Rumi the Problem Solver

Rumi the Problem Solver The poems and parables of the great Persian Sufi poet, Moulana Jalaluddin Rumi, have given people consolation, insight and joy and can aid in solving many modern problems. In “The Guest House,” Rumi writes, “Be grateful for whoever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond,” (ll. 16-17). To begin with, Rumi expresses, through this poem, the importance of our emotions. Emotions, both good and bad, are integral components for developing wisdom and living life.

Good emotions do enhance your life but negative emotions also aid in the betterment of life. If you had never felt sad, how would you know what being happy felt like? The truth is that negative emotions make us appreciate and cherish the “happy days” even more. Negative experiences and emotions build character. Emotions are our defining characteristic and make life more interesting. Emotions are like a splash of color on a white canvas, without them, the canvas would be bland and absolutely boring. Emotions are important for solving delicate global issues such as human trafficking.

Rumi’s wisdom can solve this problem because the victims of this modern day slave trade need emotional support from society, loved ones, and even strangers to recover. We need to give them that support. Rumi also promoted the concept of equality. In his poem entitled “Only Breath,” Rumi writes, “ I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one all to and know,” (ll. 11-12). Rumi sums up, in two simple lines, a concept that human beings have been unable to comprehend ever since the dawn of their existence.

Equality is an essential part of solving many modern conflicts. Most conflicts are born because of inequality. Since the very beginning of time, we’ve always been taught that this is my toy and that is yours or this is my country and that is yours. Things have always been divided, rights have been snatched away for superficial reasons, and people have been victims of discrimination because of inequality. In times like these, in times of global crisis, the world needs to pull together and work as a team.

Every year, thousands of people in third world countries die because of land disputes and families are torn apart. The practice of Rumi’s idea of equality can cure this problem and other issues like terrorism and poverty. Poverty is a direct result of the uneven distribution of wealth practiced in many third world countries. More equality could fix this problem and save countless lives. Rumi’s poems give us peace of mind, compassion, timeless wisdom, healing words, inspiration, and friendship, which are key components of life.

It is for all this reason that I believe Rumi is the answer to all our problems our personal, interpersonal, social, and international problems. In “Ghazal 1101” Rumi writes, “You live for God and yourself, not for riches” (ll. 1). Modern society is plagued with greed; there is evidence everywhere. People like Bernie Madoff have stripped thousands of their wealth and families are torn apart because of greed. Embracing Rumi’s message about greed could solve the economical crises like ours.

If money hadn’t been lost in financial scams, the economy would be in a much better place. Families would be saved and elder abuse would stop. The more we read and enjoy Rumi’s poems, the more compassionate and the less selfish and less greedy we become. The more Rumi’s poetry spreads around the world and enlightens people’s mind, there will be more peace and happiness in the world. If our political leaders read and understand Rumi’s poetry and live up to that understanding, the less violent and the more friendly nations will be.

If you think that religious fanatics are destroying human life and freedom, Rumi is the answer because he calls for understanding, tolerance and friendship, and views love and compassion as rays of the Divine light shining upon our inner being. The fact that Rumi’s sweet poems are on our lips seven centuries after his death testify to the truth of Rumi’s vision and the beauty of his poetry. Rumi is badly needed in our increasingly interdependent world because Rumi’s constituency is not a particular creed or community but the human heart.

Mass Wasting

Mass Wasting (also Mass Movement): – is the down slope movement of earth materials under the influence of gravity. The detachment and movement of earth materials occurs if the stress imposed is greater than the strength of the material to hold it in place. – Mass movement is a naturally occurring process that contributes to the cycle of tectonic uplift, erosion, transportation, and deposition of sediments. They are responsible for the topography of mountain ranges and river canyons that has developed over geologic time. Types of mass wasting: A. Slide involves movement of coherent blocks of material along a well-defined surface 1.

Rockslide • Also called debris slides or “landslides”. Occurs when blocks of rock, or masses of unconsolidated material slide down a slope. These are among the most destructive of mass movements. May be triggered by rain or melting snow, or earthquakes. 2. Slump • Slumps involve a mass of soil or other material sliding along a curved, rotational surface. (Shaped like a spoon. ) Slumps are sometimes seen along interstate highways where the graded soil on the sides of the road is a little too steep. 3. Creep • A SLOW downhill movement of soil and regolith.

Creep results in tree trunks that are curved at the base, tilted utility poles, fence posts, and tombstones, and causes retaining walls to be broken or overturned. B. Fall involves free fall of material (no contact with any surface except to bounce) Rock fall -The free fall of detached pieces of material of any size; may fall directly downward or bounce and roll. May occur as result of freeze-thaw, or the loosening action of plant roots. Causes the formation of talus slopes. Signs along highways warn of rolling rock in mountainous areas where the road has been cut into the hillside.

C. Flow involves continuous movement of material as a viscous fluid 1. Debris flow or mudflow • Commonly occur in volcanic areas, where they are called lahars. Mudflows generally follow established drainage patterns (valleys). 2. Earthflow • Form in humid areas on hillsides following heavy rain or melting snow, in fine-grained materials (clay and silt). Also occurs at the toe of slumps. Rate of movement varies (less than 1 mm per day to several meters per day), but may be long-lived (days to years). Includes the liquefaction associated with earthquakes. 3. Solifluction also known as soil fluction or soil creep, where waterlogged sediment slowly moves downslope over impermeable material. It can occur in any climate where the ground is saturated by water, though it is most often found in periglacial environments where the ground is permanently frozen (permafrost) Forces involved in mass wasting are: 1. gravity, a vertical force that can be split into vectors parallel to (tangential) and perpendicular to a surface(normal) 2. friction on the surface or between grains 3. shear strength, a measure of material strength and cohesion Kinds of Material Moved 1. Bedrock. . Soil (Regolith) 3. Water Mass movements are caused by various conditions: • Volcanic activity many times causes huge mudflows when the icy cover of a volcano melts and mixes with the soil to form mud as the magma in the volcano stirs preceding an eruption. • During heavy rainfall or rapid snow melt, water rapidly accumulates in the ground, changing the earth into a flowing river of mud. • Earthquake shocks cause sections of mountains and hills to break off and slide down. • Human modification of the land or weathering and erosion help loosen large chunks of earth and start them sliding downhill. Vibrations from machinery, traffic, weight loading from accumulation of snow; stockpiling of rock or ore; from waste piles and from buildings and other structures. • Gravitational pull of the earth on soil, rocks, and mud is the force behind mass movements. Factors Affecting Mass Wasting Several factors that determine the extent of mass wasting are: 1. Slope stability. The steeper the slope, the less stable it is. If the angle on the slope is great than the angle of repose, the slope will fail, resulting in mass wasting. Angle of Repose -maximum angle at which unconsolidated material on slope is stable • Slope stability depends on the nature of material • Slope stability also depends on the driving and resisting forces that act on the slope • 2. The degree of chemical weathering. In regions where there is more chemical weathering, there is a greater chance for mass wasting. • 3. The water content. Water adds weight to the slope, increase pore spaces in between grains, makes it easier for material to slide down the slope. • . Vegetation. The amount of vegetation can help reduce the rate of mass wasting. The roots help absorb water and help keep the soil in place. Removal of vegetation will speed up mass wasting. • 5. Overloading. Adding too much weight on a slope can increase water pressure. • 6. Geological features. When bedding is dipping in the same direction of the slope, there is a greater chance for mass wasting. Joints in the rocks also allow more water to seep into the ground. The type of rocks and their composition also affects mass wasting. Rate of Movement Slow movements primarily affect unconsolidated material at depths less than 1 meter, where movement rates average from 1 mm/yr to 1 mm/day: • Moderate velocity movements have movement rates that average from 1 cm/day to 1 cm/s. Mass movements of this type include: • Rapid movements, which have movement rates ranging from meters/second to 100 km/hr, occur on steep slopes. Social and Economical Impact of Mass Movements Mass movements produce a variety of effects. 1. loss of life 2. floods, damming up bodies of water 3. destruction to habitable land 4. Damages to structures or property . loss of tax revenues on devalued properties 6. reduced real estate values in landslide prone areas 7. loss of productivity of agricultural lands affected by landslides 8. loss of industrial productivity because of interruption of transportation systems by landslides 9. damage to railroads, building structure and underground pipes Preventive Measures 1. Bridge 2. Slope reduction and weight reduction 3. Retention Structures – walls or ground covers 4. Fluid removal – bore holes, subsurface drainage 5. Vertical piles driven into slide 6. Rock bolts 7. Flood control channels

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

This Is Why You Should Just Pee Right On the Trail In the story “The girl who loved Tom Gordon” it works with the theme man vs. nature. It demonstrates the unimportance of a single human life, while at the same time shows the limits of a person’s strength and motivation to exist. Trisha’s experience shows her struggle against the strength of nature and her potential to live pleasantly with nature by her will to keep on moving forward, using what she had around her, going delusional, and the wasp god/ beast following her. Trisha wasn’t sure if moving every day was a good and bad thing.

The bad part about her moving was the fact that if she hadn’t moved on the first day and just stayed in the area she might have been found and rescued by the search group that was sent out a while later. The good thing about Trisha staying on the move was that is kept the beast at a fair amount of distance away from her. She couldn’t just sit and wait to be found, she had to go off and try and find civilization herself because for all she knew, no one would ever find her. Trisha had used her surroundings exceptionally well.

After she ran out of food from her lunch she had to find another source of food. She was able to find certain leaves, nuts, and berries that are edible. As another source of food, she had done some fishing, because she got really hungry. She swore to never talk about it with anyone once she was out of the woods because she was so disgusted by it. She would use the streams and rivers she was near as her drinking and cleaning water, even though the water got her really sick. She was also able to use her surroundings to make small shelters as she traveled.

Trisha used twigs and branches to either put on top of her as she slept or made a fort out of it. This was to try and keep her partially warm, block off the wind and rain, and to keep animals out. She also used her rain poncho as a blanket to try and keep herself warm on cold nights. During most of the time while Trisha was lost in the wood she began talking to the voice in her head, Tom Gordon, or her best friend, Pepsi. Too bad neither of them are actually there. Tom Gordon and Pepsi are part of Trisha going delusional so she’s not alone.

Tom Gordon is Trisha’s favorite baseball player on the Red Sox’s team and the person she has a crush on. He is there for most of the time while she’s in the woods. An example of a place that he is seen by Trisha is when it’s night time and their in the open clearing where she was about to go to sleep for the night. Pepsi is seen when Trisha is getting closer to finding the road. The voice in her head that she talks to is her own conscience telling her the truth of what she was really thinking. By her seeing and talking to these people makes her delusional.

While in the woods she met three cloaked people; two with white cloaks and one with black. The one in black was known as the wasp god and he was coming from the beast within the woods warning her that she was being followed by “it”. Toward the end of the story, this so called wasp god had turned out to be a black bear following her. The bear made Trisha scared, cautious, and even a little crazy throughout the story. In the very end, Trisha showed her bravery by standing up to the bear, staring it straight in the eyes, pitching her walkman, and startling it.

She was saved by the hunter scaring the bear off with a gun shot and getting Trisha out of there and to safety. In conclusions, the story “The girl who loved Tom Gordon” worked with the theme man vs. nature. It showed her struggle against the force of nature and her capability to live melodiously with nature by her motivation to keep on moving forward, using what she had around her, going delusional, and the wasp god/ beast following her. Work Cited King, Stephen. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Pocket Books: New York, 1999.

Why Rosie the Riveter?

Why Rosie the Riveter? Answers for the Future of Women History is often taken for granted in today’s society. Without certain events in our nations past, the America we live in today would be vastly different. More specifically, women in the 21st century would live dramatically different lives if it were not for the women who changed the image of women in America forever. The New Women of the Progressive Era resisted domesticity and the Flapper allowed women to have fun. Rosie the Riveter told women that “We can do it! while the “Happy Housewife” brought on political and economic changes during the post war era. Though not all of these groups put women in the best light; they all helped form the path for future women of America. During the Progressive Era, a new wave of women was emerging; quite literally, these women were referred to as New Women. These women were college-educated, frequently unmarried, and self-supporting. Their rise surfaced after the Civil War, and by 1870 there were eleven thousand women enrolled in higher education.

The New Women moved into growing female careers, like teaching and nursing, and they began to find new ways of living outside of the family. However, they were also being accused of unnaturally refusing motherhood, and people claimed that research proved too much education could harm the reproductive system. Women thus began to turn to solidarity and reformation just as the generation of their mothers did before them. They formed clubs, such as missionary societies, and women’s clubs like the WCTU (Woman’s Christian Temperance Union) and made a new claim to domesticity.

Their policies stated that those who chose careers over marriage would reveal maternal skills when needed. Teaching the young, tending to the poor, and improving the heath of women and children were their goals. This claim rested on the success of new, female-dominated institutions, which allowed women to support one another in creating new ideas, publicizing them and beginning political battles to defend them. Settlement houses and reform associations, like the National Consumers’ League, wished to shape a public policy for the next generations of women.

Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr began the Hull House in 1889, which was equipped with a nursery and kindergarten for children, gave cooking and sewing lesson, and held lectures and cultural events celebrating immigrants’ cultures. All women were welcome in to this institution as it was the center for labor activism by middle and working class women. The work that Addams and Starr started became the foundation for social work as a profession, just as New Women created the foundation for the next generations of women.

After the suffrage movement won women the vote, the birth of a new youth culture came about in the post World War I America, a period of relaxation and fun. The Flapper was born, a woman that sought out new experiences, like dancing and smoking and flaunting her sexuality, such activities that were once uncharacteristic of women to do. The Flapper Era was a result of the boredom women faced in politics; “they wanted to have fun”. Women were able to experience more freedom in what they wore, in what they did, and in being public.

There was a consumer increase as women began spending more money to fit the Flapper ideal. The new found freedom was quite literally elating for most women, as it became a sex positive time period. Marriage was no longer for the economical benefit of the family, but was out of true love. However, the Flapper lifestyle was not as free living as it made itself seem. Relationships were defined as being heterosexual, and lesbian relationships became deviant. So, women competed with one another for male attention, in hopes of finding marriage, replacing the “female friendship”.

Purchasing power proved to be too great of a power for some women, as the industrial economy shifted from products to the consumer economy. Eating disorders also emerged from the Flapper Era, as women tried to fit into the flapper body. It was not until the Second World War, that women began having a greater role in society, one that was not long lived. With World War II at large and many men leaving to go fight for our country, women were asked to take the place of men in various establishments. Women began to cater to the needs of society during the war and felt it was their civic duty to contribute to the war in this way.

In actuality, it was simply a convenient way for factories to keep their business up and running, and by turning to the housewives for employees they were able to do just that. An astonishing level of legislative intrusion in the economy, and in the forming principals and position accomplished during the war demonstrated the recruitment of women for industrial work. A great shift in how women in the workforce were viewed occurred as the all famous “Rise the Riveter” became and increasingly popular mascot for their “We can do it! ” mindset.

Most propaganda ads displayed women dressed nicely at work to attract women to the job and advertised the simplicity of some jobs by comparing them to stereotypical household tasks. During the war, women would work making gun bayonets, building ships, working in factories usually making bombs and aircraft parts, air raid wardens, plumbers, ambulance drivers, WRVS volunteers and nurses. As a result of pressing demands that women be allowed to serve their country by women’s organizations, the WAC, WAVES, SPARS, MCWR and WASP were formed as well as the army and nursing corps.

However, even in these various military positions women were faced with the traditional labor force segregation, and each branch avoided placing women in positions where they may be able to have authority over a man, and also prohibited women to fly over seas. Moreover, women who had children, were lesbian, or black, were not permitted to enlist in any military group. Employers had no interest in training the women for skilled work for they saw the women as temporary employees. They refused to hire the black women and even went as fat as to lower the wages of women who were working “male jobs”.

Because the shortage of housing and transportation was affecting them, it limited their options a great deal. Mothers of small children found it difficult to find childcare; while the mothers were away at work the infants and children were often left at home or in the car. Men would harass women continuously and women were even subject to sexual harassment. Even the media was playing out on this discrimination; they would assure Americans that women would return to their traditional roles, as the Happy Housewife once the war was over. What it meant to be a wife took on an entire new meaning in the 20s.

She must remain attractive and interesting, and with the new cave of products, the woman was more capable of caring for her family. It was still commonly thought that the woman was in charge of the caring of her family, so naturally, advertisements for such products revolved around the housewife. Although women were encouraged to be independent, they were still sought after for reproduction and childcare. Mothers were expected to stay at the core of the family, and thus were the symbol of safety and security for both the family and the world.

On the outside, these women were presented as being the community provider, the wife, mother, and cook, while in reality these women were depressed, unfulfilled and isolated. Again, these women were not always put in the best circumstances; they faced unrealistic molds, and discrimination. Yet it is these molds that allow the women of today to have the freedom they deserve. Though it is important to remember there is still a lot to be dealt with to meet the goal of equality all women should strive to accomplish. These women took some of the first steps towards that direction, and have passed the torch onto the generation of women today.

I Heard the Owl Call My Name

The Messiah of Quee In the novel, I Heard The Owl Call My Name, Mark Brian is suffering a severe illness and is sent to a village in British Columbia. Here, he will learn about life from the villagers and teach them too. Jesus taught everybody, including his disciples, how to live their life in the presence of God. Christ died on the cross for our sins we committed. Mark dies not from his illness but from an anomalous land slide.

Margret Craven, the author, characterizes Father Mark Brian as a Christ-like figure through Mark sacrifices his life and his customs of life, Mark answering the village’s problems, and the town acting like disciples of Jesus. Mark was first sent to the village of Kingcome, in Indian its Quee, which means inside place, by the Bishop. At first when Mark arrives, the tribe doesn’t accept him but later on, they like him. Mark spends about a year and a half at the village which is how many more years he will live. Also, he gives up his lavish life style to life in a shack.

He has no electricity, no running water, and a slight amount of food to last him a day. To get his food he has to use the traditional method of getting food which is hunting for animal. Jesus went through the same characteristics as Mark. Jesus lived in a time of no electricity, no running water, and especially no type of market to get food. “To keep fed, to keep warm, to keep alive. One woman said, “I am sorry. I have only enough fuel for my own family,” and one man said, “I cannot share with you, friend” (Craven131).

This quote refers to a man who said he could not provide enough food for Mark and he only had enough for him and his family. Jesus and Mark are willing to help everyone in a time of need. Mark sacrifices the rest of his life to help the poor village. Mark helps rebuild the neglected church which means a lot to the village of Quee, which has not been repaired in a long time. He puts a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the reconstruction of the church. Another characteristic is the town coming to Mark for answers. People are always coming to Jesus for answers.

The village is also encountering problems with the younger generation because they are not caring about the old traditions and focusing more on the white mans ideas. Another problem that the village faces is why a white man wanted to buy the giant mask. Marks tell them that people want to buy it so they can sell it and make lots of money. One of the villagers said, “What has the white man done to our young “( 73) and Mark tells them why he treated the young girl cajole so he could steal the giant mask along with getting Gordon’s uncle drunk.

Jesus is always telling his followers that there isn’t always good in life. Jesus wants people to do the right thing in life but they don’t all ways do. The villagers always came to Mark looking for an answer which they could not solve by themselves. This all adds up to the village acting as Mark’s disciples. The disciples of Jesus came to him and would asked questions or Jesus would come to them and ask, why are your doing this or that. Jesus wanted his disciples to not be afraid but have faith in him. Mark is the samel, too.

When he needs a question answered, the village responds and when the village comes to him, Mark responds. Jesus loved everybody and so did Mark. Jesus and Mark end up dying for a cause in their life. The village becomes melancholy with Mark’s death because he put so much effort into helping everyone in the village In conclusion, Mark soon understands that no matter how simple it may be geese flying over a river, trees swaying in the wind, or ordinands leading a tribe of people, everything has a purpose in life.

Mark’s purpose was to help the village of Quee and Jesus’ purpose to spread the word of God. Mark was not able to answer all the towns’ problems, but did help them in a formal way. Jesus dies for us and Mark dies for the village. Mark is a perfect example of resembling a Christ-like figure through him solving just about every problem in the village and willing to help others in a time of crisis. Work Cited Craven, Margaret. I Heard The Owl Call My Name. New York: Dell Publishing, 1973.

It’s a Guy Thing About a Boy Review

Zachary Woodruff’s “About a Boy” review titled “It’s a Guy Thing”, published September 8, 1998 in the “Tuscan Weekly”, criticizes what, in Woodruff’s opinion, makes the book entertaining and enjoyable yet not memorable and influential. The reader is presented with a short summary of the book’s main storyline focusing on why and how Marcus is an awkward kid, Marcus’s sources of misery and how Will fits into Marcus’s life. Will is able to assist him due to Will’s immaturity, which he employs as a tool to teach Marcus, whose development exceeds his age, how to be a child.

The paradox of a grown man teaching a child how to in fact be a child is hinted in the book’s title “About a Boy”. Subsequently reading the book one realizes that the “boy” the title is referring to is more likely to be Will than it is Marcus, stressing Nick Hornby’s cleverness. Woodruff also points out Hornby’s cleverness in naming the protagonist Will Freeman as it is an obvious definition of the character himself. If one were to break down the name and truly look at the words’ definition one would find that Will Freeman does in fact live proudly by the lifestyle a free man with free will.

Another main aspect Woodruff underlines is how Hornby did not aim for a cliche or extreme novel, which actually contributed to it. As opposed to other novels, the main relationship fixation in the book is not one between a man and woman but rather between a man and a child. Also another unique quality is that although one usually has preset notions concerning certain events in the book, they turn out nothing like one had expected which therefore makes the novel less predictable than others thus leaving the reader in astonishment.

Hornby very rarely goes overboard with the plot as a whole although the opportunity to do so is available more than once. Furthermore Woodruff highlights the effect of the informal, relaxed prose Hornby uses supposedly with the intent to illustrate the protagonist and his way of thinking. What generally stands out of the novel as a whole is not its brilliance or wild imagination but rather its lack of those qualities and yet the reader’s ability to connect with the characters on a certain level.

Consequently the book is temporarily effective and pleasurable, nevertheless was unable to build up to a long term, deep idea for the reader. In order to grasp the attention and genuine intrigue of the reader, Woodruff is truly able to indulge in the review he is writing and do so for the reader as well. Rather than taking a solemn approach, he initiates the text with a sarcastic yet clever remark on the protagonist’s name: “This week’s winner for the most obvious fictional character name goes to Will Freeman. ” (L. ) Because a hidden message is unveiled that not many of the readers would have noticed prior to reading this review, it leaves the reader dazed and bemused from the start. Throughout the review Woodruff seems playful and uses irony, and although that could be misinterpreted as “low quality”, it is in fact more inviting. Woodruff is able to get all of his views across to the reader in a way that the reader can understand and identify with his criticism. Another style in the language that contributes to Woodruff’s easy-flowing, down-to-earth review is its register.

The level of the language used is relatively colloquial. Woodruff applies words like “dammit”, “man”, “butt-kicking” etc. which are considered slang/ taboo words. Short forms are also used in Woodruff’s review which is not to be used in formal language: “doesn’t”, “it’s” etc. Other than that the language is fairly simple and comprehendible. The usage of such informal and easy language makes this review accessible to anyone and everyone. Woodruff also refers to expressions used daily that are easily able to stress the point one is attempting to make and yet is proficient in adding his own style; e. . “cooler-than-thou”. It derives from the expression “holier-than-thou”, which is used to describe a person who thinks they are more morally righteous than others. So “cooler-than-thou” is to describe someone or something that believes to be better or superiorly cooler than others. Through the general style portrayed by Woodruff, the review is playfully serious and allows certain hidden aspects and perspectives to surface. As Woodruff suggested in his review, Hornby attempts to demonstrate Will’s character through the style of the prose the personal narrator uses in the book, e. g. : Will wrestled with his conscience, grappled it to the ground and sat on it until he couldn’t hear a squeak out of it. Why should he care if Marcus went to school or not? Ok, wrong question. He knew very well why he should care whether Marcus went to school. Try a different question: How much did he care whether Marcus went to school or not? Answer: not a lot. That was better. He drove home. ”- (Chapter 20, p. 159) This specific paragraph begins with a metaphor that allows us to really recognize how deeply Will is struggling with his conscience and yet how he is able to overcome its persistence and shut it up.

Most of the sentences are elliptical and some are even incomplete serving the purpose of truly projecting the way Will, among all people, thinks. One also finds himself stating questions in one’s head and contemplating on them as is shown here as well. As one looks closely to the flow of Will’s thoughts one recognizes that he is one to do whatever possible in order to avoid responsibility or the need to intervene into another person’s life. He is confronted with emotions of caring for another person in this paragraph but finds a sneaky way to escape those emotions and trick himself into not caring.

He goes from asking himself whether or not he cares if Marcus were to go to school to which extent it is he cares, therefore making it excusable for him to just “drive home. ” Also Will’s thoughts seem so be constantly jumping around from emotions to facts to escape mechanisms; he first states a question then comments on that question etc. Will is in a regular battle between his objectivity and his feelings. Conclusively since the narrator knows Will’s thoughts it is omniscient, but on the other hand, the narrator’s knowledge is limited as other people’s thoughts and actions are only seen, described and often interpreted through Will’s eyes.

Hence Hornby allows the reader to be linked to Will and understand what he is thinking but also provides the reader with an opinion of Will as an observer. Zachary Woodruff’s review stated at the end that “…the book doesn’t leave you with much to remember after you’ve finished. ” I must pronounce that I do not fully agree with this statement. It is justified to say that the book’s all-in-all impact on the reader is not vast; however, it does exhibit multiple messages concerning varied, imperative and inalienable matters and truths in life.

The focal points are the issues one faces when growing up, bullying, adults who are incapable of accepting responsibility, single parents, what it means to be an adult, children losing their innocence in dysfunctional families, the need for love and shared human relationships, and the fact that no man is an island. An adult and his maturity are not defined by age but by experience. Therefore those who lack experience and lack the opportunities while growing up to learn to be responsible may never truly reach a decent level of maturity. In order to obtain the ability to be responsible one must be trained; it is a skill one must develop.

