Latinisms in Shakespeare, Metathesis, & Latin Words and Phrases in English

1. Latinisms in Shakespeare, Metathesis, & Latin Words and Phrases in English Concepts from Lessons XXIII-XXV

2. Shakespeare and his Word Use

3. Life of Shakespeare • Lived 1564-1616 • Attended the King’s New School, Stratford-upon-Avon • Tudor curriculum limited to Latin, Greek, math • Member of The King’s Men, which owned its own theater, the Globe Theater • Wrote 36 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 narrative poems • Drew on Latin sources: Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Antony & Cleopatra • Influenced by the works of Plautus (d. 184 BC), e.g., Comedy of Errors

4. Shakespeare’s Use of Latin • Classes at the King’s New School were conducted exclusively in Latin. • Given this background, Shakespeare naturally used Latinate words with deference to their original meanings. • Thou, sapient sir, sit here. —Lear to the Fool, King Lear (Act II, Scene 6)

5. Shakespeare’s Latinate Vocabulary • My powers are crescent. • That they have overborne their continents. • The fortitude of the place is best known to you. • Whose white investments figure innocence. • …and of the truth herein this present object made probation. • As knots…infect the sound pine and divert his grain tortive and errant from his course of growth.

6. Shakespeare’s Latinate Vocabulary • Abate the edge of traitors…that would reduce these bloody days again. • Cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks. • The presence of the king disanimates his enemies. • What to this was sequent Thou know’st already. • Tying her duty, beauty, wit and fortunes in an extravagant and wheeling stranger of here and every where. • Exercise I Lesson 24 (pp. 133-134)

7. Metathesis (Lesson XXIV) • Definition. Transposition of two phonemes in a word (as in the development of crud from curd or the pronunciation \'pur-tE\ for pretty). • English examples: ask [aks], spaghetti [basketti], foliage [foilage], mischeivous [mischevious], breakfast [breakstif], Sly [Sylvester] • Distinct from Spoonerism: Let me sew you to your sheet, our queer old dean.

8. Metathesis in Word Histories

9. Latin Words and Phrases in English • Some words and phrases have entered Latin while retaining their original forms. • Some of these words are found in fixed phrases, e.g., ad hoc, per se, per diem, de facto, vice versa. • Some of these words are nouns which carry Latin singular and plural inflections.

10. Noun Sense • The proper plural form of many Latin nouns is a subject of controversy. • Do the following nouns even have a plural form? • data (Her data was interesting.) • media (The media gives only one side.) • Lesson 25, II (p. 138)

11. Noun Sense • Sometimes the ‘proper’ form seems silly: • alumna-alumnus-alumnae-alumni • index-indices • focus-foci • stadium-stadia • genus-genera • Sometimes the word looks like an abbreviation but isn’t:sic, qua, pro, via

12. Latin Phrases • Sometimes the abbreviation of a phrase is more familiar that the phrase itself. • What do the following abbreviations mean? • e.g. • i.e. • cf. • A.D. • AM • NB • et al. • etc. • ca.

13. Latin Phrases • What do the following phrases mean? • in camera • habeas corpus • de facto • ad hominem • ex officio • ex post facto • per capita • per diem • per se

14. Latin Phrases • What do the following phrases mean? • persona non grata • sine qua non • quid pro quo • prima facie • a fortiori • status quo • reductio ad absurdum • ad hoc • pro tem

15. Latin Abbreviations in Medicine • Medical jargon contains many Latin (and other) abbreviations

16. New Bases • No New Suffixes since Lesson XXI! • Lesson XXIII: • CORD • FLECT, FLEX • MAN(U) • PORT • STRU, STRUCT • TERMIN • VINC, VICT

17. New Bases • Lesson XXIV: • AUD • CARN • NUNCI (NOUNCE) • PRESS • PROPRI • SAT(IS) • No new forms in Lesson XXV!