What Are the Romance Languages

What Are the Romance Languages The word romance connotes love and wooing, but when it has a capital R, as in Romance languages, it probably refers to a set of languages based on Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. Latin was the language of the Roman Empire, but the classical Latin that was written by the literati like Cicero was not the language of daily life. It was certainly not the language soldiers and traders took with them to the edges of Empire, like Dacia (modern Romania), on the northern and eastern frontier. What Was Vulgar Latin? Romans spoke and wrote graffiti in a less polished language than they used in their literature. Even Cicero wrote plainly in personal correspondence. The simplified Latin language of the common (Roman) people is called Vulgar Latin because Vulgar is an adjectival form of the Latin for the crowd. This makes Vulgar Latin the peoples language. It was this language that the soldiers took with them and that interacted with native languages and the language of later invaders, particularly the Moors and Germanic invasions, to produce the Romance languages throughout the area that had once been the Roman Empire. Fabulare Romanice By the 6th century, to speak in the Latin-derived language was to fabulare romanice, according to Portuguese: a Linguistic Introduction, by Milton Mariano Azevedo (from the Spanish and Portuguese Department at the University of California at Berkeley). Romanice was an adverb suggesting in the Roman manner that was shortened to romance; whence, Romance languages. Simplifications of Latin Some of the general changes to Latin were the loss of terminal consonants, diphthongs tended to be reduced to simple vowels, the distinctions between long and short versions of the same vowels were losing significance, and, together with the decline in terminal consonants that provided case endings, led to a loss of inflection, according to Nicholas Ostler in Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin. The Romance languages, therefore, needed another way to show the roles of words in sentences, so the relaxed word order of Latin was replaced with a fairly fixed order. RomanianRoman Province: DaciaOne of the changes to Vulgar Latin made in Romania was that an unstressed o became u, so you may see Rumania (the country) and Rumanian (the language), instead of Romania and Romanian. (Moldova-)Romania is the only country in the Eastern European area that speaks a Romance language. At the time of the Romans, the Dacians may have spoken a Thracian language. The Romans fought the Dacians during the reigns of Trajan who defeated their king, Decebalus. Men from Dacia became Roman soldiers who learned the language of their commanders Latin and brought it home with them when they settled in Dacia upon retirement. Missionaries also brought Latin to Romania. Later influences on Romanian came from Slavic immigrants.Reference: The History of the Romanian Language.ItalianItalian emerged from further simplification of Vulgar Latin in the Italic peninsula. The language is also spoken in San Marino as the official language, and in Switzerland, as one of the official languages. In the 12th to 13th century, the vernacular spoken in Tuscany (formerly the area of the Etruscans) became the standard written language, now known as Italian. A spoken language based on the written version became standard in Italy in the 19th century.References: Italian - Language Information and ResourcesHistory of the Italian Language From a Local Tuscan Dialect to the Language of a New Nation - From Italian at About.comPortugueseRoman Province: LusitaniaOrbilat says that the language of the Romans practically wiped out the earlier language of the Iberian peninsula when the Romans conquered the area in the third century B.C. Latin was a prestige language, so it was in the interest of the population to learn it. Over time the language spoken on the west coast of the peninsula came to be Galician-Portuguese, but when Galicia became part of Spain, the two language groups split.Reference: Portuguese: a Linguistic Introduction, by Milton Mariano AzevedoGallicianRoman Province: Gallicia/Gallaecia.The area of Gallicia was inhabited by Celts when the Romans conquered the area and made it a Roman province, so the native Celtic language mixed with Vulgar Latin from the second century B.C. Germanic invaders also had an impact on the language.Referenc e: Galician Spanish (Castilian)Latin Term: HispaniaThe Vulgar Latin in Spain from the 3rd century B.C. was simplified in various ways, including the reduction of cases to just the subject and object. In 711, Arabic came to Spain via the Moors, and as a result, there are Arabic borrowings in the modern language. Castilian Spanish comes from the 9th century when Basques influenced the speech. Steps towards its standardization took place in the 13th becoming the official language in the 15th century. An archaic form called Ladino was preserved among Jewish populations forced to leave in the 15th century.References:CastilianWhy Is Spanish Sometimes Called Castilian? - About.com Guide to SpanishCatalanRoman Province: Hispania (Citerior).Catalan is spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, Andorra, the Balearic Isles, and other small regions. The area of Catalonia spoke Vulgar Latin but was influenced heavily by the southern Gauls in the 8th century,  becoming a distinct language by the 10th century.Reference: Catalan FrenchRoman Province: Gallia Transalpina.French is spoken in France, Switzerland, and Belgium, in Europe. The Romans in the Gallic Wars, under Julius Caesar, brought Latin to Gaul in the 1st century B.C. At the time they were speaking a Celtic language known as Gaulish. Germanic Franks invaded in the early 5th century. By the time of Charlemagne (d. A.D. 814), the language of the French was already sufficiently removed from Vulgar Latin to be called Old French. Comprehensive List of Romance Languages of Today With Locations Linguists may prefer a list of the Romance languages with more detail and more thorough. Ethnologue, a publication of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Inc (SIL), contains a comprehensive list of languages of the world, including languages that are dying. Here are the names, geographic divisions and national locations of major divisions of the modern Romance languages given by Ethnologue. Eastern Aromanian (Greece)Romanian (Romania)Romanian, Istro (Croatia)Romanian, Megleno (Greece) Italo-Western Italo-DalmatianIstriot (Croatia)Italian (Italy)Judeo-Italian (Italy)Napoletano-Calabrese (Italy)Sicilian (Italy)WesternGallo-IberianGallo-RomanceGallo-ItalianEmiliano-Romagnolo (Italy)Ligurian (Italy)Lombard (Italy)Piemontese (Italy)Venetian (Italy)Gallo-RhaetianOilFrenchSoutheasternFrance-ProvencalRhaetianFriulian (Italy)Ladin (Italy)Romansch (Switzerland)Ibero-RomanceEast IberianCatalan-Valencian Balear (Spain)OcOccitan (France)Shuadit (France)West IberianAustro-LeoneseAsturian (Spain)Mirandese (Portugal)CastilianExtremaduran (Spain)Ladino (Israel)SpanishPortuguese-GalicianFala (Spain)Galician (Spain)PortuguesePyrenean-MozarabicPyrenean Southern CorsicanCorsican (France)SardinianSardinian, Campidanese (Italy)Sardinian, Gallurese (Italy)Sardinian, Logudorese (Italy)Sardinian, Sassarese (Italy) For more details, see: Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online.