To truly be responsible one must have acquired consciousness and awareness of one’s maturity level. The ability to be an adult at any age or to not be an adult at an age one would consider customary was projected by Marcus’ maturity and ability to analyze and understand situations only mature people could and that Will was just as immature as any teenager despite his real age, and his unwillingness to take responsibility for anything for the majority of his life. Another message the book held for the reader is the difficulties of growing up, which can take place at any age.

To grow up is to encounter new emotions and thoughts, to view issues from different perspectives and to endure pain and hurt in order to distinguish between good and bad. One begins to learn the “unwritten rules” about life and must develop certain skills in order to survive. The attainment of such skills primarily begins at home and later on is further developed according to the child’s exposure. Consequently if the family is in some way dysfunctional then these skills may either never develop or develop too fast from a different source causing the child to miss out on its childhood.

Every family faces its own difficulties and issues and the parents always come face to face with obstacles and in the end the child’s ability to grow up in a healthy and natural way depends on the parents’ qualification and strength when faced with these obstacles. Many parents go through separation, divorce, abuse and many other things that may result in the parents not being compatible together leading to single parents. How one deals with being on one’s own also fully relies on the parent as an individual. Single parents are in a difficult position be it by choice or by force.

Naturally one is supposed to have both a mother and father when raising children and while the absence of one of those parents may not have permanent negative results on the child and may even be better for it, it will definitely make the job for the present parent much more difficult. According to the nature of the break-up the parent is carrying around emotions that may inflict on the relationship of the parent and the child. Due to these emotions the parent may not be competent enough to fulfill the roles required of a parent (e. g. to be an instructor, friend, supporter etc. leading to the child being under more pressure to be the adult and take care of the parent. This is projected in the book as Marcus’ mother, Fiona, is depressed and attempts to take her own life. As Marcus has to witness such an act he is put under more pressure as a child than he should be under, constantly worrying about how to take care of his mother. He obtains this role of an adult because he feels he needs to and at the same time is ripped of the innocent perspective one has on life at a child and is confronted with life’s ugliness, pain and obscurity too early.

Bullying is another issue presented in the book that plays a crucial role in the development of children. According to a website focusing on bullying, bullying is defined as “a pattern of behavior whereby one person with a lot of internal anger, resentment and aggression and lacking interpersonal skills chooses to displace their aggression onto another person, chosen for their vulnerability with respect to the bully, using tactics of constant criticism, nit-picking, exclusion, isolation, teasing etc. with verbal, psychological, emotional and (especially with children) physical violence. There are many forms of bullying, some of which mentioned above, and it is not only the bullied that needs to be taken into consideration but also the bully him-/herself. The targets of bullies are usually those who cannot fend for themselves and who are considered vulnerable due to their small size or low self-esteem. All these are problems that should be addressed and worked on but also the bully is usually faced with a severe problem he is not consciously aware of or does not want to acknowledge and therefore expresses his frustration through most obvious means.

Bullying has caused depression and even suicide amongst children as young as twelve years of age. Its effects are severe and if not dealt with immediately could have lifelong consequences. The book also succeeded in highlighting the importance of the need for love and shared human relationships. Relationships teach a person certain things and help a person take on certain fundamental qualities that are required in life. Through relationships and love one learns to be selfless, to share, trust, relate and connect. Also relationships can be a source of role-models or confidence i. e. the relationship between a child and a parent.

Moreover a relationship between a man and a woman, be it romantic or merely friendly, can offer you a point of reference and motivation. All relationships help a person become who he is and allows a person to thrive being surrounded by people that care about him and believe in him. As exemplified in “About a Boy” Marcus and Will’s relationship had a huge impact on who they were as individuals and in fact helped them become who they were meant to be, as Rachael and Will’s relationship broadened Will’s understanding of life and the ability to care for someone as deeply as he did for her.

Finally, the last message the book holds for its readers is the fact that “no man is an island”. As portrayed in all the above mentioned messages of the book, everything and everyone is connected. All things take place as a consequence of something prior to it. The circle of life is that everyone gives and takes; we are all connected through a chain that is never-ending. We each have to ability to affect others; it is a power we each possess and also one that must be used carefully and responsibly. Many, like Will, attempt to go through their whole lives without affecting those around them as well as not being affected by anyone or anything.

However, it is inescapable and though it may make life more difficult or may cause more stress, it is what makes life worth living; the ability to change others lives and the ability to be changed yourself. Living in isolation, trying to live on an island defies the whole purpose of life and as projected in the book, when one embraces this chain it can affect your life in the best way. But one must also beware that “no man is an ocean” as well, for we must not allow every single surrounding to affect us as individuals.

One must find a gray area between being an island and being an ocean and find a way to embrace the world and yet at the same time not let it control you. I believe that although “About a Boy” is not an especially powerful book, it held some of life’s realities and left us with many issues that we must take into consideration. It was able to open up our eyes to truths one must be aware. Because of this book I was encouraged to research such exceedingly crucial problems and learned so much about how to avoid such problems and how to deal with them. Therefore the book, for me, definitely served the purpose of why it is I find it vital to read.

Measuring the Cost of Quality Management

ECONOMIC CASE FOR QUALITY Measuring the Cost of Quality For Management by Gary Cokins T he quality movement has used the term cost of quality (COQ) for decades. But few organizations have actually adopted a reliable and repeatable method for measuring and reporting COQ and applied it to improve operations. Is the administrative effort just not worth the benefits, or is there a deeper problem with the methodology for measuring COQ? What COQ Should Do At an operational level, quality management techniques effectively identify waste and accelerate problem solving for tactical issues related to process improvement.

For many organizations, quality management initiatives have prevented financial losses from customer defections caused by quality problems or from waste and inefficiencies. At a more strategic level, however, has quality management reached an adequate level of support from senior executives? Unfortunately, the avoidance of reduced profits from quality initiatives is not widely measured or reported by organizational financial accounting systems. As a result, organizations cannot easily quantify the magnitude of benefits in financial terms—and the language of money is how most organizations operate.

In short, there has been a disconnect between quality initiatives and bottom-line profits to validate any favorable impact on profitability and costs. QUALITY PROGRESS In 50 Words Or Less • Although management prefers to have fact based data and reasonable estimates to evaluate decisions and prioritize spending, financial measurements generally aren’t used to validate quality’s impact on profitability and costs. • Activity based cost/management systems are effective ways to account for the hidden costs of poor quality. I SEPTEMBER 2006 I 45

ECONOMIC CASE FOR QUALITY Why Traditional Accounting Fails One of the obstacles affecting quality management and other initiatives has been the accounting field’s traditional emphasis on external reporting. The initial financial data are captured in a format that does not lend itself to decision making. It is always risky to invest in improving processes when true costs are not well established. This is because management lacks a valid cost base against which to compare the expected benefits from improving or reengineering the process.

In The Process-Centered Enterprise, Gabe Pall says: Historically, process management has always suffered from the lack of an obvious and reliable method of measurement that consistently indicates the level of resource consumption (expenses) by the business processes at any given time—an indicator which always interests executive management and is easily understood. The bottom line is that most businesses have no clue about the costs of their processes or their processes’ various outputs. 1 2. Management can more reliably assess the different value of processes and how they contribute to the overall performance of the business.

The accountant’s traditional general ledger is a wonderful instrument for what it is designed to do: post and summarize transactions into specific account balances. But the cost data in this format (salaries, supplies, depreciation) are structurally deficient for decision support, including measuring COQ. They disclose what was spent but not why or who or for what. Expense data must be transformed into the costs of the processes that traverse across the departmental cost centers reported in a general ledger system—and ultimately transformed into the costs of products, services and ustomers that uniquely consume the costs of various processes. Bring Facts, Not Hunches To some people, it is obvious better management of quality ultimately leads to good performance, which in turn should lead to improved financial health of an organization. These people believe if you simply improve quality, good things, such as happier customers and higher profits, automatically will fall into place. Other types prefer having fact based data and reasonable estimates for evaluating decisions and prioritizing spending.

They do believe in quality programs, but in complex organizations with scarce idle resources, they prefer to be more certain of where it is best to spend discretionary money. Some quality managers have become skeptical about measuring COQ. They have seen increasing regulations and standards, such as the ISO 9000 series, in which installing any form of COQ measurement is perceived as more of a documentation compliance exercise for certification to a standard rather than a benefit to improve performance. Veterans of quality management believe quality just for quality’s sake—meaning conformance to a standard—is not sufficient.

They say quality should be viewed as a condition in which value entitlement is realized for customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders in every aspect of a relationship. There always will be debates among shareholders, customers, employees, taxpayers and environ- When the costs of processes and their outputs can be measured adequately, two things can happen: 1. It can gain management’s attention and give management confidence the accounting data are reliable business indicators. FIGURE 1 Levels and Scope of Quality Costs Error free Postponed profits Costs of quality

Lost profits Customer incurred costs Socioeconomic costs Purchased goods and services 46 I SEPTEMBER 2006 I www. asq. org mentalists about trade-offs, but the methods of COQ measurement can help convert debates into agreements. 2 Quantification Methods Exist The lack of widespread tracking of COQ in practice is surprising because the tools, methods and technologies exist to do it. A research study investigating the maturity of COQ revealed the major reason for not tracking COQ was management’s belief it lacks sufficient value. 3 Other major reasons are a lack of knowledge

Categorizing Quality Costs Almost every organization realizes anything less than the highest quality is not an option. High quality is simply an entry ticket for the opportunity to compete or exist. Attaining high quality is a must. Anything less will lead to an organization’s terminal collapse. To some people, quality costs are quite visible and obvious. To others, quality costs are understated. These people believe many quality related costs are hidden and go unreported. Figure 1 illustrates several levels of nonerror free quality costs.

This article’s scope is the figure’s inner concentric circles—those costs cited in the organization’s financial profit and loss reporting. Examples of these obvious hidden financial costs and lost income opportunities include rework, excess scrap material, warranties and field repairs. These error related costs can be measured directly from the financial system. Spending amounts are recorded in the accountant’s general ledger system using the chart of accounts, but other types cannot be measured directly from the financial system. Sometimes the quality related costs include the expenses of an ntire department, such as an inspection department that arguably is solely quality related. However, as organizations flatten and eliminate layers and as employees multitask more, it is rare for an entire department to focus exclusively on quality. COQ related work is thus part but not all of its work. The hidden poor quality costs, represented in Figure 1’s inner COQ concentric circles, are less obvious and more difficult to measure. For example, a hidden cost would be those hours a few employees spend sorting through paperwork resulting from a billing error.

Although these employees do not reside in a department dedicated to quality related activities, such as inspection or rework, that portion of their workday was definitely quality related. These costs of correcting errors are not reflected in the chart of accounts of an accounting system— and are referred to as hidden costs. A rule of thumb is that the nearer the failure is to the end-user, the more expensive it is to correct. of how to track costs and benefits of COQ and a lack of adequate accounting and computer systems.

Given the advances in today’s data collection, data warehousing, data mining and activity based cost/management (ABC/M) system implementations, these reasons begin to look like lame excuses. The technology is no longer the impediment for reporting COQ it once was. ABC/M systems are typically implemented to accurately report costs of products, services, channels and customers by replacing broadly allocated indirect expenses with cost drivers having cause and effect relationships, such as the number of inspections.

Hence, customer caused costs and the process costs they consume can be reported with an audit trail back to the resources those expenses came from. Value of Data Providing employee teams both obvious and hidden quality related costs is valuable for performance improvement. Using the data, employees can gain insight into causes of problems. These hidden and traditional quality related costs can be broadly categorized as: • Error free costs: costs unrelated to planning, QUALITY PROGRESS I SEPTEMBER 2006 I 47 ECONOMIC CASE FOR QUALITY controlling, correcting or improving FIGURE 3 Cost of Quality Subcategories quality.

These are the did-it-rightthe-first-time costs. Each activity cost gets tagged • COQ: costs that could disappear if all processes were error free and all products and services were defect Error free Conformance Nonconformance free. COQ can be subcategorized further as: • Conformance: costs related to Internal External Prevention Appraisal prevention and appraisal to meet failure failure requirements. Work • Noncomformance: costs related to activities internal or external failures, includStable Unstable Defective ing detective appraisal work from not meeting requirements.

There is a distinction between internal and tomer invoicing process might be as follows: external failure costs: Internal failure costs are • Error free: first time through work without a detected prior to the shipment or receipt of flaw. service by the customer; customers usually • Prevention: training courses for the invoicing discover errors that lead to external failure department; programming error checking in costs. the invoicing software. An oversimplified definition of COQ is the costs • Appraisal: reviews of invoices by supervisors. ssociated with avoiding, finding, making and • Internal failure: wrong prices or customer repairing defects and errors—assuming all defects quantities posted; correction of typographical and errors are detected. errors. COQ represents the difference between the actu• External failure: rework resulting from a cusal costs and what the reduced cost would be if tomer dispute of an invoice. there no substandard service levels, failures or Figure 2 portrays, in financial terms, how an defects. organization’s sales, profits, purchased materials Simple examples of these categories for a cusand COQ expenses might exist.

