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Can We Help?: New meanings: the processes of language change

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Presenters sit on set, text overlay reads "Where did the term 'Argy bargy' originate?"
Can We Help?: New meanings: the processes of language change

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  9–10


Have you ever engaged in a bit of argle-bargle?

It's the original form of a colloquialism you might be more familiar with: argy-bargy. But where does this phrase come from?

Etymology is the study of the history and evolution of words. In this clip Professor Kate Burridge explains the origins of this curious phrase and other words.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you heard of the phrase 'argy-bargy'? Do you know what it means? Do you know of any other examples of colloquial phrases that rhyme like this?
  2. 2.List the steps in the evolution of the word 'boot' to mean the luggage space in a car. What words were the origin of the phrase 'argy-bargy'? What does this phrase mean? What is this kind of doubled-up phrase called?
  3. 3.What does 'subreption' mean in etymological terms? Can you find another example of subreption similar to the evolution of the word 'boot'? Kate states that there are 2000 expressions in the English language known as 're-duplications'. Can you list ten other examples that are in use today?
  4. 4.Investigate some of the other ways by which meanings of words are formed in our language. You might be surprised by how many there are! Create a chart that lists several 'language change processes', along with their definitions and examples of words formed by each process.



Date of broadcast: 28 Mar 2008


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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