Gallimimus Facts and Figures

Gallimimus Facts and Figures Name: Gallimimus (Greek for chicken mimic); pronounced GAL-ih-MIME-us Habitat: Â  Plains of Asia Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (75-65 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 20 feet long and 500 pounds Diet: Unknown; possibly meat, plants and insects and even plankton Distinguishing Characteristics: Long tail and legs; slender neck; wide-set eyes; small, narrow beak About Gallimimus Despite its name (Greek for chicken mimic), its possible to overstate how much the late Cretaceous Gallimimus actually resembled a chicken; unless you know many chickens that weigh 500 pounds and are capable of running 30 miles per hour, a better comparison might be to a beefy, low-to-the-ground, aerodynamic ostrich. In most respects, Gallimimus was the prototypical ornithomimid (bird mimic) dinosaur, albeit a bit larger and slower than many of its contemporaries, such as Dromiceiomimus and Ornithomimus, which lived in North America rather than central Asia. Gallimimus has been featured prominently in Hollywood movies: its the ostrich-like creature seen galloping away from a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex in the original Jurassic Park, and it also makes smaller, cameo-type appearances in various Jurassic Park sequels. Considering how popular it is, though, Gallimimus is a relatively recent addition to the dinosaur bestiary. This theropod was discovered in the Gobi Desert in 1963, and is represented by numerous fossil remains, ranging from juveniles to full-grown adults; decades of close study have revealed a dinosaur possessing hollow, birdlike bones, well-muscled hind legs, a long and heavy tail, and (perhaps most surprisingly) two eyes set on opposite sides of its small, narrow head, meaning that Gallimimus lacked binocular vision. There is still serious disagreement about the diet of Gallimimus. Most theropods of the late Cretaceous period subsisted on animal prey (other dinosaurs, small mammals, even birds venturing too close to land), but given its lack of stereoscopic vision Gallimimus may well have been omnivorous, and one paleontologist speculates that this dinosaur may even have been a filter feeder (that is, it dipped its long beak into lakes and rivers and snatched up wriggling zooplankton). We do know that other comparably sized and built theropod dinosaurs, such as Therizinosaurus and Deinocheirus, were primarily vegetarians, so these theories cant easily be dismissed!