In principle, as the COQ expenses are reduced, they can be converted FIGURE 2 Sales – Costs = Profits into higher bottom-line profits. Sales Minus: Purchased Items Using ABC/M Systems Figure 3 illustrates how quality attributes for COQ categories can be tagged or scored into increasingly finer segments of the error free and COQ subcategories. Attributes are tagged to individual work activities belonging to various processes that already have been costed using ABC/M. Each of the categories can be further subdivided. Figure 4 shows examples of subcategories for work activities one additional level below the four major categories of COQ.

For example, value stream mapping is an essential tool of the lean management movement. By tagging work activity costs with these subcategories, Conformance COQ Minus: Error free costs Nonconformance COQ Costs (labor, supplies, and overhead) Equals: Profits COQ = cost of quality 48 I SEPTEMBER 2006 I www. asq. org more robust information can be provided than by simply classifying a cost as value added and nonvalue added. Subcategorization of COQ provides far greater and reliable visibility of costs without the great effort required by traditional cost accounting methods.

Because all the resource expenses can be assigned to the activity costs, 100% of the activities can be tagged with one of the COQ attributes. This is because it is feasible to measure the costs of work activities, typically with estimates, using the principles of ABC/M. Invasive time sheets are not required for ABC/M systems. The attribute groupings and summary rollups also are automatically costed. Life would be nice in an error free world, and an organization’s overall costs would be substantially lower relative to where they are today. But all organizations will always make mistakes—the goal is to manage mistakes and their impact.

COQ reporting communicates fact based data—in terms of money—to enable focusing and prioritizing to manage mistakes. Organizations that hide their complete COQ continue to risk deceiving themselves with the illusion of effective management. It may be easier to think of the sum total of all of the cost categories—error free and COQ—equaling total expenditures during a time period less purchased material costs. FIGURE 4 Investment Justification Of Quality Initiatives Using before and after histograms, Figure 5 (p. 50) illustrates how to manage quality related costs.

Ideally, all four COQ cost categories should be reduced, but the cost of prevention initially might have to be increased prudently to dramatically decrease the costs of and reduced penalties paid for nonconformance COQ categories. This makes COQ more than just an accounting scheme—it becomes a financial investment justification tool. It is widely believed that as failures are revealed—for example via complaints from customers—the root causes should be eliminated with corrective actions. A rule of thumb is that the nearer the failure is to the end user, the more expensive it is to correct.

The flip side is that it becomes less expensive—overall—to fix problems earlier in the business process. As failure costs are reduced, appraisal efforts also can be reduced rationally. Figure 5 demonstrates this overall improvement. Not only are nonconformance COQs significantly reduced, but the level of prevention and inspection costs, which some classify as nonvalue added, are also reduced. The $20,000 of COQ from the before case in Figure 5 (p. 50) has been reduced to $11,000 in the after case. This good work can result in more Examples of Cost of Quality Components Conformance Nonconformance Prevention • Quality education. Process design. • Defect cause removal. • Process change. • Quality audit. • Preventive maintenance. Appraisal • Test. • Measurements. • Evaluations and assessments. • Problem analysis. • Inspection. • Detection. Internal Failure • Scrap. • Rework. • Repairs. • Unscheduled and unplanned service. • Defect removal. • Lost process time. External Failure • Returned products. • Billing reduction from customer complaints. • Field repair call. • Warranty expenses. • Legal exposure and costs. • Liability claims. • Poor availability. • Malfunction. • Replacement. • Poor safety. • Complaint administration. QUALITY PROGRESS I SEPTEMBER 2006 I 49

ECONOMIC CASE FOR QUALITY requests for orders and higher sales without any changes in the staffing level. The original “before” error free costs have remained the same, at $80,000, hence a $9,000 savings. Benefits of Including Total Expenditures Starting a COQ measurement by assuming a 100% inclusion of the total incurred expenditures of Figure 1’s (p. 46) inner concentric circles (not the opportunity costs) and then subsequently segmenting those expenses between the error free costs and COQ provides three benefits: It reduces debate, increases employee focus and integrates COQ with the same financial reporting data used in the boardroom.

Reduces debate: With traditional COQ measures, people can endlessly debate whether a borderline activity, such as expected scrap produced during product development, is a true COQ. Including such a cost as COQ may reduce a measure that is of high interest. By excluding that expense, it becomes hidden among all the other total expenditures of the organization. By starting with the 100% expenditure pool, every expense reported in the general ledger accounting system will fall into some category and always be visible. Increases employee focus: By defining cate- ories into which all costs can be slotted, it is hoped organizations will focus much less on their methods of measurement and more on their organizations’ problems and how to overcome them. Integrates COQs with the same financial report data used in the boardroom: When traditional and obvious COQ information is used, only portions of the total expenditures are selected for inclusion and some portions are not reported. This invites debate about arbitrariness or ambiguity. However, when 100% of expenditures are included, the COQ plus error free costs reconcile exactly with the same data used by executive management and the board of directors.

Executives like to see managerial accounting data reconciled and balanced with their financial accounting reports. There is no longer any suspicion some COQ has been left out or the COQ data are not anchored in reality. By starting with 100% expenditures, the only debate can be about misclassification—not omission. Quantification A formal COQ measurement system provides continuous results. In contrast to a one-time assessment, it requires involvement by employees who participate in the business processes.

More important, these employees must be motivated to spend the energy and time, apart from their regular responsibilities, to submit and use the data. FIGURE 5 Conformance Related Cost of Quality For such a COQ system to be sustained After Before longer term, the system COQ = $20 requires the support and interest of senior manBreak agement as well as gen(to scale) uinely perceived utility by those using the data Purchases Purchases External COQ = $11 Error Error to solve problems. failure free free Internal Regardless of the colfailure lection system selected, it Internal is imperative to focus failure Appraisal External Prevention nalytical and corrective Prevention failure time and energy on the Appraisal area of failure costs. As $90 $80 $1 $2 $5 $12 $90 $80 $5 $3 $2 $1 Joseph Juran discussed in COQ = cost of quality his popular article “Gold 50 I SEPTEMBER 2006 I www. asq. org in the Mine,” much mining still can be performed. 4 This mining should be considered a long-term investment because failure costs when starting a quality management program usually constitute 65 to 70% of an organization’s quality costs. Appraisal costs are normally 20 to 25%, and prevention costs are 5%. Continuous Improvement

Tagging attributes against COQ categories is obviously a secondary purpose for measuring costs. The primary purpose of costing is to simply learn what something costs. Costing data are for measuring profit margins, focusing on where the larger costs are that may be impacted or estimating future costs to justify future spending decisions (for example, return on investment). In short, managerial accounting transforms expenses collected in the general ledger into calculated costs. Expenses are purchases of resources. In contrast, costs are the uses of that spending and are always calculated.

Many organizations arbitrarily base allocation of indirect expenses on broadly averaged volume factors (direct hours to make a product), but the proper rule is to trace and assign indirect expenses based on a one-to-one cause and effect relationship. When an organization has good cost accounting, it then can use calculated costs, such as the cost per processed invoice, as a basis for comparison. In short, the unit cost per each output of work is computed, and then these data are usable for external and internal benchmarking. In benchmarking studies, there often can be a bad case of apples-to-Oreos comparison.

That is, consistency is lacking or unrecognized regarding which work activities or outputs should be included in the study. ions. It would make sense for measuring the financial implications of quality to become an increasingly larger part of the quality management domain. The addition of valid costing data will give the quality movement more legitimacy. ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9004-2000 suggests financial measurement as an appropriate way to assess “the organization’s performance in order to determine whether planned objectives have been achieved. 5 I hope there will be increased coordination among the quality, managerial accounting and operations systems. REFERENCES 1. Gabe Pall, The Process-Centered Enterprise, St. Lucie Press, 2000, p. 40. 2. Mickel J. Harry, “A New Definition Aims to Connect Quality With Financial Performance,” Quality Progress, January 2000, p. 65. 3. Victor E. Sower and Ross Quarles, “Cost of Quality Usage and Its Relationship to Quality Systems Maturity,” working paper series, Center for Business and Economic Development, Sam Houston State University; November 2002, pp. 0-12. 4. J. M. Juran and Frank M. Gryna, Juran’s Quality Handbook, fourth edition, McGraw-Hill Book Co. , 1951. 5. ANSI/ISO/ASQ 9004-2000, Quality Management Systems—Guidelines for Performance Improvement, ASQ Quality Press, 2000. GARY COKINS is a manager at the SAS Institute, Cary, NC. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 1974. Cokins is also a quality management speaker and author on advanced cost and performance management. He is a member of ASQ and its quality cost committee.

Cokin’s latest book is Performance Management: Finding the Missing Pieces to Close the Intelligence Gap. Integrating Quality Costs With Operations An ABC/M methodology and system introduces rigor and is sufficiently codified and leveled for relevancy to remove this nagging shortcoming of benchmarking. The quality movement has been a loud advocate for measuring things rather than relying on opin- Please comment If you would like to comment on this article, please post your remarks on the Quality Progress Discussion Board at www. asq. org, or e-mail them to editor@asq. org. QUALITY PROGRESS I SEPTEMBER 2006 I 51

Borrowings: English Language and Word

Plan Introduction………………………………………………………………………… …. 4 Part I. Lexico-Semantic Characteristics of different types of borrowed elements in English 1. 1. the definition of the term “borrowed word”…………………….. ……………….. 6 1. 2. the semantic features of types of borrowed elements in English…………………9 1. 2. 1. translation loans. ………………………………………………………………. 10 1. 2. 2. semantic loans…………………………………………………………………11 1. 2. 3. etymological doublets…………………………………………………………. 12 1. 2. 3. 4. hybrids………………………………………………………………………. 15 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. international words………………………………………………………… 18 1. 3. ssimilation of borrowings, its types and degrees………………………………. 24 Part II. Textual Characteristics of types of borrowed elements in Modern English…………26 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………….. 28 Resume………………………………………………………………………………. 29 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………. 31 Electronic Sources……………………………………………. ……………………… 33 Introduction Etymologically the vocabulary of the English language is far from being homogenous. It consists of two layers – the native stock of words and the borrowed stock of words. Numerically the borrowed stock of words is considerably larger than the native stock of words.

The topicality of the investigation is in the fact that native words comprise only 30% of the total number of words in the English vocabulary that is why a borrowing problem is very popular in linguistics and needs to be learnt. The native words form the bulk of the most frequent words actually used in speech and writing. Besides, the native words have a wider range of lexical and grammatical valency, they are highly polysemantic and productive in forming word clusters and set expressions. The most effective way of borrowing is direct borrowing from another language as the result of the contacts with other nations.

Though, a word may be also borrowed indirectly not from the source language but through another language. [12] When analyzing borrowed words one should distinguish between two terms – source of borrowing and origin of borrowing. The first term is applied to the language from which the word was immediately borrowed and the second – to the language to which the word may be ultimately traced. The closer the two interacting languages are in structure the easier it is for words of one language to penetrate into the other. 6] The subject matter of this Course Paper is to identify types of borrowed elements in Modern English along with lexico-semantic aspect. There are different approaches to classifying the borrowed stock of words. The borrowed stock of words may be classified according to the nature of the borrowing itself as borrowing proper, loans translation and semantic loans. The novelty of the problem arises from the necessity of a profound scientific investigation of the existing types of borrowed elements in Modern English.

The main aim of the Course Paper is to summarize and systematize the lexical and semantic peculiarities of borrowing elements in Modern English. The tendency of the English language to borrow extensively can be traced during the centuries [26]. Thus, one can confidently claim that borrowing is one of the most productive sources of enrichment of the English vocabulary. Part I: Lexico-Semantic Characteristics of different types of borrowed elements in English. 1. 1. The definition of the term “borrowed word” Borrowed words or loanwords are words taken from another language and modified according to the patterns of the receiving language.

In many cases a borrowed word especially one borrowed long ago is practically indistinguishable from a native word without a thorough etymological analysis. The number of the borrowings in the vocabulary of the language and the role played by them is determined by the historical development of the nation speaking the language. A substantial amount of all English words have been borrowed from other languages. These words are usually called “loanwords”, since they are not native English words. In Merriam- Webster’s Online dictionary the word “loanword” is defined in this way: “a word taken from another language and at least partly naturalized. 17] Naturalized means in this case “to introduce into common use or into the vernacular” Sometimes it is done to fill a gap in vocabulary. When the Saxons borrowed Latin words for “butter”, “plum”, “beet”, they did it because their own vocabularies lacked words for these new objects. For the same reason the words “potato” and “tomato” were borrowed by English from Spanish when these vegetables were first brought to England by the Spaniards. But there is also a great number of words which are borrowed for other reasons.

There may be a word (or even several words) which expresses some particular concept, so that there is no gap in the vocabulary and there does not seem to be any need for borrowing. However a word is borrowed because it supplies a new shade of meaning or a different emotional colouring though it represents the same concept. This type of borrowing enlarges groups of synonyms and provides to enrich the expressive resources of the vocabulary. That is how the Latin “cordial” was added to the native “friendly”, the French “desire” to “wish”, the Latin “admire” and the French “adore” to “like” and “love”. 29] The historical circumstances stimulate the borrowing process. Each time two nations come into close contact. The nature of the contact may be different. It may be wars, invasions or conquests when foreign words are imposed upon the conquered nation. There are also periods of peace when the process of borrowing is due to trade and international cultural relations. When words migrate from one language into another they adjust themselves to their new environment and get adopted to the norms of the recipient language.

