The History of Nuclear Power Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The History of Nuclear Power - Research Paper Example As a general rule, most of these crucial factors actually denote natural phenomena, whether discovered by sheer chance or due to meticulous research, possessing enormous potential for both destruction and creation; while others appear a genuinely human invention. Notwithstanding their origin, however, the way these factors have been mastered and harnessed to humanity’s advantage reflects the very human nature to test, to observe, and to dream (US Department of Energy/US DOE/, n.d.). Having played their crucial part in the development of Egypt’s ancient societies – the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms – the Nile River annual floods could be considered, beyond any doubt, one of the above-mentioned core phenomena; while the institution of slavery in ancient Rome brought about that little-known settlement on the River Tiber to be transformed into the hub of the then world. Without the driving force of spice trade in medieval times, there might have not come about the Age of Discovery, and neither would the Industrial Revolution without the steam engine. In turn, the commercial drilling for petroleum, which had started at some point in the mid-nineteenth century, not only drove the world into the modernity, but also became the mainspring of present-day geopolitics of the world. The late 1890s, however, witnessed the discovery of a natural phenomenon, which have been given the name ‘radioactivity’ by Marie and Pierre Curie, and later defined by Ernest Rutherford as a spontaneous event emitting alpha or beta particles from the atomic nuclei, and creating a different element (World Nuclear Association /WNA/, 2010). The consequent exploration of this phenomenon had involved many scientists from different countries across the world – from Niels Bohr, Frederick Soddy, James Chadwick, and Enrico Fermi, to Otto Frisch, etc. – and produced major breakthroughs, including the discovery of radionuclides and neutron, as well as the experimental conformation of Albert Einstein’s concept of mass-energy equivalence (WNA, 2010). Exploration of the Atom The idea that invisible particles constitute all matter in the universe is being first developed by ancient Greek philosophers (US DOE, n.d.). The name of those particles – atoms – comes from one of the meanings of the Greek word (atomos), or indivisible (US DOE, n.d.; Liddell and Scott, 1940). This idea reigned supreme at least until the late eighteenth century, but it was not earlier than the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the concept had been revised by scientific experiments (US DOE, n.d.). Following the discovery of Uranium in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Klaproth, who named it after the recently discovered planet Uranus (Herschel and Hoskin, 2003; WNA, 2010), there was a gap of nearly 100 years during which nothing in this field of science was to get excited about. In November 1895, Professor Wilhelm Conrad Ro ntgen of the Wurzburg University had unintentionally produced â€Å"a hitherto unknown form of radiant energy that was invisible, could cause fluorescence, and passed through objects opaque to light†, which he named x-rays (Novelline, 2004); six years later Wilhelm Rontgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of ionizing

National Exhibition Centre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

National Exhibition Centre - Essay Example It is recognized for its leadership initiatives in the arena of event management that provides quality customer service and optimal operational performance outcome for various events that are held in the two venues. Since its inception, more than 2,500 events have been held, generating ore than $20 billion of revenues and entertaining over 90 millions visitors (necbirmingham.com). In the fast changing environment of business paradigm and global compulsions, the scope of accountability has widened to include the emerging new paradigms of changing social values and issues which have significant impact on the overall socio-economic development of the society. NEC Birmingham has acknowledged the changing values and has made CSR an integral part of its business strategy. The changing environment of values and work ethics has necessitated that the organizations must be responsive to the impact that their decisions, actions and behavior have on the people at large. Through a well planned corporate social responsibility strategy, NEC meets the challenges of the time. Vision Statement The organization vision is to be recognized as the most preferred venue to hold all types of events where people ‘come to discover the future’.