Markets and Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Markets and Marketing - Essay Example Socio-cultural factors include health consciousness, age distribution, population growth, individuals’ career tastes, and safety concerns. Statistical data show that UK’s birth rate has increased over the last two years. This increase in birth rate adds value to Tiny Tees. While analysing current UK society, it seems that people are highly concerned about the health of their family members. Hence, people tend to purchase quality cloth materials for their toddlers. Furthermore, trends indicate that people buy more number of baby clothes in order to keep their babies away from the greater risk of getting infections. Secondly, a detailed study of technological factors may aid Tom to assess the risks and opportunities arising out of the UK technological industry. Generally, marketers consider technological factors including research and development activities, technological growth, automation, and innovations. It is obvious that UK’s technological sector has undergon e tremendous changes over the last two decades and hence the country’s technological sector offers a range of potential opportunities to Tiny Tees. The UK government encourages and supports technological innovations. Similarly, automation is very effective in the UK and it has been still developing at a greater pace. UK’s well developed transportation sector also offers better scope to Tom’s planned acquisition project. In short, technological factors can greatly contribute to the positive effects of the proposed acquisition. Thirdly, assessment of economical factors is necessary for Tom to understand the financial scope of the proposed project. Researchers have identified that economical factors including income growth rate, interest rates, inflation rates, and exchange rates play a pivotal role in determining the market success of a company. The global financial crisis 2008 negatively affected the economic growth of United Kingdom despite the monetary measures taken by the Bank of England. The profitability decline (given in Table 1) of the Tiny Tees can be greatly attributed to this economic crisis. Even though the UK economy is rapidly improving its growth status, it has not been completely recovered from the impacts of global recession yet. Therefore, the STEP analysis may assist Tom to forecast the future economic/growth status of the Tiny Teens effectively. Finally, it is necessary for Tom to analyse the political status of the market in which the planned project is going to be launched. The UK’s political spectrum seems to be stable. â€Å"Faster economic development† has become the mantra of the UK politicians and hence they try to promote country’s business sector by every means. As a result, entrepreneurs and other small scale traders get increased financial as well as technical assistance from governmental agencies. This situation will certainly contribute to the development of new ventures. Since the p lanned acquisition project comes under the category of small scale business, Tom would obtain greater support and assistance from the UK government. The UK government’s current business policies also provide the marketer with extensive future expansion opportunities. In short, the STEP analysis will help Tom to determine whether or not to acquire Tiny Teens. Question 2 To define, â€Å"

