HOUSEHOLD NAMES

THE LANGUAGE WE USE TO DESCRIBE OUR HOMES REVEALS A LOT ABOUT OUR HISTORY AND THE WAY WE USED TO LIVE

Words: JULIAN WALKER

Sofa, verandah, eiderdown: many of the words we use to describe items and the spaces of our homes come from different languages (Turkish, a combination of Hindi and Portuguese, and Icelandic, respectively). Language is both a part of and a ref lection of social history – the words we use to describe how we live are constantly changing – just as the way we live is changing, too. Curiously though, we might just have managed to understand an Anglo-Saxon family talking about their home over 1,000 years ago. AT HOME WITH THE ANGLO-SAXONS For most Anglo-Saxons (the period beginning around 450CE), home would be a single-room hus, sounding similar to the Scottish pronunciation of 'house'. A wealthy Anglo-Saxon family would have lived in a hall, entered through a duru (door); sitting on…

You're reading a preview of

The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.