The History of Nuclear Power Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The History of Nuclear Power - Research Paper Example As a general rule, most of these crucial factors actually denote natural phenomena, whether discovered by sheer chance or due to meticulous research, possessing enormous potential for both destruction and creation; while others appear a genuinely human invention. Notwithstanding their origin, however, the way these factors have been mastered and harnessed to humanity’s advantage reflects the very human nature to test, to observe, and to dream (US Department of Energy/US DOE/, n.d.). Having played their crucial part in the development of Egypt’s ancient societies – the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms – the Nile River annual floods could be considered, beyond any doubt, one of the above-mentioned core phenomena; while the institution of slavery in ancient Rome brought about that little-known settlement on the River Tiber to be transformed into the hub of the then world. Without the driving force of spice trade in medieval times, there might have not come about the Age of Discovery, and neither would the Industrial Revolution without the steam engine. In turn, the commercial drilling for petroleum, which had started at some point in the mid-nineteenth century, not only drove the world into the modernity, but also became the mainspring of present-day geopolitics of the world. The late 1890s, however, witnessed the discovery of a natural phenomenon, which have been given the name ‘radioactivity’ by Marie and Pierre Curie, and later defined by Ernest Rutherford as a spontaneous event emitting alpha or beta particles from the atomic nuclei, and creating a different element (World Nuclear Association /WNA/, 2010). The consequent exploration of this phenomenon had involved many scientists from different countries across the world – from Niels Bohr, Frederick Soddy, James Chadwick, and Enrico Fermi, to Otto Frisch, etc. – and produced major breakthroughs, including the discovery of radionuclides and neutron, as well as the experimental conformation of Albert Einstein’s concept of mass-energy equivalence (WNA, 2010). Exploration of the Atom The idea that invisible particles constitute all matter in the universe is being first developed by ancient Greek philosophers (US DOE, n.d.). The name of those particles – atoms – comes from one of the meanings of the Greek word (atomos), or indivisible (US DOE, n.d.; Liddell and Scott, 1940). This idea reigned supreme at least until the late eighteenth century, but it was not earlier than the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the concept had been revised by scientific experiments (US DOE, n.d.). Following the discovery of Uranium in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Klaproth, who named it after the recently discovered planet Uranus (Herschel and Hoskin, 2003; WNA, 2010), there was a gap of nearly 100 years during which nothing in this field of science was to get excited about. In November 1895, Professor Wilhelm Conrad Ro ntgen of the Wurzburg University had unintentionally produced â€Å"a hitherto unknown form of radiant energy that was invisible, could cause fluorescence, and passed through objects opaque to light†, which he named x-rays (Novelline, 2004); six years later Wilhelm Rontgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of ionizing

Describe what set the Young, Middle and Old Guards apart from each Essay

Describe what set the Young, Middle and Old Guards apart from each other and from the Grand'Armee in general - Essay Example The Old Guards were the most prominent and were the creme de la creme of Napoleon’s infantry. In order to be admitted to this group, the aspirant should have at least 10 years of service, not exceeding 35 years of age, can read and write, with exemplary conduct, recognized for a brave act, and must at least have a height of 5’10 and 5’8 for grenadier and chasseur, respectively. Men who have received the Legion of Honor Award are admitted even without reaching the height marks. With this set of requirements, it is not surprising to learn that they were the battle-hardened veterans, the most bold, and the strongest amongst the guards. In fact, they were labeled as â€Å"The Grumblers,† â€Å"The Eagles,† â€Å"The Gaiter Straps,† or â€Å"The Supporters of the Usurper† (Yudice et al., French Guard n. pag). Another group is that of the Middle Guards, which was formed between 1806 and 1809. This group includes veterans with at least 6 years of service – the 3rd Grenadiers, the Amsterdam Veteran Company, corporals and privates of the 2nd Grenadiers, 2nd Chasseurs and Fusiliers, and the Velites of Florence and Turin (â€Å"The Young Guard in Action† 4). In 1811, after the disbandment of 1806 regiment units, this division was restored by admitting 500 men with 5 years of service along with 1,000 men coming from the battalions. The most notable account for Middle Guards was concerning their exceptional skills in artillery (Macready, qtd in Yudice et al., Napoleon’s Guard n. pag). Last of all three groups was the Young Guard, formed around 1809. This group was composed of â€Å"newly raised regiments† (Haythornthwaite 7), rigorously trained by Cadres who came from the Old Guards, as well as by the strongest and best educated Privates. The first trained regiments came out as strong and healthy men, as they flushed their martial air with their great stamina. Moreover, the Young Guards consisted of the best

Chronicle of a Death Foretold and the Stranger Essay Example for Free

Chronicle of a Death Foretold and the Stranger Essay Conflict Resulting From the Negative Effects of Rigid Societal Expectations in A Chronicle of A Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Stranger by Albert Camus Everyone has felt the pressure of societal expectations during their lifetime. The negative effects society brings on one’s life can lead to a feeling of rejection towards the people who do not conform to meet those standards. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Albert Camus, author of The Stranger, both construct the external moral conflict of society versus the protagonist in order to critique the way society fails to accept the moral values of the people who differ from the norm. