Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Especially from the fields of activity in which the Romans were superior, the Anglo-Saxon tribes took over words to describe what to them were innovations. Such new terms were "calx", "tegula", "mortarium", and "moneta". Which of them was the only one that did NOT refer to a building material, but to their system of currency?
2. The Romans were great builders of roads and of military fortifications. One of the words we borrowed from them was wall, from "vallum". What was the original meaning of "vallum"?
3. The Anglo-Saxons had been in contact with Roman civilisation long before they crossed over to the British Isles. They had picked up various words from 'kitchen Latin' such as 'discus', which was not only what the 'discobolos' (disc-thrower) used, but also the flat round plate from which the Romans ate. The word is now either the vessel or the food served in it. In other words the disc became modern English ______?
4. The Anglo-Saxons knew the pig, which in Latin was 'sus', adjective 'suinus'. From 'suinus' they derived swine. What word did they directly derive from a much more Mediterranean product, 'vinum'?
5. Many foodstuffs such as fruits, nuts and vegetables were imported into the cooking style of the Anglo-Saxons via contact with the Romans. Which of these was a NUT?
6. 'Caseum' and 'butyrum' were culinary terms. So were 'furca' and 'cerefolium'. Which of them did NOT refer to a dairy-product, vegetable or herb, but to a kitchen utensil?
7. It would be quite wrong to think the Anglo-Saxons only took over materialistic terms. Especially when they had settled in Britain and had been Christianised, a number of Church Latin terms were taken over. The church (Greek 'kyrika') put 'episcopoi' (inspectors) at the head of its regional entities. What is the modern word for such an 'epi-scopos' (controller)?
8. The Church brought the 'eu-angellion' or 'good news' (transliterated in Latin as "evangelium"). Those 'good tidings' were originally called 'god-spell', or 'good prophecy, good message for the future'. What is the word that derived from God-spell?
9. Skipping the influence of French that started with the Battle of Hastings, we find more Latin borrowings during the Renaissance often inspired by Greek. Especially in scholarly and scientific language new words were coined. What was, for instance, the Latin-Greek word created by scholars to describe 'a general course of instruction' or 'the full circle of knowledge children had to learn'?
10. It's often difficult to distinguish between a word that derives from Latin and another that derives from either Italian, Spanish or French -- all languages derived from Latin. The words are often very close in appearance. Which of these is the only word of truly Latin origin?
Source: Author
flem-ish
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LadyCaitriona before going online.
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