Celtic Placenames
The capital city isn't Old English, nor Norman. It's actually a Celtic original. What is it's name?
London
This is a product the Brits wouldn't have produced in large quantities if at all in the BC era. More focused on Ale and Beer, due to to the crops grown in cold climates...the sunnier climate Romans brought it and also the word for it.
wine
This ingredient is needed to make the other word derived from Norse language. In fact, Nordic countries are still quite popular for their baked goods of this type including a famous green one from Sweden with a royal title.
egg, cake
(Princess cake)
A popular game in many countries, this board can actually be used for another popular game. The one with hierarchically named pieces is the one we take the name from the Normans.
chess
These were native to Peru, brought to Europe by the Spanish, and then the English borrowed and changed a word from Spain to describe this food staple.
potato
A river runs through it - and the Celts also named the waterway before the Romans came.
the river Thames
We still use this word not only to describe something worn, but also for road and "____" works, the building of transportation networks and roads which the Romans were also known for.
belt
You can dig in this, on our special 3rd rock from the sun, ______...to build the foundation for your dream _________.
earth, house
Of course the sophisticated upper classes wanted to imitate the Normans, the French by hosting these.... and putting on a real master class in cookery as they did.
banquet
The Ottoman Turk word for this is what got borrowed to describe this food product, said to have been popularized in Western Europe by a French king, this now ubiquitous food is...
yoghurt
It's not just a Spanish rock band from the 1990s, it's a major ferry port at the narrowest point of the English Channel, and the name is solidly Celtic showing it's importance as a gateway to the Europe mainland.
Dover
Not sure what other than fire the ancient peoples of the British Isles were using to illuminate their lives, but the Romans brought this word so maybe not these.
candles
The Brits call this object we need for our garden the same name as one of the black suits in a standard playing card deck; while Americans call it something completely different.
spade
A more Romance language name for something every important ruler needed. This word has cognates in Spanish, Catalan, and probably more.
castle
Wait, does this mean a warehouse in English? Not really. But it does in other languages like Dutch derived from the Arabic. We use it primarily for a small paperback book you can read - or look at the pretty pictures. However, it does mean to store something, in the case of the original one printed- information. We also store ammunition in the _________ of a weapon.
magazine
This word gets added to loads of English placenames because it means "river". Still used in Welsh with a "f" instead of a "v" - it's attached with hypens to many towns, that explain river proximity. Inlcudes the famous birthplace of Shakespeare, it's literally a place named Stratford upon (the word for river).
Avon
The Romans used the Latin word "castrum" to describe military ties - which is why the British love the places with this typical suffix...
Lei...Col...Glou..Man...Win...and just simply "--------"
-chester, cester, caster
This word comes from Anglo Saxons to describe a state of human behavior that we complete every day if we want to stay alive.
sleep
The Normans brought us the system for naming the meat of animals eaten or sold distinctive from the animal names themselves. What food words from these animals did French roots bring to English?
pig, cow, sheep, calf, deer
pork, beef, mutton, veal, venison
These popular words entered into Spanish from Nahuatl, an indigenous language. They describe: 1) a globally popular sweet 2) a green food now associated with Millennials and brunch 3) a bean or drink 4) a red fruit used a lot in Italy 5) green condiment made from said green food 6) something spicy 7) a wild cat of the tropical forest 8) a small endangered aquatic salamander that for whatever reason every kid under 12 knows right now.
1) chocolate 2) avocado 3) cocoa/cacao 4) tomato 5) guacamole 6) chilli 7) ocelot 8) axolotl
Lots of places in UK with "Pen" in the name - because in Celtic it describes a particular landform. In places like Penge, Penrith, Pendleton or The Pennines, which is maybe the best clue to what the meaning is...
hill, headland
One of the USA's most famous presidents bears this surname constructed from Celtic meets Latin (Roman influence) - the Celtic word for "pool" lindo meets colonia = colony and transforms to this well known historical figure's last name.
Lincoln
Ever wondered what's up with the pronunciation of this two letter prefix? It's from old Norse language, an everyday object we to cook in the kitchen, ways we tie our string or rope, and a hobby that uses needles - all are pronounced with a silent letter. And even people of Norwegian heritage with a popular men's name, an early British king, etc, can't decide whether to pronounce this first letter or _not.
kn-
knife, knot, knit/knitting, Knute (nute? K-nute? oh boy)
Name the Norman suffixes:
dam, langu, marri, mess
appear, conveni, ordin, differ
govern, judge, manage, move,
act, paint, govern, barrist, council
-age, -ance/ence, -ment, -er/-or
These words come primarily from 2 languages in this country - pajamas, shampoo, jungle, bungalow, bangles, bandana, cashmere, cheetah, cushy, guru, khaki, avatar, chai, pundit, nirvana, mantra, yoga.
India (the 2 languages that we derive a lot of words from are Hindi and Urdu)