PART THREE: GREEK WORDS IN ENGLISH

UNIT ONE: THE LETTERS & SIMPLE CHANGES

 

Greek, like Latin is an inflected language. The explanations of case, declensions, verbs, conjugations, principal parts, and so forth, need not be repeated. Greek nouns and adjectives belong to three declensions with the third (or consonant declension, which has many variations) often showing a change in the nominative so that a second combining form (or base) will be given. The Greek verb is even more complex than the Latin, often showing vowel changes (vowel gradation) in the various tenses: the important variations in the stem which are used in English derivatives will be given with each verb.. Since Greek is written in a different alphabet than Latin and English, before Greek words can be borrowed they must first be transliterated, that is, changed from one alphabet into the other. It is traditional to change the Greek words into Latin, to make them conform to Latin spelling conventions. There is, however, no entirely consistent method of transliteration (especially of Greek names) universally followed by writers of English, so that, for example, the name Aeschylus (Latin spelling) will sometimes be seen as Aischulos or even Aiskhulos, depending on the taste of the writer or editor. Many writers on classical Greek literature, history, or culture prefer the spelling that is closest to the original Greek in sound and appearance and so choose to write the name of the "father of tragedy" in one of the latter two forms.

The Greek words in these chapters will be given in the Roman alphabet in the transliteration closest to the Greek original (as in the second example, Aischulos). At the end of this chapter the supplement will give some explanations and exercises on the Greek alphabet and using the Greek dictionary.

Some noun and adjective endings

Some typical noun endings are, by gender:

Feminine: -a, -, -(s)is (with many variations in the 3rd declension)

Masculine: -os, -as, -(t)s, -eus, -tr, -tr (with variations in the third declension)

Neuter: -on, -ma (base -mat-), -os

Adjectives: Three terminations are 1) masculine, 2) feminine, and 3) neuter; two terminations are 1) masculine/feminine, and 2) neuter. eta (long e) = ; omega (long o) =

2nd-1st declension: -os, -, -on; -os, -a, -on; -os, -on

3rd declension: -n, -on; -s, -es

3rd-1st declension: -us, -eia, -u; -n, -ousa, -on

Rules for making Greek words conform to Latin orthographical and morphological conventions [i.e. rules of spelling and grammar]:

k > c 

krisis > crisis [But ch, kh represent the Greek letter chi (which resembles an X)].

u > y (except in diphthongs: au, eu > au, eu)

ai > ae > e [Latin ae usually becomes English e]

Aischulos > Aeschylus ainigma > enigma

ei > e or i

oi > oe > e or i

ou > u

plouto- > pluto- Thoukudides > Thucydides

Some of the changes in common noun endings:

Endings are frequently dropped as in derivatives from Latin, but when they are retained it is often in a corresponding Latin form.

Other details of transliteration will be treated in the supplement to this chapter. In proper names the Latin spelling is commonly retained, especially for well known persons. For less famous individuals either the Latin spelling or an approximation of the Greek (with many variations) may be used. For example, Platon is almost universally spelled Plato in English (but cf. Italian Platone, French Platon, Spanish Platon) and the adjective Platonic. Another Greek name is variously spelled Euclid when referring to the famous geometer and Euclides, Eukleides when referring to other persons of that name.

Exercise 1 A: Change into Latin spellings and give an English derivative.

Example: etumologia, Latin etymologia, English etymology [remember that Latin -ia > English -y] Be sure you know what the word etymology means and do not confuse it with entomology.

Give the plurals of:

Vocabulary Notes

Mousa > Muse (not mouse). Other words from this root are: museum (originally a shrine of the Muses), music, musicology, museology, and mosaic. To muse (to ponder over) is not related but comes from muser "to sniff around" from Medieval Latin musum ("snout"). Amuse is from muser with the prefix ad- added. Muzzle is from musellum, a diminutive of musum.

krisis is from the verb krinein "to judge, to separate" (related to Latin scribere and cernere) and gives us: crisis, epicrisis, critique, criterion (a means of judging), critic, critical, criticism, hypocrisy, hypocrite, endocrine, exocrine, apocrine, eccrine (excreting externally as sweat glands), hematocrit (which separates the particulate matter of the blood from the plasma).

