CLA 30: Greek and Latin Elements

in English Vocabulary:
UC Davis, Winter 2016
Marie-Lan
Nguyen/
Wikimedia
Commons/
photo taken
at the Louvre,
Paris

Section 001CRN: 17387

MWF, 2:10-3:00 p.m.
Rock Hall
Final Exam: Saturday, March19, at 3:30 p.m.
Section 002CRN: 17388
MWF, 1:10-2:00 p.m.
Rock Hall
Final Exam: Saturday, March 19, at 8:00 a.m.
Instructor 1: Emily Albu
emalbu@ucdavis.edu
Office: 715 Sproul
Office hours: Mon. 11 a.m.-noon, Wed. 3:30-5 p.m.
and by appointment.
Instructor 2: John Rundin
jsrundin@ucdavis.edu
Office: 713 Sproul
Office Hours: Tuesday. and Thursday, noon-1 p.m. and
by appointment.
Teaching Assistant 1: Sarah Davis
sardavis@ucdavis.edu
Office: 103 Sproul
Office Hours: Mon. 11 a.m-noon, Thur. 1-4 p.m.,
Fri. 11 a.m.-1p.m.

A clay tablet from the Harra hubullu, one of the

earliest extant dictionaries, produced in the early 2nd
millennium B.C.E., and excavated at Uruk in modern
Iraq (not a required text for this course)

Teaching Assistant 2: Cai Thorman

cthorman@ucdavis.edu
Office: 103 Sproul
Office Hours: Tues., Wed., Thur. 11:00 a.m.-1 p.m.

And great thanks to the

wonderful readers, too numerous
to list, who make this course
possible.

Required Texts and Materials:

! Waldo Sweet and Glenn Knudsvig, A Course on
Words (University of Michigan Press, 1989)
! i>clicker, i>clicker +, or i>clicker 2 (available at
bookstore)
! You must also bring UCD 2000 Scantron forms (only!) and number 2 pencils (only!) for
weekly quizzes and the final.

No 2

Page 2

1. Class Description
For students who have not had the opportunity to learn Latin and Greek, this course introduces the tools
of vocabulary building as well as the intriguing study of the origins of words. Our primary aim is to
enhance English reading and writing skills for native speakers as well as students whose second
language is English. But we also explore the power and pleasure of words and the legacy of our
common language, with an occasional look at Latin in everyday use. There will be particular study of
vocabulary essential for the study of the biological sciences, emphasizing words that humanists also
ought to know.
Approximately 65% of English vocabulary is derived from Greek and Latin. If we consider the
specialized terminology of law, medicine, and other sciences, this share goes as high as 90%. We
review the history of the English language and the basic principles of etymological analysis, including
the concepts of morphemes and combining words. The student who completes this course can expect to
have a greatly increased control over the use of the English language, the meaning of words, and the
structure of English grammar.
Our textbook is a self-teaching workbook that contains ten units. We will complete all ten units this
quarter. The textbook assumes that students will memorize certain vocabulary items, and we strongly
recommend using little flash cards for words and morphemes that you do not know. The lectures will
supplement the book with lessons on English grammar, the Greek alphabet, and additional terminology
from the biological sciences.
There will be nine multiple-choice quizzes covering materials from the two previous weeks. The first
quiz will cover the material covered in the first week of class. The second quiz will cover material from
the first and second week of class. The third quiz will cover the material from the second and third week
of class and so on. Each quiz will be described in the class before it is given. Many questions will come
from the textbooks, but some will test information from lectures and classroom discussion. On most
Mondays, you will have to submit a worksheet made available at the class SmartSite. A key will be
provided along with the worksheet so you may correct your own work. However, you must demonstrate
that you have done the worksheet by submitting it before the deadline.

2. Class Requirements
Class participation is important. Treat this like a foreign language course, in which daily practice and
memorization are essential. Plan to be at every class meeting, having already read and prepared the
assignment for that day, marked with an asterisk (*). You will earn a good grade in this class, without
fretting, if only you consistently meet the requirements and follow the Carnegie Rule, which assumes
that a student spends at least two hours on homework for every hour in class. Increasing your word
power will be a pleasure (really!) if you learn the material as it is assigned. You are expected to work at
a steady pace on the textbook, and to submit written work on time.

