‘Millionth English word’ declared
By Michael Berman
Which language contains the largest number of words, and approximately how many does it contain? The answer is English and the number is approximately a million. What implications do you think this has for foreign students when choosing what kind of dictionary to use?
Now read through the article below to find words in it which mean the same as:
a. the most recent / b. number one position / c. are not convinced that this is true / d. people who live in a very poor part of a city / e. it has a negative meaning / f. people who write dictionaries / g. a stricter definition of / h. much more than / i. manage to survive with / j. it is not surprising (When you find the words in the passage that you need, underline or highlight them).
‘Millionth English word’ declared
A US web monitoring firm has declared the millionth English word to be Web 2.0, a term for the latest generation of web products and services.
Global Language Monitor (GLM) searches the internet for newly coined terms, and once a word or phrase has been used 25,000 times, it recognises it.
GLM said Web 2.0 beat out the terms Jai ho, N00b and slumdog to take top spot.
However, traditional dictionary makers are casting doubt on the claim and the methods behind it.
GLM, based in Texas, makes its money telling organisations how often they are mentioned in new media, such as the internet, but it can also track new words and expressions.
Once a word has been used 25,000 times on social networking and other sites, GLM declares it be a new word.
The terms Jai ho and slumdog originate from the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire, about India’s slum dwellers.
But N00b comes from the gaming community, the company said, explaining that it is used as a disparaging term to describe a neophyte in a particular game.
It is also the “only mainstream English word that contains within itself two numerals”, GLM said in a statement posted on its website.
Landmark doubted
However lexicographers doubt GLM’s claim, says BBC arts correspondent Lawrence Pollard.
Dictionaries have tighter criteria about what constitutes a new word. For example, it has to be used over a certain period of time.
Lexicographers say the exact size of the English vocabulary is impossible to quantify, but if every technical term or obscure specialist word is accepted then we are already beyond one million, according to our correspondent.
And if the inclusion of specialist slang is restricted, then there are possibly three quarters of a million words in English.
All of which is way beyond the 20-40,000 words a fluent speaker would use, or the few thousand you could get by with in English.
But with 1.5 billion people speaking some version of English, it is small wonder it is the fastest growing language in the world, our correspondent adds.
Discuss the following questions in small groups, and then elect a spokesperson to present your findings to the rest of the class:
- Which dictionary or dictionaries do you use to help you with your English, and why? And now that you’re aware of all the facts, are you going to make any changes in future?
- What’s your favourite English word or a word in English you find yourself using a lot?
- What about your favourite word in your own language or a word you find yourself using a lot?
- What word best sums up these times we are living in (a word from any language)?
- Invent a new word in English, and then be prepared to tell the rest of the class what it means.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/8092549.stm
Published: 2009/06/10 11:14:01 GMT
© BBC MMIX
ANSWERS: a. the latest / b. top spot / c. are casting doubt on the claim / d. slum dwellers / e. it is used as a disparaging term / f. lexicographers / g. tighter criteria about / h. way beyond – much more than / i. get by with / j. it is small wonder
***
Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD, works as a teacher and a writer. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House, and The Nature of Shamanism and the Shamanic Story for Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Shamanic Journeys through Daghestan and Shamanic Journeys through the Caucasus are both due to be published in paperback by O-Books in 2009. A long-awaited resource book for teachers on storytelling, In a Faraway Land, will be coming out in 2010. Michael has been involved in teaching and teacher training for over thirty years, has given presentations at Conferences in more than twenty countries, and hopes to have the opportunity to visit many more yet. For more information please visit www.Thestoryteller.org.uk
** This lesson plan is submitted by Michael Berman.
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