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez emphasizes the central conflict of society versus the protagonist, based on beliefs and values, through the controversy leading up to the murder of Santiago Nasar, which is based on family honor and pre-marital sex. When Pedro and Pablo Vicario ask their sister, Angela Vicario, who had stolen her virginity, her response is described as â€Å"She only took the time necessary to say the name †¦ and she nailed it to the wall with her well-aimed dart, like a butterfly with no will whose sentence has already been written. ‘Santiago Nasar,’ she said†(47). Describing Angela’s response as â€Å"only took the time necessary† indicates that she is trying to put the blame on Santiago, making him a scapegoat, in order to protect the true man who took her virginity before marriage. In the Latin American society, where the setting of the novella takes place, it is not acceptable for a woman to have pre-marital sex due to the beliefs and morals of Catholics. Santiago is represented as the butterfly â€Å"whose sentence had already been written†. Even though there is no evidence Santiago took Angela’s virginity, it is the twin’s duty to protect their sister. Therefore, Pedro and Pablo Vicario set out to kill the man who had stolen their sister’s virginity, Santiago Nasar, in order to protect their family. The twins tell everyone in town about their plan to murder Santiago, but the people in the community doubt their intentions: â€Å"twenty-two people declared they had heard everything said, and they all coincided in the impression that the only reason the brothers had said it was so that someone would come over to hear them†(51). The people in the town who â€Å"[coincide] in the impression that the only reason the brothers had said it was so that someone would come over to hear them† shows how oblivious the townspeople act owards a societal member’s life. Society looks past at the fact that a murder is about to occur, but focuses on the purpose; family honor, which is highly respected. Since it is unacceptable for a female to have sex before marriage, Santiago is viewed in a negative light by society because he is accused of taking the virginity of an unmarried woman. The debate surrounding Santiago’s death highlights the conflict between society and the protagonist, where Santiago is a man who is accused of committing an act that society does not accept. Albert Camus, in The Stranger, constructs the protagonist, Monsieur Meursault, as a man who has absurdist morals and values, which society does not accept. Meursault has an intimate relationship with Marie Cardona, a former typist, but the connection does not go beyond a physical attraction; â€Å"she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her† (41). By Meursault stating â€Å"it didn’t mean anything† and â€Å"I probably didn’t love her† highlights his absurdist views on life; he believes life contains no purpose, thus he cannot love Marie because loving Marie would give life a purpose, which Meursault does not believe. He simply associates with Marie, because he likes being around her. There is no need for an emotional connection because the physical appearance of her is satisfying enough. Absurdism is not accepted in society therefore it does not accept Meursault. He is an outsider in a world he did not choose. Meursault is a man who does not show his emotions very well, but instead focuses on his physical need; â€Å"I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings† (65). Meursault saying â€Å"that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings† emphasizes the simplistic life he live—a life without meaning. Showing emotions would signify a life with purpose, which Meursault does not believe. The Algerian society, in which the novella takes place, does not accept the type of lifestyle Meursault lives and believes every life should be lived with a purpose. Society’s expectations clash with Meursault’s values because his beliefs and outlooks on life are not accepted by society, which sets up the external conflict between the two. In the external conflict between society and the protagonist, Garcia Marquez emphasizes the negative effects society has on a person who goes against the social norm by showing the biased opinions towards the Pedro and Pablo Vicario regarding Santiago’s murder. After brutally stabbing Santiago to death, the Vicario twins sprint to the church to inform the priest of their barbaric act; â€Å"Both were exhausted from the barbarous work of death, and their clothes and arms were soaked and their faces smeared with sweat and still living blood but the priest recalled the surrender as an act of great dignity†(49). The priest calling the murder â€Å"an act of great dignity† shows how, in the Latin American society, family honor is highly valued, no matter how far it is taken. Even though the twins have committed the worst crime imaginable, it is acceptable because it was done in order to protect their family. Pedro and Pablo Vicario are viewed as meeting expectations, as opposed to Santiago, who fails to follow them. When the crime was brought to court, the twins had already won before it even started; â€Å"The lawyer stood by the thesis of the homicide in legitimate defense of honor, which was upheld by the court in good faith, and the twins declared at the end of the trial that they would have done it again a thousand times over for the same reason† (48). The lawyer stating the homicide as a â€Å"legitimate defense of honor† verifies that society values family honor over a man’s life. The court case represents the conflict of society against Santiago and since he goes against society’s values, Santiago ends up dying, indicating society’s victory. The twins do not receive any severe punishment, because of their intentions to protect their family. Through Santiago’s death, Garcia Marquez stresses the harmful effects society can have on someone whose beliefs differ from societal standards. Camus constructs Meursault’s trial to critique society’s lack of acceptance towards the people who do not meet expectations. Throughout the court case, Meursault is quickly judged by the prosecutor due to his actions concerning his mother’s death, â€Å"He said the truth was that I didn’t have a soul and that nothing human, not one of my moral principles that governs men’s hearts, was within my reach† (101). The prosecutor bluntly stating that Meursault â€Å"didn’t have a soul† and is incapable of having â€Å"moral principles that governs men’s hearts† highlights how society does not understand Meursault’s morals and values, thus critiques his character and neglects him. Meursault is looked down upon because of how he acted on the day of Maman’s funeral. He does not express feelings towards his mother’s death because he is an absurdist and believes death is inevitable. Society believes that there is purpose to every societal member’s life, and since Meursault shares absurdist views, he is not accepted by society. To close his final argument against Meursault, the prosecutor states, â€Å" ‘I ask you for this man’s head†¦never as strongly as today have I felt this painful duty made easier, light, clearer by the certain knowledge of a sacred imperative and by the horror I feel when I look into a man’s face and all I see is a monster. † (102). The whole trial is based around Meursault’s character, and him being called â€Å"a monster† stresses the fact that society is unwilling to accept anyone who does not follow the expectations. Meursault does not share the same views that society wants, and as a result, he is rejected because of his moral values. By asking â€Å"for this m an’s head† the prosecutor shows how society neglects the people who share different views and therefore want them out of society completely. Camus uses the trial and Meursault’s crime to emphasize the external conflict of society versus the protagonist, Meursault, to demonstrate how society does not accept people who share different moral values. The negative effects society has on the people who do not meet expectations are emphasized through the external conflict, based of moral values, between the protagonist and society in the Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Stranger by Albert Camus. Both novellas show the harmful consequence faced by the protagonist, who do not conform to societal expectations, which evidently resulted in death.