Grade Breakdown

Highest 7 of 9 quizzes
Homework and classroom participation
Participation in i>clicker activities
Final exam

(continued...)

65%
10%
5%
20%

Page 3
(...continued)

Quizzes
There will be a weekly quiz on Friday of each week; a prospectus of each quiz will be given in lecture
on the Wednesday before it. You will need to bring a UCD 2000 Scantron and a number 2 pencil to the
quiz. Each quiz will cover the material from the previous two weeks (except, of course, the first quiz,
which will cover only the material from week one).
There will be no make-up quizzes. Your two lowest quiz grades will be dropped when final grades are
calculated, and you are allowed to miss one of the written homework assignments. If you must miss a
quiz, consider it one of the two that will be dropped. You must take the quiz in the section in which you
are registered. If you miss a quiz or do badly on a quiz because you have added the course late,
consider that quiz one of the two to be dropped at the end of the quarter.

Homework
Work must be handed in by its due date. It will not be accepted late. One homework assignment will be
dropped from your grade at the end of the quarter.
There is a special assignment due on Friday of the first week of class. This is the only assignment that
will be handed in in class in hard copy.
In other weeks, there will be a homework assignment due on Monday or Wednesday. Please check
SmartSite each week for these dates. The homework will be made available as a PDF in the resources
section of the class SmartSite. It must be submitted electronically as a PDF in the assignment section of
the SmartSite. Please submit each homework assignment as a single PDF file. You may fill them out, or
you may print them and write on them, then scan or photograph them, paste them into a MSWord
document and save them as PDFs. We will be very tolerant of your efforts to make PDFs, but we do ask
that you submit the work in PDF format. We will be checking the homework each week. If we find
evidence that you have not done the assigned homework in an audit, you will not get credit for the work
submitted.
If you do not submit homework because you have added the course late, consider that homework
the assignment to be dropped at the end of the quarter.
The homework will constitute 10 percent of your grade; one homework grade will be dropped at the end
of the quarter, so you can safely miss one assignment.

I>clickers
We will be using i>clickers in the class to foster interaction. The i>clicker comes in three models,
i>clicker, i>clicker+, and i>clicker 2; all three will work for this class.
Before you can get credit for using an i>clicker in class, you must register it at i>clicker.com.
Your participation in i>clicker polls will constitute five percent of your course grade. We will not start
recording participation in i>clicker polls until three weeks into the class. Software is available from
i>clicker to simulate a clicker with smartphones and other devices; however, it is not reliable, so it
cannot be used for this class.
See the final page of the syllabus for important guidelines for classroom decorum.

Page 4

3. Class Assignments
[* indicates assignments due that day]
Week One
4 January Introduction to the course.
Comments on learning.
Introduction to the Oxford English Dictionary and International Phonetic
Alphabet.
6 January: The development of English with emphasis on Greek and Latin influences.
*In your textbook, A Course on Words, read To the Student (p. vii) and
complete Unit One, frames 1-206. Do the exercises on pages 35-38.
Memorize the prefixes and bases in frame 93. We will not collect workbook
exercises but will answer any questions you have about the exercises.
8 January:

Week Two
11 January:

Introduction to the Greek Alphabet.

Online dictionaries.
*On an 8 x 11 sheet, type a brief paragraph explaining your reason(s) for
taking this class. Use the conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet
as represened in the Oxford English Dictionary [OED] (see the PowerPoint
for Monday, January 4) to write out your own name full name phonetically
(you can cut and paste the letters from the OED phonetic key. For example,
Professor Albus family name is pronounced:
lbju
Tell us a little about yourself, and affix a recent photo, which can be as
simple as a photocopy of your ID picture. Finally, write the following
sentence: I understand and agree that quizzes are only given at the assigned
time and that I cannot under any circumstances take the quiz at any other time
than the assigned one and sign your name.
Quiz 1. (*Bring a UCD 2000 Scantron and a number 2 pencil!)

Practice with dictionaries.

More on the Greek Alphabet.
*You must have registered your i>clicker by classtime on January 11.
*Begin Unit Two. Complete frames 1-176.
*Do Worksheet 1, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a
PDF in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.

