Essay from Gina S. Falcone ThePensters Writing Contest Medalist #2

Cassandra sighed as she pulled into her parking spot. An empty grocery cart once again blocking her way. â€Å"Hi kitten!† She greeted her sister’s cat as she flicked on the light in their apartment. His high pitched meows meant he was hungry. She threw her obnoxiously big purse on the counter and sorted through the cabinet. One can of cat food left, damn. Cassandra opened the can and placed it on the floor for the cat. He ate it veraciously. She watched him for a minute, intrigued. Her stomach then growled reminding her that she was hungry herself. She went to the fridge, hoping that food would suddenly be stocked inside. No luck. An overripe banana, old spaghetti, and a half drank bottle of Sunny D. Casandra slammed the fridge. She loafed on the couch, wondering what they were going to do for dinner. She would probably have to make Mickey Mouse shaped waffles again. She knew her sister didn’t mind, but she was tired of it. She was tired of her living situation. Culinary school isn’t as glamourous when you’re 22 and in debt because of it. But at age 17, the world was at Cassandra’s fingertips. She graduated early and decided that was her ticket out. Her mother pleaded for her to reconsider; guilting her about the price of college. Cassandra wasn’t going to be convinced though. She was going to go live in California with her secret girlfriend, and become a chef like her grandfather. He was so proud of her. Where was she now though? Twenty-two years old and trying to figure out how to pay off her root canal procedure. What Cassandra thought was an escape from a life she grew tired of, became nothing but yet another depressing situation. Her girlfriend who also had a boyfriend, broke it off with her after their first rendezvous. The college itself was filled with pretentious rich kids who didn’t know the meaning of failure, humiliation, and desperation. They could only scoff at her past as they wielded their expensive knife sets. They didn’t even know how to use them right, idiots. When life in California became too dreary, Cassandra opted to do her internship back home. But New Mexico isn’t California, and after throwing out spore covered tomatoes, she was fired. Cassandra was fine though. She was working at her dad’s business at the same time and knew this meant she could just do it full time now. Cooking shows were her only retreat into a future she once had locked down. Her grandfather showed his obvious disdain towards her choice. What would seem like a total let down originally, became the only sure thing in her life. She was good at her job too. A call center for funeral homes, Cassandra knew everything there was to know about this kind of stuff. Of course the calls would become disheartening, but she was raised around death. Cassandra smiled, almost certain that her own private office was in the near future. Her dad took her aside and said that he was proud of her. Working 80 hours a week chasing a car payment while paying off those crooked dentists. She persevered despite what could have been seen as an utter failure. Cassandra did go through a pity period though, crying, drinking, and finding love in the wrong people. But California was merely a memory at this point, and not a bad one at that. She grinded her teeth out of habit and sat back up. If she was going to make waffles for the fifteenth millionth time, she was at least going to make them the best she ever could. However, she wanted a cigarette first and headed out to the porch. She lit the cancer stick and stared out to the greying sky. As she ashed her cigarette, she watched the neighbor kids push around the broken grocery cart. Cassandra laughed to herself. Sometimes we don’t need to fix the things that are broken, as long as they can still run. Even though life could be disappointing, she was still going to be the best she ever could be. No matter what that entailed. People like Cassandra, are few and far between. Her story doesn’t end with her achieving her wildest dreams, but with an appreciation of the many struggles she has and will face. Life wasn’t laden with let downs, but challenges. With full determination, Cassandra knew she would always overcome these periods in her life. Those kids who had the nicest of knives, would never know the joys of pushing a broken grocery cart. Life wasn’t over, and neither was the fight. But with nicotine on her breath, she scoffed. â€Å"Bring it on.†

Sweden An Important Object Of Attention, Money,...