Background Of English Neologisms

Background Of English Neologisms Languages are changing as the world is constantly changing. After the Second World War, English neologisms emerged in a remarkable way. New vocabulary came into existence due to new technologies and new discoveries such as ; computing, internet , cell phones and the like. Peoples daily activities like dancing, looking and many others, renewed their popularity giving birth to new lexicon. In deed, new words are invented rapidly and are developed quickly thanks to mass communication. They appear and fall into disuse when they have served their momentary purpose ( Bernhart 54).Only a few of them will get recorded in glossaries of neologisms of general dictionaries. The matter of neologism becomes a new hot spot of research owing to its practical and prevailing use in reality. The study of neologisms evoked a whole cluster of questions: -What are the reasons beyond the rise of new lexicon? -Why are some new words just a flash in a pan? -Why are other words successful? -What are the qualities that make a word successful? -Are Neologisms markers of changes in societies? Chapter 01:Literature Review 1. 1.Definition of a Neologism The term neologism originates from Greek: neos means ‘new‘, logos means ‘word‘, i. e. a neologism is literally a new word. â€Å"Neologism is the creation of a new lexical item as a response to changed circumstances in the external world, which achieves some currency within a speech communityâ€Å"(qtd. in Chrystal 1992: 264) at a particular time. In linguistics, a neologism is a recently-coined word, or the act of inventing a word or phrase. Additionally it can imply the use of old words in a new sense (i.e., giving new meanings to existing words or phrases). Neologisms are especially useful in identifying new inventions, new phenomena, or old ideas which have taken on a new cultural context. The word neologism was coined around 1800 and was, at that time, a neologism itself. A person who develops a neologism is sometimes called a neologist; neology is the act of introducing a new word into a language. l. 2. Background of English Neologisms The famous American new word expert John Algeo wrote in the preface of his book Fifty Years Among the New Words, â€Å"Although the dictionary of new word is warmly welcomed by readers only in recent years, actually the compiling of English dictionary began with the collection of new word ever since 1604.† The early English dictionaries like Table Alphabeticall (1604, Robert Cawdrey), English Expositor (1616, John Bullokar), and The English Dictionarie (1623, Henry Cockeram) all embodied some â€Å"hard words†, which were absolutely new words to people in those days. Thus, those dictionaries somehow held the characteristics of neologism dictionary. However, the scientific and systematic study of neologism began at 200 years later, the 20th century. In 1902, Leon Mead published a book named Word-Coinage, being an Inquiry into Recent Neologisms, also a Brief Study of Literary Style, Slang, and Provincialisms, which said to be the first book studying neologism in the 20th. Although it was not a neologism dictionary, it contained some articles about new words. Whats more, Mead put forward the idea of making research on new words for the first time in the history. He also provided lots of examples of new words created by some American writers at that time. In 1920, C.Alphonso Smith, the dean of the English department of American Navy Institute wrote a book entitled New Words Self-defined, in which 420 new words were illustrated by examples. This had proved to be a big progress in the research on the neologisms. From 1937 to 1940, the famous American scholar Dwight Bolinger first applied newspapers and magazines to introduce new word. He created a column, The Living Language, in the newspaper, Words. In 1943, the column was brought into American speech and the title was changed into Among the New Words. Then, in the next year,Professor I. Willis Russell took the place of Bolinger and became the chief-editor of the column. He wrote articles entitled Words and Meanings, New, to introduce new words and their new meanings. War is said to be the major cradle for the born of new words. Majorie Taylor, a librarian in New York, collected numerous neologisms created during the World War II. In 1944, Taylor compiled a word-list, The Language of World War II: Abbreviation, captions, Quotations, Slogans, Titles and Other Terms and Phrases, in which every new word was explained. Similarly, Clarence Barnhart published his Dictionary of U.S. Army Terms. At that time, some academic magazines also published articles to introduce new words. Many neologism dictionaries in the 1950s are very popular, especially the Dictionary of New Words in English compiled by Paul Charles Berg in 1953 and The Dictionary of New Words by Mary Reifer in 1955. During 1950s, Mr. Paul Charles Berg did a lot of job to collect new words about the war, which brought us his Dictionary of New Words in English in 1953. After the World War II, science and technology development had greatly influenced the society. Subsequently, a lot of scientific and technical words were flooding into the language field. A lot of neologism dictionaries about words in those fields were published. Two of them are mostly welcomed: An Explaining and Pronouncing Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Words by W. E. Flood Michael West and Words of Sciences and the History Blind Them by Isaac Asimov. From 1970s on, the study of English neologism drew great attention from western scholars, many of them established special column to introduce new words in English, such as William Safire who was well known for his On Language in New York Times weekly and Anne H. Soukhanow who was the chief-editor of Word Watch. In Safires column, he provided a considerably clear explanation of new words by citing typical examples, exploring their origins and performing their current usage. Besides, the American Dialect Association Dispatches introduced some new words yearly to the public. For instance, in 1994, â€Å"information superhighway† was rewarded as the newest word; â€Å"cybersex† was the most surprising word and â€Å"mosaic culture† the most unnecessary word. The digital revolution in 1990s is the radical reshaping and restructuring of social