Five Language Facts

1. The word 'bonfire' is derived from 'bone' and 'fire', literally a burning of bones.


2. 'Admiral' is derived from the Arabic 'emir' (prince, ruler), reflected in the following quotation from Milton "... to be the Mast/ Of some great Ammiral, were but a wand" (Paradise Lost I: 293-4).


3. Arabic and Hebrew both belong to the Semitic language family, and share many features in common. Compare, for instance, the letters 'aleph' (Heb) and 'alif' (Ar), 'koph' (Heb) and 'qaf' (Ar).


4. There is no exact equivalent of the verb 'to be' in the Malay language.


5. 'Hwaet', the first word of Beowulf, has no modern derivative in the English language.