What is behind the name "Growing English"?
This e-portfolio was created by Dheyse Medeiros, an undergraduate English student. First of all, the blog has evaluation and educational purposes, once it is going to be used for the discipline "History of English" of Universidade Federal de Campina Grande.
Nothing of this blog is unplanned. For example, the title "Growing English" was chosen instead of "English analysis" or other simpler names once the languages are alive. When something grows it grows from a seed (or embryo) that may never result in something identical, it tends to have its variations. Language works the same way: we have the roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and the fruits. However, when it comes to language, the trunk is the social culture, transporting and supporting, the dialects/languages are the branches with such a great variety, while the leaves, flowers and fruits represents the natural impulse to communicate, attracting us to understand each other and to create new ways of communication, but the roots are the history, collecting nutrients continuously, it never stops.
The position of the verb to grow has some explanation too: Who is making the English grow? We do it all the time. It doesn't matter if we are native or second language speakers, we are always reproducing and recreating the way the language is being spoken/written.
All of those pieces of information may be easily understood if you pay attention to the URL: thesiteisloadingthelanguageisgrowing. The site loads fast and so grows the language.
Sometimes, the best way to portray your learning process is by using mind maps. Check the Introduction Mind Map below to know some of the subjects which shall subsequently be discussed by Growing English.
SOURCE:
When a bug happens, it bugs us. However, a bug, that is, a little insect, does not "happens" it grows, procreates, and dies. Today we are not going to talk about ladybugs or mites, but about computer bugs. According to Techopedia, a bug refers to an error, fault, or flaw in any computer program or a hardware system. A bug produces unexpected results or causes a system to behave unexpectedly. We already know that both (the animal and the error) can irritate us, but there is a reason behind the computer bug be called bug? The answer is yes. The image below shows the nosey responsible for this word:
"On September 9th, 1947, an error in the US Naval-operated Mark II computer was caused by a moth being trapped between two electrical relays. William Burke, the operator who found it, was so amused that he took the moth and placed it in a log-book with the annotation “First actual case of bug being found”. This was meant as a pun and is certainly not the first time the word was used to denote errors. The log-book now rests on display in the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institute, with moth still attached." (TECHOPEDIA)
Despite having good evidence, as well as plenteous words of the Proto-Indo-European language family, it is not clear to trace its first usage. According to the National Museum of American History, Thomas Edison, an American inventor, talked about bugs in electrical circuits in 1870. In other words, it is not possible to assume the reason behind the title software bug, even knowing the more likely field to create it: technology. But it is possible to see that even having nothing to do with it (bug x computer bug) the meaning may change and is particularly likely to change in a field undergoing rapid expansion and development, such as computer technology (ALGEO, 2009, p. 209).
SOURCE
ALGEO, John. Words and Meanings. In: THE ORIGINS and Development of the English Language. 6. ed. Boston: Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning, 2009. cap. 9, p. 206-223. ISBN 978-1-4282-3145-0.