patterns. â€Å"Because of the wild spread of internet, America is speaking a whole new language†, said Shawn Holley in his The New Word Revolution. Lots of neologisms that have a historical significance by reason of the influence they exerted on the language field are brought into existence. According to the statistics, more than 20 neologism dictionaries have been compiled, among which some put emphasis on the academic field and some are distinctive by their popularity. Oxford English Dictionary, Websters Third New International Dictionary and Barhart Dictionary of New English are the ones with the highest academic value. New words are numerous. Sometimes it seems as if a new word has about as much chance of developing into a permanent addition to our vocabulary. Only few of them will remain as serious candidates for the dictionary. Books especially about new words are abundant. However, only a few scholars have ventured to propose factors that make for the success of new words. One is Goran Kjellmer, whose article Potential Words in the journal Word for August 2000 also reviews previous proposals. The other is the executive secretary of American Dialect Society, Allan Metcalf who proposed the FUDGE scale. The two reached different conclusions. Along with books and periodicals, there is the Internet. In particular, it makes my extensive searches for examples of how words are actually used today possible. Here the author has searched thousands of pages indexed by Google.com countless times to find current uses of words under discussion. A jump of several decades has showed us more researches on the neologisms. Language reflects our life, and the research on the neologisms has never been stopped. By collecting new words or phrases occurring in languages, the previous researches have provided precious materials for the further exploration in this field. Therefore, a careful look at the research background of neologisms carries an essential academic significance. In china, the study of neologism began from 1980s. Most of the specific works and papers are mere introduction of theories from abroad lacking of much original study. To keep up with the latest English vocabulary is really difficult, thus a thorough and systematic analysis about English new words is of practical significance both in learning and teaching of English as a foreign language. Chapter 02: Factors for the Rise of English Neologisms It is not language change itself that has occupied the attention of historical linguists for the past decades, but the causes and the processes of change. Early researchers, such as Saussure (1922) or Bloomfield (1933), for instance, maintained that the causes of linguistic change cannot be established despite numerous attempts at feasible explanations (Wardhaugh,1990:187). The majority of the early researchers have maintained also that the actual processes of change cannot be observed that what one can observe and perhaps analyses are the consequences of change. The findings of later research, however, envisage the process of change as an initial fluctuation between the new and the old, with the completion of the process occurring when the new replaces the old (Fromkin et al.,1996:295). In other words, if the new form, be it phonological, morpho-syntactic, lexical or semantic, spreads the change is in progress, if it eventually replaces the old form, the change has become a fait ac compli it has gone to completion(Holmes,1992:212). In regard to the causes of change, although the reasons for an aspect of a language undergoing change at a particular point in time still remain unclear, a number of theories have been proposed, depending on the orientation of individual researchers. For instance, Mcmahon M.S (1994: 179-182) discussing causes of semantic change, delineates the following: Linguistic causes Historical causes (subdivided into ideas and scientific concepts) Social causes Psychological causes (subdivided into emotive factors and taboo) Foreign influence The need for a new name Quite a lot of reasons are responsible for the creating of English neologisms. Any new thing or new concept, which takes place in our society, may provide a foundation for the creating of the new words. In the following, four of the major reasons will be emphasized: 1) the rise of new concepts and new ideas in social culture; 2) new discoveries in science and technology; 3) the manufacture of new products in economy, and 4) the events in the field of politics. Accompanied by a series of neologisms, we can have a clearer understanding of the current English neologisms. 2.1. Sociolcultural Changes: 2.1.1. New Concepts and ideas in Social Culture. The improving living condition and the enhancing cultural standard have formed a solid basis on which a large number of new things find their occurrence. It is not necessary to demonstrate that with the development of social culture, new concepts and ideas are introduced into us constantly. Since there are many more concepts than there are existing words, there will always be new words created. Changes in social outlook and manners of behavior call for new terms such as beatnik, peacenik, and hippie. Even new culinary arrangements demand new labels and in English they have some forth in the form of cheeseburger, chiliburger, mushroomburger, etc. (Anderson, 1973) Brian Foster presents us a striking example of how fast English vocabulary changes. In the year 1914, a young girl named Monica Baldwin entered a convent, remaining secluded there until 1941. When she returned to the outer world, she found herself in a totally different world: the conditions of everyday life altered by technical developments and social changes were beyond recognition. Whats more puzzling to her was the language people speaking. During a railway journey, the term â€Å"luggage in advance† meant nothing to her. Reading the daily newspapers made her feel idiotic in the extreme, because words like jazz, Gin, Hollywood, Cool, noshing and Isolationism were completely incomprehensible to her. Not to mention how bewildered she was at hearing friends say, â€Å"Its your funeral† or â€Å"believe it or not†. (Brian Foster, 1981) Lets look at another example â€Å"moonlighting†. It was anything but new to the vocabulary, and it gained a brand new meaning in 1957 as the verb to moonlight and its related noun, moonlighting. Time