They undergo certain changes which gradually erase their foreign features, and, finally, they are assimilated. Sometimes the process of assimilation develops to the point when the foreign origin of a word is quite unrecognizable. It is difficult to believe now that such words as “dinner”, “cat”, “take”, “cup” are not English by origin. Others, though well assimilated, still bear traces of their foreign background. “Distance” and “development”, for instance, are identified as borrowings by their French suffixes, “skin” and “sky” by the Scandinavian initial (-sk), “police” and “regime” by the French stress on the last syllable. 8] Loanwords are often even more widely known than native words since their “borrowing served a certain purpose, for example to provide a name for a new invention”. An example of such a borrowing is “pizza”. Since the Italians were those who introduced pizzas in England, the English borrowed the word from them. The word “loanword” is in fact a type of loanword itself. The word comes from the German word “lehnwort”, which means precisely loanword. In this case, the meaning of the word has been borrowed into the English language, ut instead of using the German words (lehn + wort), the English equivalents are used. This type of borrowing is called a calque. As this example shows us, there are different kinds of borrowings, and they can be divided into subgroups. These subgroups will be discussed later in the essay. [32] The word “borrow” is often used in literature on loanwords to symbolize that a language uses a word that originally comes from another language. In this paper the term will also be used, even though the word is somewhat misleading.

The word “borrow,” indicates that the item borrowed will be returned, and since this obviously is not the case, “borrow” may not be the best metaphor in this particular case. In order for loanwords to enter a language it is necessary that some people of the “borrowing” language are bilingual. These people have to be able to understand and to some extent speak the “lending” language so that words can be borrowed from that language. Borrowings enter a vernacular in a very natural way. The process starts off with that bilingual people of a certain language community start using words from another language.

These people often choose to use certain foreign words because they feel that these words are more prestigious than their natives ones. Borrowed words are adjusted in the three main areas of the new language system: the phonetic, the grammatical and the semantic. [27] The lasting nature of phonetic adaptation is best shown by comparing Norman French borrowings to later (Parisian) ones. The Norman borrowings have for a long time been fully adapted to the phonetic system of the English language: such words as “table”, “plate”, “courage”, “chivalry” bear no phonetic traces of their French origin.

Some of the later (Parisian) borrowings, even the ones borrowed as early as the 15th century, still sound surprisingly French: “regime”, “valise”, “matinee”, “cafe”, “ballet”. In these cases phonetic adaptation is not completed. Grammatical adaptation consists in a complete change of the former paradigm of the borrowed word. If it is a noun, it is certain to adopt, sooner or later, a new system of declension; if it is a verb, it will be conjugated according to the rules of the recipient language. Yet, this is also a lasting process.

The Russian noun “??????” was borrowed from French early in the 19th century and has not yet acquired the Russian system of declension. The same can be said about such English Renaissance borrowings as “datum” (pl. data), “phenomenon” (pl. phenomena), “criterion” (pl. criteria) whereas earlier Latin borrowings such as “cup”, “plum”, “street”, “wall” were fully adapted to the grammatical system of the language long ago. 1. 2. The semantic features of types of borrowed elements in English By semantic adaptation is meant adjustment to the system of meanings of the vocabulary.

Sometimes a word may be borrowed “blindly” for no obvious reason: they are not wanted because there is no gap in the vocabulary nor in the group of synonyms which it could fill. Quite a number of such “accidental” borrowings are very soon rejected by the vocabulary and forgotten. But some “blindly” borrowed words managed to establish itself due to the process of semantic adaptation. The adjective “large”, for instance, was borrowed from French in the meaning of “wide”. It was not actually wanted, because it fully coincided with the English adjective “wide” without adding any new shades or aspects to its meaning.

This could have led to its rejection. Yet, “large” managed to establish itself very firmly in the English vocabulary by semantic adjustment. It entered another synonymic group with . the general meaning of “big in size”. Still bearing some features of its former meaning it is successfully competing with “big” having approached it very closely, both in frequency and meaning. [21] Semantic borrowings are such units when a new meaning of the unit existing in the language is borrowed. It can happen when we have two relative languages which have common words with different meanings, e. g. here are semantic borrowings between Scandinavian and English, such as the meaning «to live» for the word «to dwell’ which in Old English had the meaning «to wander». Semantic borrowing can appear when an English word was borrowed into some other language, developed there a new meaning and this new meaning was borrowed back into English, e. g. «brigade» was borrowed into Russian and formed the meaning «a working collective«,»???????». This meaning was borrowed back into English as a Russian borrowing. The same is true of the English word «pioneer». [18] 1. 2. 1. Translation loans By translation-loans we indicate borrowings of a special kind.

They are not taken into the vocabulary of another language more or less in the same phonemic shape in which they have been functioning in their own language, but undergo the process of translation. A form of borrowing from one language to another whereby the semantic components of a given term are literally translated into their equivalents in the borrowing language. English superman, for example, is a loan translation from German Ubermensch. [1] It is quite obvious that it is only compound words (i. e. words of two or more stems). Each stem was translated separately: “masterpiece” (from Germ. “Meisterstuck”), “wonder child” (from Germ. Wunderkind”), ”first dancer” (from Ital. “prima-ballerina”). Translation loans (calque) – words and expressions formed from the material already existing in the English language but according to patterns taken from another language by way of literal word-for-word or morpheme-for-morpheme translation: e. g. chain smoker. [14] Calque entails taking an expression, breaking it down to individual elements and translating each element into the target language word for word. For example, the German word “Alleinvertretungsanspruch” can be calqued to “single-representation-claim”, but a proper translation would result in “Exclusive Mandate”.

Word-by-word translations usually have comic value, but can be a means to save as much of the original style as possible, especially when the source text is ambiguous, or undecipherable to the translator. 1. 2. 2. Semantic loans A semantic loan is a process of borrowing semantic meaning (rather than lexical items) from another language, very similar to the formation of calques. In this case, however, the complete word in the borrowing language already exists; the change is that its meaning is extended to include another meaning its existing translation has in the lending language.

Calques, loanwords and semantic loans are often grouped roughly under the phrase “borrowing”. Semantic loans often occur when two languages are in close contact. Semantic loan is a borrowing where “the meaning of a foreign word is transferred onto an existing native word. An example of a semantic loan is the word “God”. The word is a native English word and existed in Old English as well, but the Christian meaning it has today was borrowed from the Romans and their religion when they came to the British Isles.

One example is the German semantic loan realisieren. The English verb “to realise” has more than one meaning: it means both “to make something happen/come true” and “to become aware of something”. The German verb “realisieren” originally only meant the former: to make something real. However, German later borrowed the other meaning of “to realise” from English, and today, according to Duden[1], also means “to become aware of something” (this meaning is still considered by many to be an Anglicism).

The word “realisieren” itself already existed before the borrowing took place; the only thing borrowed was this second meaning. (Compare this with a calque, such as antibody, from the German Antikorper, where the word “antibody” did not exist in English before it was borrowed. ) A similar example is the German semantic loan uberziehen, which meant only to draw something across, before it took on the additional borrowed meaning of its literal English translation overdraw in the financial sense. Semantic loans may be adopted by many different languages: Hebrew kokhav, Arabic ??? nagm), Russian zvezda, Polish gwiazda, Finnish tahti and Vietnamese sao all originally meant “star” in the astronomical sense, and then went on to adopt the sememe “star”, as in a famous pop or film artist, from English[22]. 1. 2. 3. Etymological Doublets The words originating from the same etymological source, but differing in phonemic shape and in meaning are called etymological doublets. Doublets or etymological twins (or possibly triplets, etc. ) have the same etymological root but have entered the language through different routes.

Because the relationship between words that have the same root and the same meaning is fairly obvious, the term is mostly used to characterize pairs of words that have diverged in meaning, at times making their shared root a point of irony. [23] Some of these pairs consist of a native word and a borrowed word: “shrew”, n. (E. ) – “screw”, n. (Sc. ). Others are represented by two borrowings from different languages: “canal” (Lat. ) – “channel” (Fr. ), “captain” (Lat. ) — “chieftain” (Fr. ). Still others were borrowed from the same language twice, but in different periods: “travel” (Norm. Fr. ) – “travail” (Par. Fr. ), “cavalry” (Norm.

Fr. ) – “chivalry” (Par. Fr. ), “gaol” (Norm. Fr. ) – “jail” (Par. Fr. ). A doublet may also consist of a shortened word and the one from which it was derived: “history” – “story”, “fantasy” – “fancy”, “defence” – “fence”, “shadow” – “shade”. And for example English pyre and fire are doublets. Subtle differences in the resulting modern words contribute to the richness of the English language, as indicated by the doublets frail and fragile (which share the Latin root, fragilis): one might refer to a fragile tea cup and a frail old woman, but a frail tea cup and fragile old woman are subtly different and possibly confusing descriptions. 19] Another example of nearly synonymous doublets is aperture and overture (the commonality behind the meanings is “opening”), but doublets may develop divergent meanings, such as the opposite words, host and guest from the same PIE root, which occur as a doublet in Old French hospes, before having been borrowed into English. Doublets also vary with respect to how far their forms have diverged. For example, the resemblance between levy and levee is obvious, whereas the connection between sovereign and soprano is harder to guess synchronically from the forms of the words alone.

Etymological twins are usually a result of chronologically separate borrowing from a source language. In the case of English, this usually means once from French during the Norman invasion, and again later, after the word had evolved. An example of this is warranty and guarantee. Another possibility is borrowing from both a language and its daughter language (usually Latin and some other Romance language). Words which can be traced back to Indo-European languages, such as the Romance “beef” and the Germanic “cow”, in many cases actually do share the same proto-Indo-European root.

The forward linguistic path also reflects cultural and historical transactions; often the name of an animal comes from Germanic while the name of its cooked meat comes from Romance. Since English is unusual in that it borrowed heavily from two distinct branches of the same linguistic family tree, it has a relatively high number of this latter type of etymological twin. [28] The changes a loan word has had to undergo depending on the date of its penetration are the main cause for the existence of the so-called etymological doublets.

They differ to a certain degree in form, meaning and current usage. Two words at present slightly differentiated in meaning may have originally been dialectal variants of the same word. Thus we find in doublets traces of Old English dialects. Fxamples are whole (in the old sense of ‘healthy’ or ‘free from disease’) and hale. The latter has survived in its original meaning and is preserved in the phrase hale and hearty. Both come from OE Kal: the one by the normal development of OE a into 0, the other from a northern dialect in which this modification did not take place.

Similarly there are the doublets raid and road, their relationship remains clear in the term inroad which means ‘a hostile incursion’, ‘a raid’. The verbs drag and draw both come from OE dragan. [20] The words shirt, shriek, share, shabby come down from Old English, whereas their respective doublets skirt, screech, scar and scabby are etymologically cognate Scandinavian borrowings. There are also etymological doublets which were borrowed from the same language during different historical periods. Sometimes etymological doublets are the result of borrowing different grammatical forms of the same word, e. . the Comparative degree of Latin «super» was «superior» which was borrowed into English with the meaning «high in some quality or rank». The Superlative degree (Latin «supremus»)in English «supreme» with the meaning «outstanding», «prominent». So «superior» and «supreme» are etymological doublets. [16] 1. 2. 3. 4. Hybrids A hybrid word is a word which etymologically has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language The most common form of hybrid word in English is one which combines etymologically Latin and Greek parts.