Some place names. Try to transliterate these. Look up any you do not recognize.

* Stranger, bring the news to the Lakedaimonians that here we lie, obedient to their words. Simonides

Exercise 1 B: Proper names: transliterate and identify briefly

1. Kleopatra

2. Sokrates

3. Thoukudides

4. Elektra

5. Kleio (a Mousa)

6. Aischulos

7. Alkibiades

8. Perikles

9. Apollon

10. Bakchos

11. Kalliope (another Mousa)

12. Alkaios

13. Sappho

14. Thaleia (Mousa)

15. Klutaimnestra

16. Hupatia

17. Alkestis

18. Korinna

19. Epikouros

20. Iokaste

21. Oidipous

22. Sophokles

23. Hesiodos

24. Homeros

25. Apollon

26. Kriton (a good friend of Sokrates)

27. Athene

28. Kroisos

29. Aineias

30. Helene

Choose one or two of the personal names and look up the person in the Oxford Classical Dictionary. Jot down the vital statistics and significance.

 

Changing Greek words into English:

Greek words come into English in the same ways Latin words do.

1. No change (except in alphabet)

2. The base alone becomes the English word

3. The base + silent -e

4. Changes of endings

5. Irregular changes

Some other irregular changes

See if you can think of another English word from each of these: (see the bottom of the page for some sample answers)

1. paidagogos > pedant and _________________

2. parabole > parlor, Parliament, and _______________

3. archaios > archive and _________________

4. choros > choir and _______________________________

5. aer > air, aria and ______________________________

6. theos > enthusiasm and _____________________________

7. nomos ( > nomisma) > numismatics and ________________

[1. pedagogue, pedagogical; 2. parabola, parable; 3. archaic, archaism, archaeology; 4. chorus, choral, chorea, Terpsichore; 5. aerophage, aerobic, anaerobic, aerodynamics, aerometry, aerology; 6. theology, monotheism, polytheism, theosophy, theurgic, theist, henatheism, atheism, apotheosis, theocratic, pantheism, theodicy, theomorphism, theomachy; 7. nomad, economy, autonomy, astronomy, bionomics, binomial, agronomy, gastronomic, ergonomy, metronome.]

Exercise 2: Change these to English words. First review the lists of common endings and the list of ways in which Greek words become English.

Examples: axioma (that which is thought worthy) > axiom (base alone)

kosmopolites (a citizen of the world) > cosmopolite (base + silent -e)

aoide (song) > ode (various, irregular changes can take place)

Vocabulary VIII

Learn these and try to form English derivatives:

aer air

angelos messenger

anthropos human being

aster star

axios worthy

biblion book

bios life

chroma, chromat- color

daimon spirit, divinity

eikon image, likeness

ergon work

ethos custom

hora time, hour

kosmos order, universe, adornment

kuklos circle

logos word, reason

metron measure

mimos imitator

philos beloved, dear, loving

phone voice

phos, phot- light

schole leisure

sophos wise

theos god

tupos mark

*Exercise 3: Give two or more English derivatives of each of the new vocabulary words. (Turn in.)

Examples: ergon > erg, energy, synergy, ergophobia, ergometer, allergy, demiurge, dramaturgical, liturgy, liturgics, georgic, metallurgy, synergism, surgery, thaumaturgy, ergograph, exergue

biblion > Bible, bibliography, bibliolater, bibliophile, biblioklept, gymnobiblist, biblical, bibliophobe, bibliomania, bibliomancy, bibliopole, bibliotics, bibliotheca (a collection or catalogue of books, cf. French, bibliotheque, "library"). Biblion is in origin a diminutive of bublos, "papyrus scroll" (or book), so named from the Phoenician port of Bublos through which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece.