In 1790, Henry Drevon stated â€Å"†¦in no country is agriculture more encouraged than in Sweden, where the government considers it as an important object of attention, and rewards by money, privileges, and an exemption from taxes† (192). Despite its northern location, Sweden has a very good climate for farming. However, due to Sweden’s size and shape, the farming season for the southern provinces is almost 100 days longer than the northern region (Facts about Swedish Agriculture 3). Sweden was predominately a farming nation, but quickly expanded with urban development in the decades after World War II (Ã…kerstrà ¶m). Life in Sweden is still highly influenced by their agricultural roots. Many of their customs and festivities are linked to the farming year even though the significance of some of the traditions have been lost (Lilja and Tidholm). While their traditions pervade to present day, the popularity of agriculture has decreased significantly. Sweden is one of the largest countries in Europe in terms of area, but the percentage of farm land is quite small. Only 6.4% (2.7 million hectares) of their land is arable and almost 0% (9000 hectares) of their land is used for permanent crops shown in Figure 1. This totals to approximately 3,066,000 hectares of agricultural area in the country (Country/Territorial Notes). This number has slightly declined in the past few years. This is because in some areas, marginal farm land has been abandoned and reverted back to forest area (FactsShow MoreRelatedInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pagesand uncertain, with ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa and continuing tensions in Iran, North Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan, especially as the U.S. role in these latter two countries evolves. On the economic front, failure to conclude important trade agreements, inclu ding the so-called â€Å"Development† Round of multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization, and the lagging support for some bilateral trade agreements pose additional challenges to global managers and multinationalRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 PagesPersonal Productivity Software Support Software 37 38 41 The Operating System Language Translators 41 43 v vi Contents Third Generation Languages 43 Fourth Generation Languages Markup Languages 46 48 Object-Oriented Programming 49 Languages for Developing Web Applications Database Management Systems CASE Tools 51 52 54 Communications Interface Software Utility Programs 54 54 The Changing Nature of Software 55 The InformationRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesthe decades of the global scramble for colonies after 1870 as a predictable culmination of the long nineteenth century, which was ushered in by the industrial and political revolutions of the late 1700s. But at the same time, without serious attention to the processes and misguided policies that led to decades of agrarian and industrial depression from the late 1860s to the 1890s, as well as the social tensions and political rivalries that generated and were in turn fed by imperialist expansionism

The Crusades A History, Second Edition Essay Sample free essay sample

The Crusades were a critical chapter in European and Christian history. deeply impacting the times in which they occurred. every bit good as the hereafter of Christianity itself. Jonathan Riley-Smith’sThe Crusades– about 400 pages in length – provides a extremely elaborate history of all the campaign motions that took topographic point. Written by Riley-Smith. writer and editor of several books on the Crusades and the Middle Ages in general. the book is composed of two forewords. an debut. 10 chapters. and closes with an afterword. The meat of the book is the 10 chapters. each of which is broken down into several subdivisions. therefore leting for a elaborate analysis of every facet of each campaign. The first two chapters provide an history of the events taking up to the start of the campaign motion. every bit good as an in-depth focal point on the first campaign itself. Riley-Smith makes it clear that the intent of this first campaign was to salvage the Holy Land from the heathen Muslims. We will write a custom essay sample on The Crusades: A History, Second Edition Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He emphasizes the point that the campaign was to be about release. non merely for the Holy Land. but besides for all those who were evildoers. If they fought for the release of Jerusalem. they would see religious release. The 3rd and 4th chapters focus on the colony. development. and defence of the Latin East. Riley-Smith provides an account of the events following the first campaign. which ended in triumph for the reformers. They were able to set up little provinces. of which they were the exclusive swayers. However. this would merely last for a brief period of clip. as the tensenesss that led to the campaign were still simmering. Those tensenesss lead Riley-Smith to discourse the slightly forgettable 2nd campaign in the 5th chapter. He emphasizes that hapless executing resulted in low morale among the reformers. which in bend led to really few triumphs during that peculiar campaign. He besides makes the point that. at this phase. the fighting motion was in a period of adolescence. Like all striplings. it was traveling through the awkward stage. but it would come of age with the 3rd campaign. The 6th chapter covers the 3rd. 4th. and 5th campaigns. every bit good as the children’s campaign and other minor campaigns led by single swayers. This chapter shows the growing that the fighting motion experienced. every bit good as the seeds of its eventual death. The 7th chapter continues in the same yarn as the old 1. supplying histories of fighting motions in Spain. Prussia. and Livonia. every bit good as campaigns launched by St. Louis of France. It closes with a treatment refering why there was no great fighting motion following 1276. The eight chapter focuses one time more on the Latin East. discoursing the assorted political developments happening at that place between 1192 and 1291. The concluding two chapters discuss the assorted developments within the crusading motion itself. every bit good as the ultimate death of the fighting motion. Despite what most history books province. the fighting motion did non stop with the last official campaign. but instead died a slow decease. non petering out until the late 1790s. Finally. the afterword brings the book to a stopping point. It provides treatments how different groups have viewed and explained the significance of the fighting motion. every bit good as the consequence the motion had on the survey of history. and history in general. Upon completion of the book. it becomes evident that. while it is rather detailed in its history of the full crusading motion. it is a slightly dry read. There are intimations of wit. but for the bulk of the book. the information is presented in simple narrative. However. one redeeming quality is the use of maps. which enable the reader to hold a ocular to travel along with the narrative. This book would be an first-class tool for a class that focused merely on the Crusades. but for merely reading for personal enjoyment. it would be a spot hard to acquire through. Despite these little drawbacks. the existent format of the book is rather good. The linguistic communication is straightforward. and slightly simple to read. However. the great sum of item can be a spot dashing for those merely seeking a general history of the fighting motion. Overall. Riley-Smith accomplishes the undertaking he set out: to supply the reader with an in-depth account and analysis of the fighting motion. His huge cognition of the Crusades. every bit good as the period of the Middle Ages in general. are what allow this book to be a success.