magazine, beamed moonlighting at its readers in its issue of July 22nd, 1957. According to Time, it was in fact not just a new name, but a new trend and a new concern. MOON-LIGHTING, proclaimed the headline: A Problem Born of Prosperity. As a noun, moonlight goes back with the moon itself to the beginning of the English language and even earlier to the Germanic and Indo-European ancestors of English. Presumably ever since humans could speak, they have talked about the light of the moon. As a verb, to moonlight is more recent, but it still goes back to the nineteenth century. From the start it has meant doing something by the light of the moon, but at first this was something that could get one arrested. In the nineteenth century, moonlight was a slang term for the activity of burglars, who benefited from moonlight at their work. In the twentieth century, it was also used for herding cattle and hunting deer by moonlight. Whether it was the illegal work that in 1957 caused the transmutation of moonlight into a standard term for legal work, or whether this new meaning was independently derived from the original moonlight, nobody knows. And it doesnt matter much. Either way, moonlight meaning the light of the moon easily took on its second meaning of to work a second job, and Americans have been moonlighting ever since. This second meaning seems likely to stay in the vocabulary, as long as people continue to hold down second jobs. 2.1.2.Disguising Language, â€Å"Misnomers† While taboo words are words that have been banned by the speech community, â€Å"misnomers† are words that individuals have decided to coin in order to deceive the hearer by disguising unpleasant concepts. Examples: E. friendly fire instead of bombardment by own troops. 2.1.3.Prestige, Fashion Lexical change may be based on the prestige of another language or another variety of the same language, certain fashionable word-formation patterns or certain fashionable semasiological centers of expansion. The kernel of this force is mostly found outside of language. It is often the prestige of a culture, the superiority of a group or politics which cause speakers to adopt linguistic elements (words, morphemes, morphs, sounds) from the prestigious groups speech. Example: English, for instance, borrowed heavily from French during the ME. period because the upper social classes were made up of French people: garment, flower, rose, face, prince, hour, question, dance, fork, royal, loyal, fine, zero are all Gallicisms. Today, English is now the most prestigious language for many parts of the world. 2.1.4.Social, or Demographic, Reasons By social, or demographic, reasons we shall refer to the contact between different social groups. This contact may easily, and rather subconsciously, trigger off lexical change— the more intensive the social contact is, the more intensive the linguistic exchange. Example: In the history of the English language, the two prominent instances of exchanges between two social groups were the one with the Vikings in the 8th to 11th centuries and the one with the French in the 11th to 15th centuries. The force of direct contact between different speech communities must not be mixed up with the prestige force, where no direct contact with the other speech community is necessary. Thus, we can say that the early French loans (from Northern French) rather go back to the everyday contact with the English population and the French soldiers, not so early French loans (from Parisian French) go back to the prestige of the French aristocracy, the French loans in the official bilingual phase of Englands history may either go back to prestige or to the social contact or to both. Examples: The inherited ey is replaced by Scandinavian egg, the inherited nimen is replaced by Scandinavian taken except for theform benumb, throwen is supplemented by Scandinavian casten; early French loans are army, carpenter, catch. 2.1.5.Culture-Induced Salience of a Concept (â€Å"Cultural Salience†) Sometimes concepts are not salient to humans because of gerenal human nature, but because of the concepts cultural values. Their salience can change with the change of culture. Example: The increased importance of arts and fashion has affected the lexical treatment of the conceptual field of colors: from a vague differentiation between dark blue and light blue to a neat distinction between cobalt blue, royal blue, indigo etc. (such neat detailed differentiations often originate in expert slang and then penetrate the language of the general speech community). Conceptual fields which have gained salience through cultural importance may very well serve as designations in other conceptual field in the form of metaphors. Example: In the US, a lot of metaphors in general language have been taken from the field of baseball, e.g. to be off base ‘to be completely wrong, to hit a home run ‘to be highly successful and from the field of entrepreneurship. 2.1.6.Word-Play The category of word play includes humor, irony and puns. Although word-play often goes hand in hand with other factors (such as taboo, prestige or anthropological salience), it can also trigger lexical change on its own. Example: ModE. perfect lady ‘prostitute, to take French leave ‘to leave secretly (without paying), to cool ‘look ( 2.2 New discoveries and Products In Science and Technology Suppose youre advancing the cause of science rather than pitching a product, and you have something new to report—a new element, a new compound, or a new species. How does it get a name? No new science is possible without neologisms, new words or new interpretations of old words to describe and explain reality in new ways. How could Aristotle have developed the logic of syllogisms or Newton thetheory of dynamics without new vocabularies and definitions? They were neologists, and everybody wanting to contribute new knowledge must be. For new knowledge there is no way around the creation of new terms and concepts. For new objects and new inventions, scientific discoveries, technical theories, etc, the new name is usually the work of one man or of a very few. To reject neologisms, often despicably, is to reject scientific development. No sign of scientific conservatism is so telling as the rejection of all but the established concepts of a school of thought. Neologisms are, however, relative to