Vocabulary Notes

angelos "messenger" > angel, angelic, Angelus, angelology, angelica (an aromatic herb used in medicines and liqueurs), archangel, exangelos (the messenger from the house in a Greek tragedy), evangel (ev- = eu-, "well, good"), evangelist, televangelist. Angelos is of obscure origin.

anthropos "human being" (also of obscure origin) > anthropomorphic, anthropocentric, misanthropy, philanthropic, lycanthropy, anthropopathism (the attribution of human feelings to nonhuman things), anthropometry, anthropophage, theanthropic, anthropoid, anthropogenesis, paleoanthropology.

 

Check list for Unit One

1. Transliteration: give Roman spellings of: k u ai ei ou oi -os -on -eia

2. Simple changes: list the "rules".

3. Review vocabulary and try the exercise below.

Study the vocabulary list; read the definitions of these words; give meaning of base and another word using it:

aeropause, _______ + pauein (stop): the region of the atmosphere above which planes cannot fly

anthropic, __________ + ic (of, pertaining to): relating to the era of human life on earth

saprobe, sapro- (rotten) + _______ : an organism that is nourished on non-living or decaying organic matter

chromonema (pl. chromonemata), _________ + nema (thread): the threadlike core of a chromosome

horary, ________ + the Latin suffix -ary: lasting an hour, occurring once an hour

philander, __________ + aner, andr- (man). In Greek philandros means "loving men" or "fond of masculine habits" or "fond of one's husband." From the use of the name Philander as a traditional literary lover, however, the word has come to mean "to engage in casual love affairs."

scholia (singular, scholion, Latin scholium), ____________ + the diminutive suffix: lecture notes, explanatory notes or commentary

phenotype, pheno- ( < phainesthai, appear, seem) + __________: the observable appearance of an organism as determined by genetics and environment

Distinguish between: archetype and prototype.

Supplement to Unit One: The Greek alphabet

Greek character Name Transliteration Pronunciation

A a alpha a short: cup; long: father

B b beta b b

G g gamma g, ng hard, go; ng before g/k/ch

D d delta d d

E e epsilon e short e: bet

Z z zeta z sd: wisdom

H h eta e long e: ate

Q q theta th thing [or t-h]

I i iota i short: tin; long: teen

K k kappa k, c k

L l lambda l l

M m mu m m

N n nu n n

C c xi x ks, x

O o omicron o short o: pot

P p pi p p

R r rho r, rh trilled r

S j, s sigma s s

T t tau t t

U u upsilon y, u French u

F f phi ph phone [or p-h]

X x chi ch loch [or c-h]

Y y psi ps ps

W w omega o long o: go

The symbol is not transliterated, but stands for the letter h.

Diphthongs:

ai > ai, ae, e

au > au

ei > ei, e, i

oi > oi, oe, e, i

ou > u, ou

eu > eu

Practice exercises

A. Transliterate into the Roman alphabet and give one English derivative:

B. Put these into Greek:

C. Transliterate these [choose wo and identify them]

D. Put into Greek letters: E = eta; O = omega

Optional: Look up one of these words in a Classical Greek lexicon. The breathing mark [h sound] does not affect alphabetical order (i.e. look up hule under u, upsilon).

Word game: Letter hunt

Find the names of Greek or Roman letters in these words or phrases:

alphabet             abecedarium

iotacism             chiasmus

rhotacism             gamma rays

delta [as Mississippi delta]             zed

jot                         lambda point

sigmoid flexure             tau cross

alpha and omega                     betatron

lambda particle             alphanumeric

Phi Beta Kappa             asigmatic

chiasmus l                    ambdoidal (suture)

xi particle

What is Y called in French?

What is the formula for the circumference of a circle? for the area of a circle?

What other Greek letters are used in mathematics and physics?

Words in Context

Clap an extinquisher on your irony, if you are unhappily blessed with a vein of it. Charles Lamb

The hegemonic world system is what it is, thre is no outside to it, and so, as the only possible world, it is the best of all possible worlds. James Hynes, The Lecturers Tale.