Ways of Forming New Words in a Language Essay Example

Ways of Forming New Words in a Language Paper ABSTRACT In the framework of the course Linguistics I, I am assigned to do a coursework on the subject of word formation. An introduction and definition of the processes used for the creation of new words as well as explicit examples in more than a language are included. Language has become an important issue all over the world today. It is a well known historical fact that all languages are constantly in a state of change. In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a new word. Word formation is sometimes contrasted with semantic change, which is a change in a single word’s meaning. The line between word formation and semantic change is sometimes a bit blurry ; what one person views as a new use of an old word, another person might view as a new word derived from an old one and identical to it in form. Word formation can also be contrasted with the formation of idiomatic expressions, though sometimes words can form from mueti-word phrases. The study of the internal structure of words, and of the rules by which words are formed, is called morphology. We will write a custom essay sample on Ways of Forming New Words in a Language specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ways of Forming New Words in a Language specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ways of Forming New Words in a Language specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This word comes the traditional term for the most elemental unit of grammatical form which is the morpheme(From kin and Rodman, R 1998). A word is not a simple sequence of morphemes but has a hierarchical structure. In every language, there are morphological rules that determine how morphemes combine to from new words. According to Fromkin, V. and Rodman, R (1998) a word consists of one or more morphemes. Lexical content morphemes that cannot be analyzed into smaller parts are called root morphemes. When a root morpheme is combined with affix morphemes it forms a stem. Other affixes can be added to a stem to form a more complex stem. Some morphemes are bound in that they must be joined to other morphemes, are always parts of words and never words by the themselves. Other morphemes are free in that they need not to be attached to other morphemes. For instance, free, king, bore are free morphemes while – dom (as in freedom, kingdom, boredom) is a bound morpheme. Affixes, that is prefixes, suffixes, infixes and circumfixes, are bound morphemes. Prefixes occur before, suffixes after, infixes in the middle of, and circumfixes around stems. Lexical content or root morphemes constitute the major word classes – nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. These are open class items because their classes are easily added to. Morphological rules of word formation are complex. Here follows a simplistic schema of a frequent classification of morphological processes. Morphological processes Inflectional processes lexical processes Affixes erivational compounding processes other processes coinage Affixes Back formation conversion Suffixes Blending Prefixes Acronyms Eponyms (Words from names) Infixes Neologisms Borrowing Clipping (Abbreviations) (loanwords) Circumfixes Back Fore Middle Complex clipping clipping clipping clipping Inflectional morphemes are determined by the rules of syntax. They are added to complete words, whether simple monomorphemic words or complex polymorphemic words (i. e. words with more than one morpheme). Inflectional morphemes never change the syntactic category of the word. Some grammatical morphemes are inserted into sentences according to the syntactic structure. For example: In English, the past tense morpheme (-ed), is added as a suffix to a verb, and future tense morpheme (will) is inserted in a sentence according to the syntactic rules of English (Fromkin, V. and Rodman,R:1998). Respectively, in French the present tense morphemes (-e , -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent) are added as ? suffix to a verb. In Greek, the present tense morphemes (-? - , - , - , - , - ) are added as a suffix to a verb as well. Derivational morphological rules are rules of word formation. Derivational morphemes when added to a root or stem, a word is derived. This method of word formation reflects the wonderful creativity of language. A derived word may add additional meaning to the original word such as the negative meaning of words prefixed by –un in English. Example: comfortable meaning â€Å"cosyâ €  and uncomfortable which is the antonym, meaning â€Å"not cosy†. In French, the prefix im– gives a negative meaning to a word, as well. For example, the word possible meaning â€Å"likely to happen† prefixed by im- (impossible) means the opposite that is â€Å"unlikely to happen†. In Greek, if the prefix ? is added to the word  «  » we have the word  «  » which has the opposite meaning. A derived word may also be in a different grammatical class than the underived word. When a verb in English for example is suffixed with –able the result is an adjective such as desire + able> desirable. Respectively, in French we have adore + able > adorable (adjective) and in Greek, if the verb is suffixed with – , we have the verbal adjective . The changes made in grammatical classes are: from Noun to adjective English French Greek Boy + ish enfant + in + Verb to Noun: English French Greek Sing + er