Marketing Myopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Marketing Myopia - Essay Example This article helps define a path that should be taken by marketers if they intend to avoid common and destructive mistakes. The management of a company may make several errors that are discussed in the paper. Sometimes, the company’s scope is incorrectly defined, and this creates a restriction for this company which hinders future growth. Furthermore, sometimes the unique selling proposition of the company’s product may become obsolete, and since management does not renew nor revive the proposition, the customers lose interest and soon forget about the product. Baseless assumptions and complacency are also two mistakes suggested by Levitt. A huge problem may arise if management focuses on supply-side policies and overlooks demand-side policies and conditions; if a strong and lasting bond with the consumer is not created, it is likely that the brand or product will not be successful. Another failure on the part of the company’s management is if they become so sing ularly focused on the future that they fail to acknowledge the circumstances they face in the present; with no proper strategy to deal with current issues, the company will not be left capable to deal with the future issues it was focusing on. In a nutshell, management’s main strategy should be one with a visionary approach and one which simultaneously focuses on the company’s customers as the most important asset of the company. This is the only asset which will function as the company’s life jacket during an economic or financial crisis. A second, most critical approach is how the business’s scope is defined; if too restricted and narrow, it will hinder and may even halt growth and progress. As a result of a thorough critical analysis of Levitt’s work, some strengths and weaknesses of his work come to light. Levitt’s article has garnered much praise and critical acclaim over the years. Researchers and scholars of marketing found his work e xceptionally valuable to their study and ground breaking in numerous aspects because the theories presented by Levitt are relevant and applicable across different industries, businesses and even across different times. Originally proposed and modeled on the business environment of the 1960s, theories and scenarios presented in â€Å"Marketing Myopia† are still as relevant and applicable today in the business environment of the 21st century, a half century later. This makes it valuable for researchers studying the business environment and also for students learning about marketing in the corporate world today. Not once do the scenarios, situations and examples presented seem obsolete or irrelevant in anyway. Furthermore, the example scenarios given by Levitt through the course of this essay are further explained through the use of easy to understand, practical examples that increase the validity of the case he is presenting while simultaneously making his point of view clearer by explanation and illustration in the mind of the reader. The policies proposed by Levitt can be applied to real life businesses these days such as supermarkets and oil companies. Supermarkets can use the strategy to create a demand for the products which are becoming obsolete. They can also use it to promote their brand by launching new schemes and thus increasing the

How to write an essay Essay Example for Free

How to write an essay Essay 1. An introduction-introducing the topic generally, and then identifying your main or controlling idea (the point of your essay, your view of the assigned topic statement). 2. Middle paragraphs that develop and support the controlling idea. Each paragraph gives a different point or argument supporting the thesis. One point per paragraph, and one paragraph per main point. Don’t forget to give good concrete examples with descriptive details, facts and arguments to support each of your arguments. Develop the paragraph fully and logically with these details, facts and arguments. 3. Conclusion-re-states the controlling idea, summarizes the supporting arguments and provides a closing statement. Title Your title should relate to your main topic to establish the focus of the essay. It should be concise and informative. Examples: â€Å"Reasons for the Fall of Rome† or â€Å"The Emancipation of the Tibetan Nation† The Introduction The introductory paragraph tries to interest the reader, name the subject of the paper, indicate what idea will be expressed about it, and perhaps show how it will be handled. There are many ways to begin an expository essay: Begin with a quotation. It may be directly or indirectly related to the subject. Begin with an interesting fact or statistic. Begin with a short anecdote or narrative. A short narrative is particularly effective for adding a touch of variety to an expository paper. Begin with a paradox. Begin with relevant background material. Background material should, however, be concise and clearly related to your thesis. Begin by stating a long-term effect or effects without immediately stating the cause. Begin with an analogy. Begin with a definition of a term that is important to your topic. This should not be a simple dictionary definition but an explanation of the term as it applies to your topic. The thesis statement A thesis statement alerts your reader to the main argument of the essay and prepares him or her, in a general way, for the content that is to follow. The statement should be brief; there is no point in supplying an outline of everything that a short paper is going to say. But the thesis statement should not merely announce the author’s general interests or plans. Examples: Preliminary thesis statement: I intend to discuss the reasons for the fall of Rome. Revised thesis statement: The major reason for the fall of Rome was bad economic policy. Preliminary thesis statement: I think that Tibet should be its own free nation. Revised thesis statement: Tibet should be its own free nation. Development Your development should have at least three points or arguments supporting your thesis. Each point should take up a whole paragraph. Paragraphs are composed of three elements: Topic sentence: This sentence presents in general terms the subject of the paragraph. The topic sentence may occur anywhere in the paragraph, but is generally the first sentence of the paragraph. Supporting sentences: These sentences form the body of the paragraph. The content of the supporting sentences comprises specific facts or specific arguments which demonstrate the validity of the generalizations presented in the topic sentence. Concluding sentence: This sentence concludes discussion of the point which is the topic of the paragraph and often makes possible the transition to the topic of the next paragraph.