Page 5
(Week Two continued)
13 January: Using a Dictionary.
The Latinate and Anglo-Saxon registers of English.
*Do the exercises on pages 62-65 in A Course on Words.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.
15 January:

Week Three
18 January:

20 January:

Changes in words across languages/new words in English.

Quiz 2 (*Bring that Scantron!)

Holiday:
Martin Luther King Jr.s Birthday

Greek and Latin in North America/Classical Receptions

*Bring A Course on Words and a U.S. one-dollar bill. (You get to keep the
dollar.)
*Complete all the frames in Unit Three. Do the exercises on pages 92-95.
*Do Worksheet 2, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.

22 January: Analyzing biology terms into their elements.

Greek Alphabet.
Quiz 3 (*Bring that Scantron!)
Week Four
25 January: Inflection in Latin, Greek, and English / How Latin works.
*Complete frames 1-87 in Unit Four. Memorize the prefixes, bases, and suffixes
at the top of p. 99.
*Do Worksheet 3, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.
27 January:

Grammar (case of pronouns: who and whom; I and me etc.).

*Complete all the frames in Unit Four. Write out the exercises on pages 120-23.
*Memorize the bases at the top of p. 110.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.

29 January:

Hypercorrection.
The language of history.
Quiz 4 (*Bring that Scantron!)

Page 6
Week Five
1 February: Bioscience terms.
*Complete frames 1-117 in Unit Five. Memorize the 12 Greek prefixes in these
frames.
*Do Worksheet 4, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.
3 February: The language of the social sciences: anthropology, sociology, and economics.
*Complete all the frames in Unit Five. Do the exercises on pages 153-55 (dont
do the ones on pp. 150-51).
*Memorize the seven Greek prefixes featured in Unit Five, frames 118-162.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.
5 February: The Language of Psychology.
Quiz 5 (*Bring that Scantron!)
Week Six
8 February:

Hebrew and Greek creation stories.

*Complete frames 1-126 in Unit Six.
*Do Worksheet 5, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.

10 February:

The language of government, politics, and law.

*Complete all the frames in Unit Six. Do the exercises on pages 192-94 in your
book (but not the one that starts on page 191 and continues on page 192).
*Bring A Course on Words to class.

12 February:

State Mottoes.
The Geological time scale.
Quiz 6 (*Bring that Scantron!)

Week Seven
15 February:

17 February:

Holiday:
Presidents Day
Classical receptions / New words in English.
*Complete all frames in Unit Seven. Do the exercises on pages 227-31.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.
*Do Worksheet 6, posted at the course SmartSite in the Resources folder.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.

Page 7
(Week Seven continued...)
19 February The ethereal realm: astrology and astronomy.
Quiz 7 (*Bring that Scantron!)
Week Eight
22 February:

24 February:

Biological nomenclature, Part I: Linnaeus.

*Do Worksheet 7, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section..
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.
*Complete all frames in Unit 8. Do the exercises on pages 260-62.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.
Greco-Roman religions and the language of Christianity.
Biological nomenclature, Part II: Naming genera and species.

26 February: Biological Nomenclature Part III: Conclusion.

Quiz 8 (*Bring that Scantron!)
Week Nine
29 February: Greek and Latin numbers.
Mythology: Greek and Roman Goddesses and Gods.
*Do all frames in Unit 9.
*Do Worksheet 8, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class Smartsite by 2 p.m.
2 March: The underworld.
*Do exercises at the end of Unit 9.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.
4 March: Cartography.
Quiz 9 (*Bring that Scantron!)
Week 10
7 March: The Indo-European Languages.
Mythology: heroines and heroes.
*Complete all the frames in Unit 10.
*Do Worksheet 9, posted at the course SmartSite in the assignments section.
Correct your work with the key provided, and hand in the worksheet as a PDF
in the assignments section of the class SmartSite by 2 p.m.
9 March:

Words from around the world.

Deep Historical Linguistics.
*Do the Unit 10 exercises on pages 339-41. Do not do the review exercises at the
bottom of p. 338.
*Bring A Course on Words to class.

Page 8
(Week Ten continued...)
11 March Mythology: the Trojan War.
Triskaidekaphobia.
*Evaluations. Please bring a device (tablet, smartphone, computer) to class to
complete course evaluations.
Week 14
16 March

Bad tattoos and other fun stuff.

The wanderings of Odysseus.

