source of English

[zhengrong]

Greetings

I've been learnt this language for a looong time, because my family is poor, I have money go to college, so my English stagnate at a low level
fortunately, English is an open language, although the English I used without grammar, most of Englsih on internet can understand what I want to say.

But still a big block in front of my progress is my brain is unlike smart Europeans, I feel it is hard to remember some advanced words such as what..... let me check dictionary

aarh,
Dinosaur

In terms of what I know, dinosaur is a kind of ancient animal. But I am eager to know why English pronaunced it as Dinoaur not others?
I mean, how to form an English word, if a newest object occur in this world and this object was never appeared before so no one knows what is it. How does English name it? For example, Chinese is a sort of hieroglyph, if we see it, than we draw it, it is a quite simple logic. So our Chinese is good for read, bad for listen. English I think, is a sort of phonetical language, the keypoint, for learn it well is to know what the regular rule define/stipulate the pronaunciation.

So could you please teach me the basic regulation of English form?
Then please tell me what the dinasaur mean in follow sentence I took it from a dialogur in 007 movie.

I think you're a sexist misogyaist dinosaur.

In this sentence, the dinosaur obviously not means any kind of animal?

Thanks in advance!

[Anglika]

There are many ways that English words develop. It is a very large subject in its own right. An etymological dictionary will help you to see how words become what they are. This is a link to one: Online Etymology Dictionary

In the case of "dinosaur", it is a word that was created in 1841, by Sir Richard Owen, who combined the Greek words deinos "terrible" + sauros "lizard" to describe the fossils that were being discovered and needed to be identified.

"Dinosaur" has become used to mean a person or institution not adapting to change, so liable to become extinct as the dinosaurs eventually did.

In the sentence you ask about, it is saying that the person is old-fashioned, prejudiced and unable to change.

[zhengrong]

I found my post at last!

Being a little misinterpretation I think.
What I want to ask is if there is no pre-source could be taken, a man who only speak and read English, no other language he can understand, when he has to express some idea or concept which is completely new, how does he creat a new word? Maybe you
for example, we go to another planet, then we find something totally new we never see it before, our Chinese will creat a new word in terms of what this look like. I believe you as an English, you will ceat a new word in terms of how should it be pronounced or what it sounds like. Then what the pronounciation you will base on?

more other word is Glib for example.
Glib we used to discrible someone always get excuse to explain each thing we feel reluctantly to say.
But why English pronounced GLIB to say such situation? why not CILB or CILG?

[Anglika]

If the new word is created from other words [like dinosaur was created from Greek words] the pronunciation will be governed by the original words.

If it is a totally new word, like "google", the pronunciation will be controlled by the rhythm of the language.

English does have certain rules governing stress in pronouncing words; see here for an explanation : English Pronunciation: Word Stress Rules (EnglishClub.com)

I am not sure about your comment on "glib". It is an old word derived from originally from Low German glibberig = smooth, slippery. It means that someone who is glib is a slippery character.

[zhengrong]

So it seems to be all of English words taken from other language?
No words initially is belong to/ made from native English?

[Anglika]

Now there is a question! "What is English?" There have been many many books written about that.

All language evolves over time, and all languages absorb and change words from other languages. There is no basic language called "English", but a language that came into being from those spoken by settlers from Northern Europe 1500 years ago, and that has grown and changed steadily ever since. Because it developed in England {Britain}, it is called English.

If you look at the history of your own language, you will find that what was written and spoken a thousand years ago will not be exactly the same as what you learn today.

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Because it developed in England {Britain}, it is called English.

Actually, England (which is only a part of Britain) was named after the Angles who settled there bringing their language with them, not the other way around.

A young linguist called Guy Deutscher has come up with an interesting theory about the development of languages, which he explains in his book The Unfolding of Language. Basically, you start off with a sort of proto-language with words for everyday objects (tree, rock, sun), simple actions (hold, cut, run) and a couple of demonstratives (this, that). Deutscher believes it's possible that through the processes of evolution, these few words can evolve into a modern language as we understand it, with abstract words, prepositions and so on.

Even some of our most abstract concepts, he argues, go back to very simple, commonplace words. For example, in European languages, the verb "to have" usually traces its history back to a word meaning something like "hold" or "grasp".

When we deliberately coin new words for new discoveries, we either borrow from other languages ("television" comes from Greek "tele" = "far", and Latin "vision" = "sight" -- a device that allows you to see over great distances), or use existing English words (for example, a new species of bird recently discovered in New Guinea is called the "black sicklebill bird of paradise", the first two words simply describing the colour and shape of the bird's beak).

There are very few words that have been invented "out of thin air". "Blurb" seems to be an example, but we can't be sure. Most other new words turn out to have very humble origins: "Blog" is short for "Weblog", made up of two parts: "web" from "World Wide Web", describing a dense network (spiders' webs are made of silk, but the WWW is made out of connections between computers); and "log" meaning a written record, before that specifically a written record of a ship's journey, before that a device used to determine the speed of a ship, which was made of wood, that is to say a part of a tree: a log.

It may interest you to know that some people believe Chinese evolved from a language they call "Proto-Sino-Tibetan"; and that this language may have been related in some way to "Proto-Indo-European", the language thought to be the ancestor of most languages in Europe and many in India.

[zhengrong]

Arh, I see.....
It is a long way I will be brought to learn this language which is belong to a basically different etymology.
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE

[Ravage]

Originally Posted by zhengrong

But still a big block in front of my progress is my brain is unlike smart Europeans, I feel it is hard to remember some advanced words....

First thing you have to do is get rid of that way of thinking. I can understand you well enough to hold a conversation, that's pretty impressive. If you want to sound European stop being modest ;) I can't remember every single word in English either. You should see the funny stares I get when I use a word like "Cromulent" Very few people know EVERY word.