumps wikipedia .com.).  Mumps

 usually causes pain in salivary glands where liquid is produces in our mouth.  To be honest listening and reading about childrens` diseases and illnesses I felt terrible ,but one thing is obvious and hopeful that all these illnesses can be cured. In the podcasts two people were talking about day center care where all children hadsome of these illnesses. 

They say that  it was a record year for these illnesses  and diseases.  I strongle believe that in

 these cases parents should do their best and  create better atmoshpere in order to help children.Many  illnesses and diseases are common for children such as strep throat , pink eye during which a child has  an infection on white part of  eye. Then comes  nose bleeding which is not so much serious disease  as the other ones.  I would like to talk about another disease which is also serious and it is cold croup during which children cannot breath.  All those illnesses and diseases are caused because of bad or damaged immune system among children. I hope that many parents would be consistent, they will immunize their  little babies in order to avoid all  those things. By this  I mean  that the information can be useful and educating for future parents like me.  In this case we will be more informed about illnesses  and try to do our best for our children in order not to see them sick or ill. Each child should grow up in healthy  athmosphere. I have no doubt that each parent or human being is happier  with healthy child.

Middle English ( French and English )

Henry II

This   post  is  based  on the reading   material from The Cambridge Encyclopedia Of  The English Language. In this post I am going to talk about French and English languages which were spoken  in 1066s in Britain. In that period Norman French invasion effected  the usage of French language in Britain. All baronial stuff,   bishops and aristocrats used French language, English was used only for contacting local communities or lower class people. Though many kings tried to learn English not all of them achieved that. For instance, William I ( 1066-87 ) tried to learn it at the age of 43 but then gave it up. Henry II did not speak English but understood it.  Many Anglo –Norman kings used English for swearing. King Henry IV made his will in English. In other cases some Kings even had English wives.  All  ceremonies , the Church , law, administration or literature used French language .It is essential to mention that  soon King John of England and King Philip of France had a conflict and after that great changes took place. These two countries had Hundred Years War after that. First time in 1362, English language was used at the opening of  Parliament.  In the 14 th century several songs, prayers,  romances were written in Middle English .It was special time for Modern English literature.  In 1425 English was spread as orally as well as in written form. The most essential thing is  that after Norman invasion many Latin words came into English as well.  I think that this information is very informative and interesting especially for English Teachers or English Learners. To my mind such information from  history   can enrich our knowledge about specific country and this point about England. I think that period  was very difficult for England and for its people, by this I mean that they were not able to use their language in their own country and had to follow the orders of French Kings. In support of this writing I will say that many countries in the past  were in such situations . It was very challenging to protect your own language  when your country is invaded by others. 

Henry IV

                                                                        

William I