the terminological paradigm actually dominating a field of knowledge. It may be a radical renewal to introduce terms from a tradition believed to be outmoded. Nowadays the idea of the technical highway has been very familiar to people. Development in the science and technology has brought tremendous energy to the improvement of our civilization. And these achievements also find their reflections in language. Technical advancements in a society demand new designator terms, many of which can be found in linguistics such as hypercorrection, phoneme, allomorph, etc. The progress of science and technology gives occasion for the large majority of new words; for a new thing we must have a new name; hence, for instance, motor, argon, and appendicitis. It is interesting to see that the last word did not exist, or was at least too obscure to be recorded, when the Oxford Dictionary began to come out in 1888; but we cannot do without it now. Take the word software for example, that computer term was invented by John W. Tukey, a statistician at Princeton University. As long ago as 1958, he used the word in the American Mathematical Monthly. Today the software comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other aspects of automotive programming are at least as important to the modern electronic calculator as its hardware of tubes, transistors, wires, tapes and the like. Tukey was already known for inventing another now- famous computer term. In 1946 he used the little word bit as the designation for a unit of information, a binary digit with value 0 or 1. That led a decade later to bytes (groups of bits, now always eight, a term invented by Werner Buchholz at IBM) and to todays kilo-, mega; and tera-bytes of computer storage and information. 2.3 The Manufacture of New Products in Economy Economic development is the mainstream of our era. The improvement of language, to a certain extent, benefits a lot from the new phenomenon that occurs in the economic field. In this competitive world, any innovation or fresh things taking place in economy will soon find their voice in the language. If theres anything a new product needs, its a brand name. To the extent that the product succeeds, the name will too. Its a sure thing, the one way to guarantee that a new term will be a success: spend mighty amounts of money on marketing persuade people to buy and keep on buying a product, and they will call it by the name you give it. When you want a product, a company would like you to think of its brand name. The Coca-Cola Company wants people to think of a Coke when they want a soft drink. But if the marketing is successful enough and the name Coke is embedded in peoples vocabulary, people will ask for a Coke and be satisfied if they get a Pepsi. In fact, in the southeastern United States, home of Coca-Cola, Coke is such a successful brand that many people there (and in the rest of the country) refer to any soft drink as a coke. Some brand names even joined the pack of the general vocabulary. Here are some of them: Aspirin: a name for acetylsalicylic acid, trademarked by the Bayer Company of Germany at the start of the twentieth century. Elevator and escalator: both originally trademarks of the Otis Elevator Company. Zipper: a name given to a separable fastener by the B.F. Goodrich Company many years after it was invented. The new name helped the zipper attain popularity in the 1930s. Loafer: for a moccasin-like shoe. Cellophane: for a transparent wrap made of cellulose. Granola: a trademark registered in 1886 by W K. Kellogg, now used for a natural kind of breakfast cereal. Ping-pong: for table tennis, a trademark registered by Parker Brothers in 1901. Xerox: for photocopier. Kleenex: for facial tissue. Band-Aid: for adhesive bandage. Tupperware: for storage container. Scotch tape: for transparent adhesive tape. Jazzercise: for exercise to jazz music. 2.4. The Events in the Field of Politics. The forming of English new words is sometimes considered as the result of the political changes. Language reflects the society, as it has always been. Politics is an essential part of the development of the world; therefore, it can easily find its relative neologisms in the language field. For instance, when Mr. Bill Clinton was elected as the president of the US., his name has been associated with many political words. His policy is Clintonian, he is carrying out the Clintionism, his economics policy is Clintonomics, and his supporters were called Clintonites, he ultimately wanted to realize his Clintonization. Another widespread usage of affixes is â€Å"-gate†, which came from the historical Watergate event. People took use of Irangate to disclose the involvement of some American government office workers in U.S. selling arms to Iran. Camillagate was used to mean the love affair of British Prince Charles and his lover Camilla Parker. Nannygate was pointed to the illegal hire of baby-sitter or the hire of illegal immigrants. Another striking example, On September 11, 2001, the peace of a sunny late-summer morning was shattered by the impact of four hijacked airplanes on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. There were more direct casualties in these disasters than on any previous day in American history, and soon the entire country felt the impact of damaged or destroyed lives, businesses, and sense of security. Out of the ashes came patriotism, resolve, and unity. And out of the ashes came new words, too, to describe new situations never before imagined. The events stir memories of Pearl Harbor and Oklahoma City, and we refer to other memorable occasions by their locations — Lexington and Concord, Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, and Wounded Knee — but in this case the name of place wont work. Its not just because several places were involved, but also because the places are too famous. New York City and Washington, DC, have too many other connotations, so do the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. For lack of a suitable designation deriving from place, we have used the date as a reference point: September 11. That does have a well-known precedent. One other event in American history is referred to by its date: July 4 or the Fourth of July, the date in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Philadelphia. In addition to the spelled-out month and