chant + eur + Adjective to Adverb: English French Greek Exact + ly exact + ement + Noun to Verb English French Greek Moral + ize moral + iser + Adjective to Noun English French Greek Tall + ness grand + eur o + Verb to Adjective English French Greek Creat + ive cre + atif + The other lexical process is compounding which is combining words together to form a compound word. An endocentic compound consists of a head, i. e. the categorical part that contains the basic meaning of the whole compound, and modifiers, which restrict this meaning. For example, the English compound â€Å"doghouse† where house is the head and dog is the modifier, is understood as a house intended for a dog. Obviously, an endocentric compound tends to be of the same part of speech (word class) as its head. For example: English French Greek railway chemin de fer Exocentric compounds do not have a head and their meaning often cannot be transparently guessed from its constituent parts. For example, the English compound white collar is neither a kind of collar nor a white thing. In an exocentric compound, the word class is determined lexically, disregarding the class of the constituents. For example, a must have is not a verb but a noun. In French, compound nouns are often formed by left-hand heads with prepositional components inserted before the modifier as in: ENGLISH FRENCH GREEK windmill moulin a vent A type of compound, the verb-noun compound, is formed of a verb and its object, and in effect transforms a simple verbal clause into a noun. These compounds are formally invariable in plural (this is not the case for the greek language): Examples: ENGLISH FRENCH GREEK Know-nothing grille-pain – Compounding is a common and frequent process for enlarging the vocabulary of all languages. Acronyms, initialisms and alphabetisms are abbreviations written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced on the basis of this abbreviated written form. New acronyms are freely produced, particularly for names of organizations. Acronyms pronounced as sequences of letters can be called alphabetisms. Many acronyms are pronounced as words for example radar from radio detecting and ranging. Examples: ENGLISH FRENCH GREEK U. N for United Nations N. U for Nations Unies ?.? for Clipping is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts (Marchand: 1969). This process is sometimes called abbreviations. Clipping mainly consists of the following types:1) Back clipping 2) Fore –clipping 3) Middle clipping 4) Complex clipping. Back clipping: It is the most common type in which the beginning is retained. The unclipped original may be either a simple or a composite. Examples: ENGLISH FRENCH GREEK Doc (doctor) tele (television) ( ) Fore clipping: Here, the final part is retained. ENGLISH FRENCH GREEK Phone (telephone) bus (autobus) ( Middle clipping The middle of the word is retained. Examples: ENGLISH FRENCH Flu (influenza) frigo (refrigerateur) Complex clipping: clipped forms are also used in compounds. One part of the original compound most often remains intact. For example op art stands for optical art, in English. Sometimes both halves of a compound are clipped, as in navicert (navigation certificate) in English. Respectively, in French we have courriel (courrier electronique) for e-mail. In these cases it is difficult to know whether the resultant formation should be treated as a clipping or as a blend since the border between the two types is not always clear. According to Bauer (1993), the easiest way to draw the distinction is to say that those forms which retain compound stress are clipped compounds, whereas those that take simple word stress are not. By this criterion midcult is a compound made of clipping. According to Marchand (1969), clipping are not coined as words belonging to the standard vocabulary of a language. They originate as terms of a special group like schools, army, police, the medical profession etc, in the intimacy of a milieu where a hint is sufficient to indicate the whole. For example, in school slang originated exam (for examination) and tick (et = credit) originated in stock-exchange slang, whereas cap (tain) is an army slang. While clipping terms of some influential groups can pass into common usage, becoming part of the standard language, clipping of a socially unimportant class or group will remain group slang. The process of Back -Formation is the creation of a neologism by reinterpreting an earlier word as a derivation and removing apparent affixes, or more generally, be reconstructing an  «original » form from any kind of derived form ( including abbreviations or inflected forms). The resulting new word is called a back-formation. The simplest case is when a longer form of word pair predates what would usually be the basic form. For example, in English, the noun resurrection was borrowed from Latin and the verb resurrect was then derived from it. We expect the suffix -ion to be added to a verb to create a noun ; when as in this case the suffix is removed from the noun to create the verb, this is a back-formation. Back-formations of borrowed terms generally do not follow the rules of the original language. For example, antipodes, borrowed from Greek via Latin, has the apparent form of a plural noun, and is sometimes treated as such, with antipode taken to mean â€Å"an antipodal point†. The final podes is indeed plural, meaning feet, and the corresponding singular would be transliterated as pous (foot). However antipodes itself is a compound of anti (opposite) and podes (feet). As such, it is not a plural noun at all, and the singular antipous, if it existed at all, would mean  «a substitute foot ». Blending is a combination of only the beginning of one word with the end of another word. For example in English, motel from motor + hotel. In French, Copar from Comite Parisien. Coinage is the least common way among the various ways of creating words. It refers to the invention of totally new words. Specific brand names such as Kleenex, Jell-o, Vaseline are now sometimes used as the generic name for different brands of these types of products. Some of these words were created from existing words: Kleenex from the word clean for example. In Greek the word stands for the headache pills. In French, the brand name Carambar stands for the word caramel. Greek roots borrowed into English have also provided a means for coining new words. Thermos meaning â€Å"hot† + metron meaning â€Å"measure† give us thermometron. Latin, like Greek, has also provided prefixes and suffixes that are used productively with both native and nonnative roots. The prefix ex- comes from Latin: ex-husband in English. Respectively, the prefix hyper- coming from Greek: hypertension, in French. The suffix -able is also Latin, borrowed via French, and can be attached to almost any English verb. For example: readable, movable (Fromkin, V and Rodman, R: 1998). Conversion is a kind of word formation, as well. Specifically, it is the creation of a word from an existing word without any change in form. Conversion is more productive in some languages than in others; in English it is a fairly productive process. Often a word of one lexical category (part of speech) is converted from a word of an other lexical category. For example in English a noun can be used as a verb as in the following sentence: He’s papering the room walls. In French, we can have the formation of a noun from another noun: medecine from medecin. Conversions from adjectives to nouns and vice versa are both very common and unnotable in English; much more remarked upon is verbing, the creation of a verb by converting a noun or other word. Borrowing or loanword: is another process of word formation according to which linguistic elements of non-native origin are taken over and used in the language concerned. For instance, in English we have the word cliche which comes from French. In French, the word pull-over comes from English. In Greek, we extensively use the English word computer instead of the greek one . A neologism (from Greek = new, = word ) is a word, term or phrase which has been recently created ( coined often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. Neologisms are especially useful in identifying inventions, new phenomena or old ideas which have taken on a new cultural context. For instance the term e-mail, as used today, would be an example of a neologism in English. Similarly, the word courier electronique in French and in Greek, the term . Eponyms or Words from Names: it refers to words that derive from proper names of indivi duals or places. In English, for instance, the word sandwich comes from the name of the forth Earl of Sandwich, who put his food between two slices of bread so that he could eat while he gambled. In French, the word molieresque comes from the name of the famous French writer Moliere. In Greek, the word comes from the famous ancient greek sophist . EPILOGUE Speakers of a language may know tens of thousands of words. Dictionaries include hundreds of thousands of words, all of which are known by some speakers of the language. But no dictionary can list all possible words since it is possible to add to the vocabulary of a language in many ways. There are always gaps in the lexicon-words that are not in the dictionary but that can be added. Some gaps are due to the fact that possible combinations or morphemes have not been made. There are morphological rules in every language that determine how morphemes combine to form new words. According to the analysis made in this assignment, morphological processes consist of inflectional and lexical process. In turn, lexical processes include derivational processes (by adding all kind of affixes ) and other processes such as Back-formation, Acronyms, Borrowing, Clipping, Eponyms, Blending, Conversion, Coinage, Neologisms and Compounding. All these word formation processes result in the richness of the vocabulary of a language. Speakers of a language can easily learn how to analyze a word of their language into its component morphemes, since their mental grammars include a mental lexicon of morphemes and the morphological rules for their combination. However this is not very easy for a learner of a language. Learning the morphological processes of language can be of great help for someone who learns it. REFERENCES Bauer, Laurie (1983). English Word –Formation Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press Fromkin,V. and Rodman, R. (1998). An Introduction to Language, Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College. Larousse, (1988) Grammaire du Francais contemporain France : Paris, Larousse. Marchland, H (1969). The Categories and Types of Present Day English Word-Formation, 2nd ed. Munich: C,H. Oxford English Dictionary. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung S. A. Thompson (1975). On the Issue of Productivity in the Lexikon , ?. (2000).