Since many prefixes and suffixes in English are of Latin or Greek etymology, it is straightforward to add a prefix or suffix from one language to an English word that comes from a different language, thus creating a hybrid word. Such etymologically disparate mixing is considered by some to be bad form. Others, however, argue that, since both (or all) parts already exist in the English lexicon, such mixing is merely the conflation of two (or more) English morphemes in order to create an English neologism (new word), and so is appropriate[25]. Automobile – a wheeled passenger vehicle, from Greek ???? (auto) “self-” and Latin mobilis “moveable” Homosexual – from the Greek ???? (homos) meaning “same” and the Latin sexus meaning “gender” (This example is remarked on in Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, with A. E. Housman’s character saying “Homosexuality? What barbarity! It’s half Greek and half Latin! “. ) Hyperactive — from the Greek ???? (hyper) meaning “over” and the Latin activus Hypercorrection — from the Greek (hyper) meaning “over” and the Latin correctio Hyperextension — from the Greek (hyper) meaning “over” and the Latin extensio meaning “stretching out” Liposuction — from the Greek ????? lipos) meaning “fat” and the Latin suctio meaning “sucking” Minneapolis — from Dakota mni meaning “water” and Greek ????? meaning “city” Monoculture — from the Greek ????? (monos) meaning “one, single” and the Latin cultura Monolingual — from the Greek ???? (monos) meaning “one” and the Latin lingua meaning “tongue”; the non-hybrid word is unilingual Mormon — It was alleged by Joseph Smith[citation needed] that Mormon comes from the English “more” and the Reformed Egyptian mon meaning “good”. Neuroscience — from the Greek ?????? euron, meaning “sinew,” and the Latin “sciens,” meaning “having knowledge. ” Neurotransmitter — from the Greek neuron, meaning “sinew,” and the Latin, trans meaning “across” and mittere meaning “to send. ” Nonagon — from the Latin nonus meaning “ninth” and the Greek ????? (gonon) meaning “angle”; the non-hybrid word is enneagon Pantheism — from the Greek ??? (pan) meaning “all” and Latin deus meaning “God”; the non-hybrid word is pantheism Sociology — from the Latin socius, “comrade”, and the Greek ????? logos) meaning “word”, “reason”, “discourse” Television — from the Greek ???? (tele) meaning “far” and the Latin visio from videre meaning “to see” English further abounds with Hybrid Compounds, i. e. , words made up from different languages. Many of these are due to the use of prefixes and suffixes. Thus in a-round, the prefix is English but round is French; so also in be-cause, fore-front, out-cry, over-power, unable. In aim-less, the suffix is English, but aim is French; so also in duke-dom, false-hood, court-ship, dainti-ness, plenti-ful, fool-ish, fairy-like, trouble-some, enial-ly, &c. But besides these we have perfect compounds, such as these: beef-eater, i. e. , eater of beef, where eater is English and beef is French; so also black-guard, life-guard, salt-cellar, smallage. On the other hand, French is followed by English in eyelet-hole, heir-loom, hobby-horse, kerb-stone, scape-goat. ” An initial wave of hybridization took place in the early Middle Ages between Anglo-Saxon and Danish that included, among many other items, that apparently most English of words, the. A second process began after the Norman Conquest in 1066, . . . hen English mixed with French, and began to draw, both through French as well as directly, on Latin and Greek for a wide range of cultural and technical vocabulary. Indeed, rather than being an exception, such hybridization is a normal and even at times predictable process, and in the twentieth century a range of such flows of material has been commonplace. [24] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. International Words It is often the case that a word is borrowed by several languages, not just by one. Such words usually convey concepts which are significant in the field of communication.

Many of them are of Latin and Greek origin. In linguistics, an internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in several languages with the same or at least similar meaning and etymology. These words exist in “several different languages as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from the ultimate source”. Pronunciation and orthography are similar so that the word is understandable between the different languages. [13] Most names of sciences are international (e. g. philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, linguistics, lexicology).

There are also numerous terms of art in this group: music, theatre, drama, tragedy, comedy, artist, primadonna, etc. ; and the sports terms: football, volley-ball, baseball, hockey, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, etc. It is quite natural that political terms frequently occur in the international group of borrowings: politics, policy, revolution, progress, democracy, communism, anti-militarism. 20th century scientific and technological advances brought a great number of new international words: atomic, antibiotic, radio, television, sputnik (a Russian borrowing).

Fruits and foodstuffs imported from exotic countries often transport their names too and become international: coffee, cocoa, chocolate, banana, mango, avocado, grapefruit. The similarity of such words as the English “son”, the German “Sohn” and the Russian “???” should not lead one to the quite false conclusion that they are international words. They represent the Indo-European group of the native element in each respective language and are cognates, i. e. words of the same etymological root, and not borrowings. [7] It is debated how many languages are required so that a word is an internationalism.

The term is uncommon in English linguistics, although English has contributed a considerable number of words to world languages, e. g. the sport terms: football, baseball, cricket, and golf. Words or the initial or final parts and roots of so called internationalisms (international words or parts of words) which are videly used in different European languages. Mainly these words consist of word-elements of Latin and/or Greek origin and are widely used with similar spelling and pronunciation in different European languages.

Terms being built on the basis of Latin and Greek elements quickly spread into other languages and become internationally intelligible. These are such terms as appropriation, communication, comparator, control, descriptor, examination, identification, inspection, regulation, technique, technology, and many others. Such terms are either borrowed from the Latin and Greek language or built in different modern languages on the basis of Latin and/or Greek word-elements.

Due to the same or similar spelling and/or pronunciation these words form that part of vocabulary which translators usually do not use to translate. As a result – these words are transferred from one language into another without translation considering them to be with the same meaning. It creates problems if the meaning differs. Then such “internationalisms” become the so called false friends of translators. [33] The understanding of the so called “internationalisms” we can find in the definition which is developed as a result of investigation of this group of borrowings.

Now it is enough to remind only of some aspects of this definition: for to qualify the word in the status of the “internationalism” it is necessary that the word in different (different group of) languages is used with the same or similar spelling and pronunciation and besides – with the same or close meaning as well. The meaning of the word, especially in the function of a term, is very relevant in terminology. In fact, all the requirements put before scientifically motivated term are based on the semantic aspect.

The specific role of the semantic aspect in terminology is underlined by a number of terminologists. The necessity of the unity between concepts and terms (which we spell and pronounce) is one of the characteristic features of terminology at all. But if we compare equivalents given in ISO standards, for instance on energetics, in English, German, Russian and other languages, sometimes we will see that such international terms given as equivalents (for the expression the same concept) are not with the same meaning: English | |German | |Russian | |telecontrol |– |Fernwirken |–|telemehanika | |telemonitoring |– |Fernuberwachen |–|telekontrolj | |teleindication |– |Fernanzeigen |–|telesignalizacija | |telecomand |– |Fernsteuern |–|teleupravlenije | |teleinstruction |– |Fernanweisen |–|telekomandovanije |

Taking into account that internationalisms on the base of Latin and Greek word-elements are widely used in EU legislative acts and ISO standards, and the semantic discrepancies of such internationalisms cause serious misunderstandings among legislation act users, one of the relevant tasks of nowadays linguists is to find out ways how to bring nearer the semantics of such words in different languages. This task refers to interlingual level of terminology. [11] One of the ways for bringing nearer the semantics of internationalisms being built on the base of Latin and Greek languages is to respect the meaning of every word-element in the source language. Let us compare meanings of the elements bi- (from Latin bi ‘two’), tri- (from Latin tres ‘three’), multi- (from Latin multus ‘much, many’) given in the Oxford dictionary (Oxford 1995 |bi- |– |biannual |‘ocuring twice a year’ | | |biaxial |‘having two axes’ | | | |bicycle |‘a vehicle of two weels’ | | | |bikini |‘a two-piece swimsuit for women’ | | | |bilingual |‘able to speak two languages’ | |tri- |– |triangle |‘a plane figure with three sides and angles’ | | | |triathlon |‘consisting of three different events’ | | | |triaxial |‘having three axes’ | | | |tricycle |‘a vehicle having three wheels’ | | | |trilingual |‘able to speak three languages’ | |multi- |– |multiaxial |‘of or involving several axes’ | | | |multicellural |‘having many cells’ | | | |multicolour |‘of many colours’ | | | |multilateral |‘if three or more parties participate’ | | | |multilingual |‘using several languages’ | | | | | | As we can see from examples, the elements bi-, tri-, multi- are used in different terms according their meaning in the Latin as the source langauge of these elements.

Consequently, if we use the term bilingual or bilingualist that means that we can to attribute it only to an individual who is able to communicate in two languages, not in three or more languages. Than he would be a multilingual person, or multilingualist. The semantic “creativity” sometimes applied in language practice by some lawyers, clerks or other language users we can qualify only as a deviation which contradicts with the national content of the word, and may create misunderstandings. A serious problem, and not only linguistic but political as well, is semantic discrepancies between the same English and Latvian international term in politics. These are such terms as nationalism and nationalist, occupation and occupant, national minority and ethnical minority, integration and assimilation, etc.

These terms are internationalisms on the spelling and pronouncing level but differs on the semantic level. [15] From the one hand, the semantic difference of one and the same internationalism has objective reasons: 1) the polysemy of a word or word-element in the source language; 2) the specifity of the historical development of each national language. From the other hand, such internationalisms are the factor which results in contradictions. The choice of more appropriate form is realized on the base of semantic investigation of each word-element in source language using the appropriate manuals and according appropriate structural-semantic models of internationalisms.

As international models of terms in English, German, Russian and Latvian are stated (examples are given in English only): 1) derivatives with the postfixal element -logy: biology, geology, immunology, lexicology, philology; 2) derivatives with the postfixal element -graphy: geography, orthography; 3) derivatives with the postfixal element -sphere: atmosphere, lithosphere, stratosphere; 4) derivatives with the postfixal element -eme: Some models are actual in German, Russian and Latvian, but not in English (examples are given in German only): 1) derivatives with the postfixal element -thek: Bibliothek, Diskothek; 2) derivatives with the postfixal element -ur: Doktorantur.

These models are still active for derivation new terms from Latin and Greek word-elements. There are some groups of internationalisms which have word-elements with common origin but different structure, for instance, such elements as dermo- and dermato- from Greek derma (dermatos) ‘skin’, or such as ferri- and ferro- from Latin ferrum ‘iron’. The terminology practice shows that there is a tendency to fasten each of these forms for expressing the different content: the element derm[a]- is used for expressing the content of ‘that which is belonging to skins, or that is like a skin’ (dermal), but dermato- is used for expressing the content of ‘that which refers to skin diseases’ (dermatology).

In chemistry different forms ferri- and ferro- are used to express compounds with different iron content (ferrimagnetism; ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism). [9] The meaning of such word-element variables is not the same in different languages. Therefore a very difficult task is to harmonize the semantics of such elements on the international scale. It is necessary to establish appropriate meaning system for such elements first of all in a particular national language. Considerations expounded do not mean that all internationalisms in a number of European languages must be revised and unified. The main idea is, that common structural-semantic models could help us in unambiguous communication. Therefore it is recommended to fix such models and use them, if necessary, for new derivations.

In cases when the meaning of the same internationalisms is different we can try to bring it nearer to the appropriate meaning in origin. [30] The multilingual investigation of international terminology shows that Latin and Greek word-elements are still vital in new structural-semantic models. These models may induce a positive influence on unambiguous communication process if these models are interlingually coordinated, being a good remedy also in translating EU regulations and ISO standards. If possible, there could be established a special Board or a Committee whose task would be providing unambiguous international term-models with coordinated meaning. A lot of such models are in use in many languages. 1. 3. Assimilation of borrowings, it’s types and degrees

The degree of assimilation of borrowings depends on the following factors: a) from what group of languages the word was borrowed, if the word belongs to the same group of languages to which the borrowing language belongs it is assimilated easier, b) in what way the word is borrowed: orally or in the written form, words borrowed orally are assimilated quicker, c) how often the borrowing is used in the language, the greater the frequency of its usage, the quicker it is assimilated, d) how long the word lives in the language, the longer it lives, the more assimilated it is. Accordingly borrowings are subdivided into: completely assimilated, partly assimilated and non-assimilated (barbarisms). [3] Completely assimilated borrowings are not felt as foreign words in the language, if the French word «sport» and the native word «start». Completely assimilated verbs belong to regular verbs, e. g. correct -corrected. Completely assimilated nouns form their plural by means of s-inflexion, e. g. gate- gates.

In completely assimilated French words the stress has been shifted from the last syllable to the last but one. Semantic assimilation of borrowed words depends on the words existing in the borrowing language, as a rule, a borrowed word does not bring all its meanings into the borrowing language, if it is polysemantic, e. g. the Russian borrowing «sputnik» is used in English only in one of its meanings. [10] Partly assimilated borrowings are subdivided into the following groups: a) borrowings non-assimilated semantically, because they denote objects and notions peculiar to the country from the language of which they were borrowed, e. g. sari, sombrero, taiga, kvass etc. b) Borrowings non-assimilated grammatically, e. g. ouns borrowed from Latin and Greek retain their plural forms (bacillus – bacilli, phenomenon – phenomena, datum -data, and genius – genii etc. c) Borrowings non-assimilated phonetically. Here belong words with the initial sounds /v/ and /z/, e. g. voice, zero. In native words these voiced consonants are used only in the intervocal position as allophones of sounds /f/ and /s/ (loss – lose, life – live) Some Scandinavian borrowings have consonants and combinations of consonants which were not palatalized, e. g. /sk/ in the words: sky, skate, ski etc (in native words we have the palatalized sounds denoted by the digraph «sh», e. g. shirt); sounds /k/ and /g/ before front vowels are not palatalized e. g. irl, get, give, kid, kill, kettle. In native words we have palatalization , e. g. German, child. Some French borrowings have retained their stress on the last syllable, e. g. police, and cartoon. Some French borrowings retain special combinations of sounds, e. g. /a:3/ in the words : camouflage, bourgeois, some of them retain the combination of sounds /wa:/ in the words: memoir, boulevard. d) borrowings can be partly assimilated graphically, e. g. in Greak borrowings «y» can be spelled in the middle of the word (symbol, synonym), «ph» denotes the sound /f/ (phoneme, morpheme), «ch» denotes the sound /k/(chemistry, chaos),«ps» denotes the sound /s/ (psychology).