day, the numerals 9/11 or 9-11 have been used. Never before has such a historic event been so labeled, but because of the striking coincidence that 911 is the telephone number to call for help in an emergency, that numerical designation has been a success. Headline writers like the concision of this expression, just three numerals to take in all the events of that day. So far, the events of that day have resulted in just one new term: ground zero, for the place of impact, the center of destruction in New York City where the World Trade Towers once stood. That phrase has succeeded because it is not really new; its an old term for the location on the ground directly under a vast atomic explosion, corresponding to air zero, the location in the air above the ground where the bomb goes off. Ground zero had been gathering dust on the shelf in recent years because of a fortunate lack of atomic explosions. No one knows who first said ground zero in reference to the site where the World Trade Towers were attacked and collapsed, but the term immediately caught on because of its familiarity and emotional power. Chapter 03:Success of English Neologisms 3.1. How are Neologisms Found? The authority for a word in fact, the authority for a language rests with the users of the language. Thus, the process of adding new words to the dictio ­nary begins with a systematic examination of almost everything printed and said in English. As far as ‘Among the New Words‘ is concerned, this important task â€Å"citation with source informationâ€Å" (qtd. in Algeo 1991a: 3) is fulfilled by active members of the Words Committee, who contribute the words they regard as new in any material they read or listen to (Algeo 1991a: 3). The cited word must contain the name of the publication, the day, and the page number. Concerning oral citations, the source information must consist of the day the sentence was heard and where and when one came across it (Algeo 1991a: 3). The following list shows that usually American dictionaries are consulted (with the exceptions of two British dictionaries: the OED and Websters Third) to check the newness of each contribution (Algeo 1991a: 2): Random House Websters College Dictionary, 1991. Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed., 1989. World Book Dictionary, 1989 Websters New World Dictionary, 3d College ed., 1988. Random House Dictionary, 2d ed. Unabridged, 1987. Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1983. Websters Third New International Dictionary, 1961. Only if the new word is assumed to be British, are additional British dictionaries referred to. To make sure that a neologism has not been lexicalized yet, the following dictionaries of neologisms are used: Third Barnhart Dictionary of New English. 1990. Chambers English Dictionary, 1988. Collins Concise Dictionary, 2d ed., 1988. Collins Dictionary, 2d ed., 1986. Longman Dictionary, 1984. Readers Digest Great Illustrated Dictionary, 1984. If a word entered one of these dictionaries, then it is usually not recorded in ‘Among the New Words‘ (Algeo 91a: 2). Since ‘Among the New Words‘ receives more citations than there is space to print, a selection has to be made. The criteria on what and when to enter a word is up to the lexicographer. As I said, lexicographers have different opinions (Algeo 1991b: 75) and therefore it is hard to give exact rules. However, two principles can be set up: the absolutely newness of a word and the reflection of the zeitgeist. 3.2. Reasons of Success of Neologisms 3.2.1 The frequency of occurrences The most important factor is that a word appears in as many different sources as possible. The more sources (newspapers, magazines, books etc.) a word appears in, the more obvious is the frequency and range of the term (Sheidlower 33). Besides, the more a word is cited the more popular it is; and consequently the more likely it is to be included in a dictionary. 3.2.2 Range among sources It is of interest to know the range of the new word because if a word is only common in a special field, it is not a candidate for a general dictionary but rather for a technical one. Therefore, a general dictionary excludes technical terms or terms well known in a certain field because they are not of general interest. However, there are exceptions: the term intellectual property[1]was

Psychic ability :: essays papers

Psychic ability Abstract The purpose of this study was to prove that the human mind has telepathic ability. To prove this, the subjects were asked to guess the suit of each card from a standard playing deck. The subjects were tested in a cozy, quiet environment inside their house. The first data recorded were the percentage of cards the subjects would randomly guess right. There are 52 cards in a deck and thirteen of each suit, so that would give someone a 13 out of 52 chance of merely guessing right or one-fourth. During the test, the subjects were instructed to take time and concentrate before giving an answer. The idea was that if the subject concentrated hard enough, the suit of the card would be revealed by the psychic ability of the mind. The results of the study showed that telepathic ability just might be a reality Psychic ability has been a subject that has interested me every since I saw the movie Maverick. In the movie, the main character, played by Mel Gibson, believes that if he thinks of a card and concentrates hard enough then he will draw that card. He starts out thinking of the card he needs. The character played by Gibson thinks long and hard to the point of almost exhaustion. He then draws the card, hoping that the card he is thinkin g of will be the card he draws. It never quite works out for him because I believe that he is not concentrating hard enough. At the end of the movie, however, when he is in the finals of a poker tournament, he tries it again. This time, his mind is in the zone, and it works. I have never been one to believe in telepathy, but one time I tried to give it a chance. One time, I was home alone and extremely bored, so I decided to try out what I had learned from Maverick. I was alone in my room, and I sat and thought about the ace of spades for what seemed like fifteen minutes. Concentrating and thinking only of the ace of spades, I drew a card and held it so I couldn’t see it. I said to myself, over and over again, this is the ace of spades.