UCJANGBP28 Foreign Vocabulary in English

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Summer 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. René Kron, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. René Kron, Ph.D.
Institute of Foreign Languages – Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Only one-fifth of the English vocabulary is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Three-fifths are borrowings from French, Latin and Greek, and the rest are borrowings from other languages. The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the most important influences on the English vocabulary. This will contribute to the understanding of the diversity of the English vocabulary, English pronunciation and peculiarities of the English grammar.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will be able to:
- understand the diversity of English vocabulary;
- understand English pronunciation;
- understand the peculiarities of English grammar;
Syllabus
  • 1. Borrowings from French 1 2. Borrowings from French 2 3. Borrowings from French 3 4. Borrowings from Latin 1 5. Borrowings from Latin 2 6. Borrowings from Greek 1 7. Borrowings from Greek 2 8. Borrowings from Italian 9. Borrowings from Spanish 10. Borrowings from German 11. Borrowings from Yiddish 12. Borrowings from Slavic languages - Russian, Polish, Czech 13. Borrowings from other languages
Literature
    required literature
  • Build Your Power Vocabulary, Second Edition, 2008, Random House Reference: New York.
  • Bryson, B. (2001). The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. New York: Perennial-Harper.
  • Winokur, Jon. (1995). Je Ne Sais What?: A Guide to de rigueur Frenglish for Readers, Writers, and Speakers. New York: Dutton-Penguin.
  • Mencken, H. L. (2011). The American Language. An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States. West Valley City: The Editorium.
  • Crystal, D. (2005). The Stories of English. London: Penguin
    recommended literature
  • Bragg, M. (2011). The Adventure of English. The Biography of a Language. New York: Arcade.
  • Forsyth, Mark. (2011). The Etymologicon. London: Icon Books.
  • Cresswell, J. (2009). The insect that stole butter? Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Oxford: OUP.
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussion, projects by students
Assessment methods
written test
Language of instruction
English
The course is also listed under the following terms Summer 2021, Summer 2022, Summer 2023, Summer 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/summer2025/UCJANGBP28