Drama Performed to Others :: Drama

Drama Performed to Others Our drama group was given the task of introducing a year nine class to the play 'Macbeth'. Apart from the obvious, there were five themes in the play that the group as a whole thought needed exploring: insanity; good versus bad; the supernatural; guilty conscience; and murder. We looked into each of these topics individually and decided on how we could include them in our final performance, in each lesson we learned more and more about both 'Macbeth' and the skills needed to teach a younger year group the basics of the play. We decided that the first thing that needed to be learned was the creation of atmosphere on stage. We did this by lowering the lights, putting just a candle in the centre of the room, and playing the sound effect of rain and howling gales. We each had to find one word that summed up the 'feeling' in the room. The key words that came up were remembered throughout our development of the piece of drama and we tried to capture these feelings on stage. Keeping in role and developing a convincing character was essential for the task and I learned this over the period of time building up to our final performance. We had decided to show five still-images to the year nines and, along with a narration, tell the story as an introduction. In groups we picked out the five points that seemed most significant: the meeting of the witches on the heath; the 'persuasion' scene (between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth); the banquet scene; the second witches scene (the premonitions); and the scene where Macduff finally kills Macbeth. In these groups we performed the still-images and showed what each character was thinking through thought-tracking, which added depth to the image. In pairs we performed our own versions of 'the persuasion scene', with one playing Macbeth and one playing Lady Macbeth. Through manipulation, Lady Macbeth always beats Macbeth one way or another, and we learned to create the right mood on stage, this improvisational work helped develop characterisation. After discussing the scene we were to study (the 'banquet scene' [Act Three, Scene Four]) and read through the original script, we began improvisation of a modern-day remake of the scene. Our class decided to work in just one group and we were sure we wanted to bring the scene to a modern-day setting so we could come up with our own interpretation. As a group we had to decide on who the Macbeth of the 21st century would be, and came up with plenty of suggestions. The one we finally decided on was a night-club owner, the night-club

Smartphones Effect on Teenagers

Josh Frint Lawrence ENG 1113 26 September 2012 Essay #1 Smartphones Impact on Todays students Today, smartphones are in the hands of almost every student. It has become so common that young children are starting to ask their parents for one. Although nobody can deny the ability to find and use information fast on a smartphone, many people feel students should not have one. These smartphones are effecting verbal communication, writing skills, as well as increasing laziness in our students. Verbal communication is increasingly becoming a problem in today’s society and it is because of smartphones.Our generation is known as the â€Å"texting generation†. These days, students talk to their friends using text messages or calling. This takes away our ability to talk to someone face to face. It affects college graduates not being confident enough to present themselves properly in an interview with a future employer. Texting interaction leaves out basic skills like, clear speak ing, body language, eye contact with the person to whom they are speaking too, and the ability to listen and stay focused on what the person is saying.More and more these days students go to their phones or computers when needing to write an essay. Students search Google and various other search engines to help find the most up to date information, although the information is handy and very tempting, it is creating pure laziness in todays society. These smartphones contain encyclopedias, dictionaries and as we all know, the internet. There is no exerted effort into collecting this information, students are too lazy to read a book and quite frankly, some just don’t have time.Also, students are being distracted by cellphones. It is causing lack of focus and discipline. Often times students will sit down to study and all of the sudden hear their phone go off, and they’ll get self-indulged into the conversation and no longer continue to study. Students are becoming unable to concentrate on the task at hand would rather be using their phones to be texting friends, updating their Facebook statuses or even Re-Tweeting what their best friend ate for dinner.Writing skills are on the free fall, and it is all because of our students’ use of smartphones. Think about it, back in the day, society would take pride in being able to read and write, it was a hobby and many people did it for fun. Today, writing is frowned upon by any student. Our writing skills have vanished due to our lack of proper English usage. Students send text messages that would even confuse Shakespeare like â€Å"OMG† or â€Å"LOL†. Essays are now a problem for students because they lack the ability to think in depth.Through text messages we get straight to the point and do not have the meaningful, in depth conversation that people have face to face. Smartphones are here, and aren’t going anywhere. In fact, the technology will likely become more advanced and mor e easily accessible to our students, which is fine, as long as those advancements aren’t being abused by our students. Parents and schools play a vital role in fixing this problem, parents must show children the appropriate use of smartphones, and schools must continue to create ways to move around the path of technology.