Latin borrowings retain their polisyllabic structure, have double consonants, as a rule, the final consonant of the prefix is assimilated with the initial consonant of the stem, (accompany, affirmative). French borrowings which came into English after 1650 retain their spelling, e. g. consonants «p», «t», «s» are not pronounced at the end of the word (buffet, coup, debris), Specifically French combination of letters «eau» /ou/ can be found in the borrowings: beau, chateau, troussaeu. Some of digraphs retain their French pronunciation: ‘ch’ is pronounced as /sh/, e. g. chic, parachute, ‘qu’ is pronounced as /k/ e. g. bouquet, «ou» is pronounced as /u:/, e. g. ouge; some letters retain their French pronunciation, e. g. «i» is pronounced as /i:/, e,g, chic, machine; «g» is pronounced as /3/, e. g. rouge. [31] Non-assimilated borrowings (barbarisms) are borrowings which are used by Englishmen rather seldom and are non-assimilated, e. g. addio (Italian), tete-a-tete (French), dolce vita (Italian), duende (Spanish), an homme a femme (French), gonzo (Italian) etc Part II: Textual Characteristics of types of borrowed elements in Modern English Most linguists categorize borrowings in this way: Loanwords are words that keep their meaning and phonetic shape, when they find their way into another language.

The word “pizza”, for example, which has its origin in Italian, has the same “shape”, in other words, is pronounced and written in the same way in both English and Italian, which makes it a “real” loanword. It is also important that the word is inflected in the same way. The plural forms therefore also have to be identical in both languages. A calque or a “loan translation” is a “one-to-one translation of a foreign model”. An example of a calque is the English word “embody”, which has its origin in the Latin equivalent “incorporare”. The word “loanword” is also a calque. The names of the days of the week are further examples of loan translations. They were borrowed from Latin approximately around 400 A. D.

All Germanic people, except the 10 Gothic, used the Germanic equivalents of the Roman gods when they named the days of the week, and the names are therefore from Germanic mythology. [4] The word “calque” can also stand for a “loan transfer”, which is almost the same as a loan translation, the only difference being that “at least one part is semantically different from the model”. An example of such a calque is the German word “Wolkenkratzer”, which literally means “cloudscraper”. Here “cloud” is used instead of “sky”, while the word “scraper” is correspondingly translated. A loan creation is another form of borrowing. A loan creation is a rather complicated type of borrowing, since a word or the meaning of word is not actually borrowed.

If a new word is created in a language, and there was some sort of influence from other languages, even if only to a small degree, it is called a loan creation. Usually, words that refer to exotic ideas, concepts or objects are borrowed. An example of this is how names of animals that do not inherently come from Great Britain are often loanwords in English. The name of the animal is borrowed from the language that is spoken in the country in which the animal originally comes from or lives in. When we examine loanwords in different languages we will find that most of these borrowings are nouns. Nouns, and lexical words in general, are borrowed more frequently than grammatical words.

The can be explained with the fact that a major reason for borrowing lexica is “to extend the referential potential of a language. Since reference is established primarily through nouns, these are the elements borrowed most easily”. [5] There are certain structural features which enable us to identify some words as borrowings and even to determine the source language. We have already established that the initial sk usually indicates Scandinavian origin. You can also recognise words of Latin and French origin by certain suffixes, prefixes or endings. Conclusions This paper has showed that linguistic borrowing is an old way of acquiring new vocabulary, and not a new phenomenon of our globalized world.

People of different cultures have always interacted with each other, and there has always been an exchange of lexis due to this interaction. Loanwords enrich a language, since the vocabulary gets larger and each word therefore acquires a more specific and subtle meaning and this should be kept in mind before one simply criticizes and dismisses borrowings. While writing this Course Paper it was investigated that the actual process of borrowing is complex and involves many usage events. Conventionalization is a gradual process in which a word progressively permeates a larger and larger speech community. As part of its becoming more familiar to more people, with conventionalization a newly borrowed word gradually adopts sound and other characteristics of the borrowing language.

In time, people in the borrowing community do not perceive the word as a loanword at all. Generally, the longer a borrowed word has been in the language, and the more frequently it is used, the more it resembles the native words of the language. English has gone through many periods in which large numbers of words from a particular language were borrowed. These periods coincide with times of major cultural contact between English speakers and those speaking other languages. The waves of borrowing during periods of especially strong cultural contacts are not sharply delimited, and can overlap. For example, the Norse influence on English began already in the 8th century A. D. nd continued strongly well after the Norman Conquest brought a large influx of Norman French to the language. [2] It is part of the cultural history of English speakers that they have always adopted loanwords from the languages of whatever cultures they have come in contact with. ?????? ?????????? ????? – ?? ?????, ????? ? ????? ??? ? ??????? ? ????????????? ? ????????? ?????????? ????. ? ???????? ???????? ?????????? ?????, ???????? ??, ?? ???? ?????????? ????? ????????? ????????? ?????????? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ?????????? ?????????????? ???????. ????????? ?????????? ? ???????????? ?????? ???? ?? ????, ??? ???? ?????????? ???????????? ?????????? ????????? ?????, ??? ???????? ?????. ????? ???? ???? ??????????? ???? ???? ?????????? ? ????? ???. ?? ????? ???????? ????????? «?????????????», ???????? ???? ?? ? ??????? ??????????? ????. ? ?????? ???????? Merriam-Webster’s ????? «??????????» ???????????? ????????? ?????: «?????, ????? ? ????? ???? ? ????????? ???????? ??????????????» ???????????? ???????????, ???????????? ? ??? ??????, ??????? ? ????, ?? ????? ????? ?????????? ???? 30% ??? ????????? ????????? ???? ? ??????????? ???????, ???? ???????? ?????????? ? ?????? ?????????? ? ??????? ??????????? ? ??????? ???? ?????????? ?? ????????? ?????. ????????? ????? ?????? ? ?????????? ????? ?????????? ? ???????? ??????????? ???? ? ?????? ???????-???????????? ???????. ??????? ????? ?????? ? ???????????? ?? ?????????????? ???????-??????????? ???????????? ??????????? ????????? ? ???????? ??????????? ????. ?????????? ???? ?????????? ????’?????? ????? ???????: 1. ?? ????????? ???????? ???????????????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ??????? ????? ????? ???? ? ????? ???????, ??????????? ? ?????????? ????; 2. ????????? ????? ?? ????????? ???????, ?? ?????????? ?????????????? ? ???????? ?????? ??????????? ? ????? ???; 3. ????????? ????? ????????? ???????? ?????????? ? ??????? ?? ????????? ? ??????????? ????; 4. ??????? ???????-?????????? ??????????? ???????? ??????????; ??’????? ??????????? ? ???????-?????????? ??????? ? ??????????? ????, ????????? ??????????????? ?????????? ??????????. ?????? ??????????? – ??????? ???????? ??????????? ? ??????????? ????, ????????? ?? ????????? ? ????????. ?????? ??????????? ?? ??????? ?????????????? ??????? ????????? ?????????? ??’???? ? ??????????? ?????????? ??????. ??????????? ???????-??????????? ????? ? ????????? ????????????? ?? ?????????????, ????????????? ? ????????????? ????????. ???????????? ?????? ?? ???????? ???????? ?????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ?????????? ?????? ? ????? ??????????? ???????????? ????????? ???????. ??????? ?????? ??????????? ? ?? ??????, ???????? ???????, ?????????, ?????? (???. ?????), ?????? ???????????? ?????????? ?? ?????? ???????? ??????. ??? ???????????? ????????? ?? ??????? ?????? ? ???????? ???????. ?????? ?????? ???????? ????? ??????????? ??????, ????????? ????, ???? ?? ???????????? ???? ???????? ??????. ??????? ??????? ??????????? ? ???? ??????, ??? ?????????? ?????????? ??????? “???????????” ?? ???????-??????????? ????????????? ?????? ????? ??????????? ????????? ? ???????? ??????????? ????. ? ????????? ?? ????????? ???????? ?? ?????????????? ???????-?????????? ??????????? ???????? ????? ??????????. Bibliography 1. Arnold I. V. The English Word. M. , 1973 (1986), Chapter XIV. ‘Native words versus loan words’. 2. Arnold I. V. The English Word. – M. , 1973, Chapter ?III pp. 236-247. 3. Bolton W. F. , A Living Language: The History and Structure of English. Random House, 1982 4. English as a Globlal Language. Crystel, D. 997 Cambridge: University Press. 5. Francis W. N. «The structure of American English» New York. 1998 6. Ginsburg R. S. et als. , A Course in Modern English Lexicology. M. , 1979, Chapter VI. Etymological survey of the English Word Stock, p. 160 -175. ; 200-209. 7. Govdon E. M,. Krylova I. P A Grammar of Present-day English». ?????? 1971 8. Hornby A. S Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English . – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989 9. Klimenko A. P and Tokareva. I. I. Varieties of English Mn. , 2002, pp. 55-133 10. Lefevere A, «Translation: Its Geneology in the West,» in Translation, History amd Culture, ed.

Susan Bassnett and Andre Lefevere (London and New York: Pinter Publishers, 1990), 14 11. Lescheva L. M. Words in English, Mn. , 2001, Chapter 8, pp. 123-136 12. McCrum The Story of English, 1992 13. Metcalf ?, Predicting New Words. Houghton Mifflin, 2002 14. Murray, J. A. H and Bradley, H and Craige, Sir W. A and Onions, C. T. 1933. The Oxford English Dictionary. A correct re-issue of A New English Dictionary on Historical PrinciplesLondon: Oxford University Press 15. Pyles Th. , Algeo J. The Origins and Development of the English Language. 1982. Chapter 12. p. 292-316. 16. Sereda L. et al. Introduction to the history and varieties of the English Language Bialystok, 2003, Chapter X, pp. 81-101. 17. Strang B. Modern English Structure» L. D. 1974 18. Tom McArthur, “English World-Wide in the Twentieth Century,” in The Oxford History of English, ed. by Lynda Mugglestone, Oxford Univ. Press, 2006 19. Walter Skeat, Principles of English Etymology, Clarendon Press, 1892 20. ??????????? ?. ?. ??????? ??????????? ?????. – ??????, 2001. ???. 296 – 328 (Development of English vocabulary from the 12th to the 19th century). 21. ??????????? ?. ?. ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????????? ?????. – ??????, 1. 972. ???. 130-150. 22. ??????? ?. ?. ????? ???????????? ??????????? ????? ? ???. – M. , 1963, ???. 7-12,84-89. Electronic Sources 23. http://dooku. miun. e/engelska/englishB/languagesruvey/Compendium/History%20of20kEnglish%20compendium. htm 24. http://www. etymonline. com/abbr. php 25. http://www. orbilat. com/Influences_of_Romance/English/RIFL-English-Periodization. html 26. http://french. about. com/library/bl-frenchinenglish. htm 27. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Language_contact 28. http://www. wordorigins. org/histeng. htm 29. http://www. anglistik. uni-kiel. de/chairs/LingHist/English-History. pdf 30. http://www. ruf. rice. edu/kemmer/words/loanwords. html 31. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Etymology 32. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Loanword 33. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Old_English_language

Leadership Research Essay

Leadership Research Essay Leadership Research Essay Introduction Leadership is a process of influencing activities of a particular group of people with the aim of attaining certain stipulated goals. In defining leadership there is need to consider a particular group, the common goals and the duties that are allocated to specific members of the group depending on their abilities (Fiedler 1976). Leadership therefore cannot successfully occur unless members of the group are given different considerations in terms of personality, traits and responsibilities.

In considering leadership, it is important to look at the leader, the group or organization they are leading, the members as individuals and the situation; these are variables for interaction in the leadership processes, which are paramount for the success of the whole process. A leader is in essence the person who influences a group of people with the aim of attaining specific goals. Therefore, leaders in a group are separated from the rest of the group members by the extent to which they exert influence towards activities in the organization.

It is to this effect that this essay will consider leadership using psychodynamic theory in an effort to bring out a marshal plan to improve my motivation and leadership skills. Various Models/ Approaches of Leadership According to psychodynamic Approach the leaders are aware of their personality and that of their followers. This is considered with an assumption that the personalities of individuals are deep rooted in individuals and very little can be done to change them (Northhouse, 2007).

The personality of an individual is therefore important in establishing an individual’s leadership potential. The approach in a sense functions to strengthen the relationship between the leader and the followers in that, the leaders understanding of the followers personalities makes them to be accommodative to various personalities of the followers. The leader is thus in a position to determine the most favorable work for their followers based on preferences in terms of making decisions and structuring work efforts (Northhouse, 2007).

Psychodynamic approach to leadership is important because it makes leaders aware of their personality and that of their followers. This is advantageous to specific leaders since it enables them to easily allocate tasks. For instance, if a follower is easily tempered then the leader will avoid giving this particular follower a task that will require them to directly be involved with customers who might be sometimes difficult to handle. There are other approaches that can be used to improve individuals’ skills; these include the trait approach and the style approach.

On one hand the trait approach emphasizes on the characteristics being important to leadership status while the style approach consider certain behaviors as indicators of leadership (Northhouse, 2007). Situational approaches focus on the elements which are matched between leadership styles and behaviors versus the needs of the subordinates unlike psychodynamic approach which considers personality types of individuals. It is to this effect that leaders can use elements in these approaches to improve their skills.