FINAL EXAM:
For times, see the first page of this syllabus.
The final exam will feature questions on Unit 10 and course materials from the past week but
will also include representative questions from the first 9 Units. You will be responsible for all
the morphemes that you have memorized from the workbook. A prospectus of the final exam
will be posted at the class SmartSite. *Dont forget your Scantron!
4. Useful Resources:
Online dictionaries and thesauri through Shields Library:
http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/research/subjects/index.php?heading=126
The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, ed. C.T. Onions (1983)
(in paperback, and much cheaper: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, ed. T.F.
Hoad [1993])
Rudolf F. Schaeffer, Greek-English Derivative Dictionary (American Classical League)
- - - - -, Latin-English Derivative Dictionary (American Classical League)
Grade Issues:
This is a large class. Inevitably, a few mistakes may be made in grading. We are happy to rectify them.
But we ask that all disputes on a graded piece of work be presented to us within two weeks of the day on
which the assignment was due or the quiz was taken. We will not consider grade changes after that time.

Visit us at classics.ucdavis.edu!

Page 9

Rules of the Classroom

(Draconian? No beneficent!)
The following expectations aim to enhance your ability to learn in this class by avoiding disruption and distraction while
improving the quality of the classroom experience. Repeated failure to meet these expectations may result in a lower grade for the
course.
Entering/Exiting Class:

Please arrive on time to class and stay for the entire class period. Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive.
If despite your best effort you arrive late, please quietly take a seat at the back of the classroom. Similarly, in the rare event that you must
leave class early (e.g. for a medical appointment), sit close to the rear door and leave as unobtrusively as possible. If you cant be here on
time or must always leave early because of a class or work conflict, either seek specific permission or do not take the class.
During tests, ask permission before leaving to use the restroom.

Noise:

When class begins, please stop your conversations.

Wait until class is completely over before putting your materials away in your backpack, standing up, or talking to friends.

Electronic Devices:

Bring your i-clickers to every class. We cannot support smartphone clicker apps.
No taping, filming, or photography in class without prior permission (whether by camera, cell phone, or other means). These activities are
distracting and inhibiting to faculty and other students, may infringe upon privacy or copyright, and have a chilling effect on classroom
discussion.
Cell phones should be turned off. No talking on cell phones, text messaging, or emailing on laptops during class. Wait until after class to
return any calls received. We must refer to SJA any student viewing a phone or tablet during a quiz.
No listening to iPods or other electronic recording devices during class.
Laptops are permitted for following our PowerPoint and taking notes. If you are going to be using them for any other purpose, please sit at
the back of the class so you do not distract others.

Email Etiquette:

You are expected to write as you would in any professional correspondence. Email communication should be courteous and respectful in
manner and tone. Do not send emails that are curt or demanding.
Do not expect an immediate response via email. If your email question is sent at the last minute, it may not be possible to send you a
response before an assignment is due or a test is given.
Use the SmartSite chat room to suggest materials directly relevant to the class or to ask for help with questions from the textbook or
classroom lectures. Do not post personal information about yourself or others. For example, if you are having trouble with a disruptive
classmate, you should see the instructor in person to discuss the specifics of the issue.

Participation:

Because participation is counted as part of your grade, missing class could negatively impact your grade. Disrupting class could also lower
your participation grade.
Keep on the topic at hand. If you have questions off the current topic, address these outside of class at office hours or by email with the TA
or instructor.

Common Courtesy:

Do not read the newspaper during class (though newspaper reading elsewhere is an endearing trait that we admire). The shuffling of pages
can be very distracting in the classroom.
Food and drink are discouraged in class. There may be times that you need a beverage or small snack during class. Avoid bringing in large
meals or food that is noisy when unpackaged or chewed.
Show respect for fellow classmates and us. Do not interrupt another who is speaking. It is okay to disagree with an idea but not okay to
ridicule or make fun of another person and his/her ideas. Raised voices, derogatory language, name-calling, and intimidating behavior will
not be tolerated.
Do not disturb others by engaging in disruptive behavior. Disruption interferes with the learning environment and impairs the ability of
others to focus, participate, and engage.

Special issues:

If you have some special complex problem, it is best to address it in an email to the instructor or in the instructors office hours. Please do
not ask the instructor to resolve complex issues at the beginning or end of class.