Overview. The legacy of Greek and Latin in the English language is vast and rich, both in everyday communication and in the technical terminology of nearly every discipline, whether scientific or humanistic. Our primary focus will be the analysis of English words, how they break down into their Greek and Latin roots, as well as the generation of English words from these same elements. Yet we shall also pay due attention to how and why these ancient languages were, and continued to be borrowed by English. The study of language is ultimately the study of history and society. Our study of Greek and Latin in English will allow us to explore the intellectual commerce that binds Western culture to the past.

Objectives. The specific goals for this course are as follows:

• to learn how to break down English words into their Greek and Latin components;
• to learn how to form English words from the same elements; and
• to explore language from across a range of different disciplines.

Furthermore, students will obtain and exercise the following skills:

• to manage and manipulate large sets of linguistic data;
• to analyze and generate language within set parameters; and
• to discern between literal and figurative usages of language, and to understand the reasons for these usages