In defining leadership, a variable of leadership situation in the Contingency Model is of essence. This variable entails the need of controlling the situation and making it favorable for solid leadership. In dealing with this concept, there are subscales that are considered including; the degree to which the leader is or feels accepted and supported by their groups, the clarity of the task in terms of identification of the goals, and the ability of the leader to reward and punish accordingly.

Good leadership can be reflected by the Contingency Model in the sense that the concept of task-motivated leaders manifests their best performance when the situational control is high rather than when it is low (Fiedler 1976). On the other hand, relationship motivated leaders equally tend to perform best when the situation is under their control. The trait approach to leadership is a theory that stemmed from the late nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century when it was believed that leaders were born. It was believed that it was a man’s innate ability to lead (Fiedler 1976).

Therefore the result was that an individual destined to lead had inborn traits or characteristics that enabled him to lead. It is to this effect that various researching agencies took the task to find out the truth behind this belief but no crucial evidence was found to support these allegations. Leadership Theory that describes me as a Leader The leadership model that best describes me as a leader is the psychodynamic approach. The basic concept that underlies this approach is personality, which entails the consistent way an individual does things.

The tendencies and qualities are equally considered; in this case my style of leadership is shrouded with independence in creativity and spontaneous reaction (Gastil, 1994). The concept of personality therefore arises in the sense that I am able to decide accurately on very crucial issues spontaneously. Psychodynamic approach to leadership best describes my way of leadership because I usually consider my followers personalities before allocating tasks to them. In this case, each follower has to exhibit some relevant skills to the task that they are allocated.

I also consider it difficult to change individuals’ personality and therefore encourage them to perfect the skills they have and not to change them. This is an element in psychodynamic approach to leadership. The concept of predictability of an individual is an essential psychodynamic element in my way of leadership in the sense that the theory shows that human behaviors are predictable and understandable (Northhouse, 2007). In this sense I easily predict certain individual’s behaviors based on their personality and this makes my leadership style to be described best by psychodynamic approach.

This can be illustrated by Jung’s way of classifying personality such that people’s personality can be classified by understanding that human behavior is predictable and understandable, they have preference of how they feel and think and these preferences become the basis of how they work and play their specific roles (Northhouse, 2007). My Distinguishing Leadership Traits One of the most distinguishing leadership traits I have is the ability to instill some sense of passion to my team and hence leave in the team members a conviction and the will to move on.

I also have the quality of listening to my team; in this case I listen carefully and consider various options to the issues raised before giving feedback. In essence, as a good leader, I involve everyone, give everyone responsibility according to their identified abilities and make everybody accountable; thus I am responsible for my actions and the actions of my followers. Another trait that distinguishes my leadership skills is the confidence I manifest. I communicate to my followers with a lot of confidence and endeavor to develop them, display trust and dedication.

In addition, as a leader I give example through my behavior and thus I am a role model to some of my followers. Moreover, I promote innovation by nurturing creativity tributes in my team. I am equally responsible enough to be decisive; I am able to make rational decisions under pressure and at a short notice. These outstanding traits are reflected in the positive results I get from my followers. As a follower, what leadership approach do you prefer? (Situational leadership: High supportive and low Directive Behavior) As a follower, I prefer the situational leadership approach.

This is a contingency theory that focuses on the followers in the sense that the success or failure of a leadership is in the ability of the follower to either accepting or reject a leader (Mullins, 2000). In this case the actions of the followers have been given prominence. I prefer this approach as a follower because it considers the extent to which I am willing to accomplish specific tasks. Equally important is the fact that this approach enables the leaders to adjust their leadership styles towards the follower’s readiness level and this gives the followers an easy throughway in handling tasks (Mullins, 2000).

It therefore caters for the high support by the leaders and low directives by leaders; thus it is followers friendly and therefore this is why I prefer it. Goals and Action Plan for Improvement One of the goals that I am set to come up with to improve my leadership and motivational skills is ensure that I empower my followers so that they can be motivated in the course of my leadership. I will do this by improving my skills to be sufficient enough to train my followers on specific skills.

I will also up or improve my motivation skills by trying to identify the exact incentives that motivates my followers and by doing this, my followers will be able to appreciate the incentive I will give them and thus be motivated. I will ensure my followers are empowered and motivated through establishing teams that will make them to compete internally. The competition within the teams will be rewarded by identified incentives and this will ensure its (competition) sustainability. Within each team various talents and abilities will be identified and thus each team will be blended with numerous skills.

In implementing the leadership skill that I will use to develop the teams I will use psychodynamic approach because I will be able to mix individuals with various personalities to come up with strong teams. On the other hand, in implementing my motivational strategy I will use Contingency Model in that the concept of task-motivated leadership manifesting their best performance when the situational control is high rather than when it is low while relationship motivated leadership equally tend to perform best when the situation is under their control will be taken into account (Fiedler 1976).

Timeline My leadership empowerment skills will take one month to be accomplished. The most challenging task is to put individuals in groups that will enhance competition. On the other hand, the motivational self -improvement goal will be implemented in two months that is when the results from the groups start to be seen so that they can be reinforced by rewards or incentives. However, these self- improvement goals will be continuous in the sense that empowering and motivating my followers will be done consistently and continuously when the need arise since we are living in a versatile world.

References Baldoni, J (2005). Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders. McGraw Hill Fielder, Fred. (1976). ‘Situational Control and a Dynamic Theory of Leadership’, in B. King, S. Streufert and P. B Fielder (eds. ), Managerial control and Organizational Democracy. Washington: Winston & Sons, 107-31. Gastil, J. (1994). ‘A Definitions and Illustration of Democratic Leadership. ’ Human Relations, 953-75. Mullins, L (2000). Management and Organizational Behavior. Berkshire: Penguin Northouse, P. G. (2007). Leadership: Theory and Practice (4th ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc

Depreciation at Delta & Singapore Airlines

Financial Accounting Depreciation at Delta Airlines & Singapore Airlines (Solution to Case #2) 24th November, 2009 1. Calculate the annual depreciation expense that Delta and Singapore would record for each $100 gross value of aircraft. a. Delta: i. Prior to July 1, 1986 the Delta airline assets were depreciated using Straight Line Method at 10% for 10 years for a salvage value of 10%. Depreciation Expense = (Cost of Asset – Salvage Value) / number of year Depreciation Expense = (100. 00 – 10. 00) / 10 = 9 dollars for every 100 dollars of airline equipment i. From July 1, 1986 to March 31, 1993 the depreciation was Straight line at 10% for 15 years for a salvage value of 10%. Therefore Depreciation Expense = (Cost of Asset – Salvage Value) / number of year Depreciation Expense = (100. 00 – 10. 00) / 15= 6 dollars for every 100 dollars of airline equipment iii. After April 1, 1993 depreciation was at 5% salvage value for 20 years Depreciation Expense = (Cost of Asset – Salvage Value) / number of year Depreciation Expense = (100. 00 – 5. 00) / 20 = 4. 5 dollars for every 100 dollars of airline equipment b. Singapore: i. Prior to April1, 1989 – Depreciation was at 10% salvage value for 8 years Depreciation Expense = (Cost of Asset – Salvage Value) / number of year Depreciation Expense = (100. 00 – 10. 00) / 8 = 11. 25 dollars for every 100 dollars of airline equipment ii. After to April1, 1989 – Depreciation was at 20% residual value for 10 years Depreciation Expense = (Cost of Asset – Salvage Value) / number of year Depreciation Expense = (100. 0 – 20. 00) / 10 = 8 dollars for every 100 dollars of airline equipment [pic] 2. Are the differences in the ways the two airlines account for depreciation expense significant? Why would the companies depreciate aircraft using different depreciable lives and salvage values? What reasons could be given to support these differences? Is different treatment proper? We can create an analytical model looking at the above assumptions and calculations. The range between the depreciation of Delta and Singapore airlines is 4. 5 – 11. 25, which is a vast difference even though both are using a similar method of depreciation, that of straight line method. Keeping in mind the airline industry the way of depreciation is very important as the value may rise to billions of dollars. We can see in this case that both the airlines have a very different approach to depreciation. The average life calculated by Delta for its airline equipment 15-20 yrs with a low salvage value whereas for Singapore Airline is 8-10 years with a high salvage value.

While delta over the years increases the useful life and decreases the salvage value of its assets and thereby reducing the depreciation expense, Singapore airlines charges a very high depreciation and over a period of time increases the salvage value and the useful life estimates. As a result of these, the Depreciation expense to total operating expense ratio for Delta (average depreciation expense from 1989 to 1993 is 5. 3%) is much lower than Singapore airlines (average depreciation expense from 1989 to 1993 is 14. %) Companies would depreciate aircraft values depending on the following factors 1. The nature of the technology employed: – Technologically newer aircraft probably last longer than earlier, technologically less advanced aircraft. According to the exhibit3 and exhibit7, we can see that Singapore has more of the Boeing 747-400, but Delta doesn’t have any 747-400s. 2. The specific use that aircraft is given: – The case indicates that Singapore is a much longer-haul carrier than Delta.

The average passenger trip length for Delta is about 900 miles, whereas the average passenger trip length for Singapore is about 2700 miles. 3. Maintenance: – The better maintained aircraft are, the longer they are likely to last. Due to the existing maintenance standards for aircrafts we can assume that major airlines like Delta and Singapore both have good maintenance programs. Every company has their own way to depreciate fixed assets based on their requirements and situations. The main reason for such a difference in strategies is showing the amount of profit in a particular period.

In case of Delta they have increased the life of an asset showing low depreciation which leads to low operating expense resulting in higher profits. However for Singapore airline the operating profit is good and there is not much need to show lower depreciation, moreover it adds on to their value by showing a higher salvage value for the equipments they carry. The difference is policies if proper as the useful life of the asset and the salvage value largely depend the experience that the organization has in the field and usage of the equipment.

In this case we can clearly see that Singapore airlines have a much smaller operation level than delta. 3. Assuming the average value of flight equipment that Delta had in 1993, how much of a difference do the depreciation assumptions it adopted on April 1, 1993 make? How much more or less will its annual depreciation expense be compared to what it would be were it using Singapore’s depreciation assumptions? |Delta Airlines |1993 | |Value of Owned Aircraft $9,043. 00 | |Value of Leased Aircraft |$ 173. 00 | |Total Value of Aircraft |$9,216. 00 | Looking at the equation we did in question 1. We worked out that the depreciation per $ 100 prior to 1993 was $ 6. 00. After the change in policy the depreciation per $ 100 changed to $4. 75. Looking at this we can we can say that there has been a difference of 20% on the depreciation expense.

Hence the depreciation after changing the policy will be as follows: – = Accumulated Depreciation of 1993 – 20%(Accumulated depreciation of 1993) = $ 3559. 00 – $ 711. 80 = $ 2847. 20mn We also worked out that the depreciation expense of Singapore airlines per $100 during 1993 was $ 8. 00. This shows that there is an increase of 33. 33% to the accumulated depreciation. Hence if the policy of Singapore Airlines is followed the accumulated depreciation will be = Accumulated Depreciation of 1993 + 33. 33%(Accumulated depreciation of 1993) = $ 3559. 0 – $ 1186. 20 = $ 4745. 20mn Assuming Delta airlines calculates depreciation like Singapore Airlines; it will be accumulating higher depreciation on the flight equipment. 4. Singapore Airlines maintains depreciation assumptions that are very different from Delta’s. What does it gain or lose by doing so? How does this relate to the company’s overall strategy? The operation expenses of Singapore Airlines are less compared to Delta Airlines. Hence there is less need for Singapore to have a small rate of depreciation.

Moreover there is always a possibility that Singapore Air can cover the high amount of depreciation in future. By recording a high amount of depreciation and for lower years can mean that the asset can be sold at a price higher than the salvage value. It is evident in case Singapore airlines has done that and has made a significant amount of gain by sales of flight equipment. Moreover if Singapore airlines decide to continue with the fleet and not sell it, they will have to keep a very less provision for depreciation for the asset in the future.

This can be a very useful strategy for Singapore airline, enabling to upgrade their assets a smaller cycle. This will help them in marketing, lower maintenance and better customer satisfaction. 5. Does the difference in the average age of Delta’s and Singapore’s aircraft fleets have any impact on the amount of depreciation expense they record? If so, how much? The average age Delta is 8. 8 yrs and Singapore is 5. 1 yrs Assuming Delta and Singapore airlines buy aircraft at the same price and at the same time. Price of Aircraft $100000 Depreciation for Delta Airlines with their policy post 1993

Depreciation= (100000-5000) / 20 Depreciation / yr= $4750 / yr Avg. Total life of aircraft = 8. 8 yrs Hence total depreciation recorded by Delta air is $4750*8. 8 =$41800 Depreciation for Singapore Airlines with their policy post 1993 Depreciation= (100000-20000) / 10 Depreciation / yr= $8000 / yr Avg. Total life of aircraft = 5. 1 yrs Hence total depreciation recorded by Singapore air is $8000*5. 1 =$40800. We can conclude by saying that Delta Airlines accounts for a higher depreciation as the average life of their aircrafts is longer.

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