The few rolls of papyrus which the ancients deemed a notable collection of books... Lytton

What the energetic pleonasm of our ancestors called "a false lie". [1860]

Tobacco, divine, rare, superexcellent tobacco, which goes far beyond all their panaceas, potable gold, and philosopher's stones, a sovereign remedy to all diseases. But as it is commonly abused by most men ... 'tis a plague, a mischief ... hellish, devilish and damned tobacco, the ruin and overthrow of body and soul. Robert Burton

History In Words

-Cliometrics-

The use of statistical analysis and data processing in the study of history.

From Clio, the Muse of History + metrics (science of measurement)

The Muses were not originally "Muses of this or that", but were beautiful singers who accompanied Apollos lyre and sang for the gods and inspired mortals. Later they were given attributes and particular subjects:

-ACADEMY-

With "the": the academic community, higher education, a society of artists and/or scholars. A secondary, college-preparatory, or military school; an institution ranked between a college or university and a school.

The Academy: Platos school, the followers of Plato, or their philosophy.

From Greek

Akademeia (Akademia), a gymnasium near Athens where Plato and his associates talked, later divided into the old, middle and newer Academy. The place was named after the obscure Attic hero Akademus.

"Groves of Academe" comes to us from Horace:

inter silvas Academi quaerere verum, Epistles 2.2.45.

John Robinson, Archaeologia Graeca (1807): Academy ... was a large enclosure of ground which was once the property of a citizen of Athens named Academus. Some however say that it received its name from an ancient hero. [OED]

 

UNIT TWO: COMPOUNDS FROM TWO GREEK NOUN BASES

Many derivatives from Greek are formed from two noun bases. In such compounds one element usually depends on the other in a genitive or adjectival relationship.

The most common connecting vowel in such compounds is -o-; but

-a- is sometimes used in compounds having a first declension noun as the first element. Nouns of the third declension sometimes retain their own stem vowel but often drop it and add -o-.

Study this list of combining forms commonly used as elements in compounds. Learn any marked *.

* philo- [Greek, philos, loving, dear] love of

philology, love of logos

* -phile one loving

bibliophile, lover of books

-philous, -philic tending to love

-philia; -philiac love of > tendency toward > abnormal attraction to; one abnormally attracted to

* miso- [Greek, misos, hatred] hate of

* -meter [Greek, metron, measure] an instrument for measuring, a measure

-metry, the measurement of, science of measuring

telemetry, measurement from a distance

* -phone [Greek, phone, voice] sound, sound emitting device

telephone, device for emitting sound from far away

-latry [Greek, latreia, service for pay] worship of

idolatry, worship of idols

-later worshipper of

-latrous tending to worship

heliolater, sun worshipper

chrematolatrous, tending to worship money

* -logy [Greek logos, word] discourse, speech, the science, theory, study of

*-phobia [Greek phobos, fear] fear of

agoraphobia fear of the marketplace/open places

-phobe one who fears

skiaphobe one who fears shadows

*-nomy [Greek nomos, law, custom, usage] systematized knowledge of, laws concerning

astronomy systematized study of the stars

*-scope [Greek skopein, to look at] instrument for observing

telescope instrument for observing from afar

-gony, -geny [Greek goneia, generation < gonos, offspring, seed] production of

-genesis [Greek, genesis, birth, origin] generation, birth

parthenogenesis virgin birth

* -onym [Greek onoma, name] name

-mancy [Greek manteia, prophecy] telling the future by

-mancer, one who divines

-cracy [Greek kratia, strength, power] government by

democracy government by the people

-iatry [Greek iatreia, healing] medical treatment

psychiatry medical treatment of soul/mind

-iatrist, -iatrician physician who treats

* -graphy [Greek graphein, to write] a method of writing; a descriptive science

-graph means of writing/drawing; something drawn/written

-graphic having to do with method of writing / descriptive science

-grapher one who writes about a field; one who uses a specific means of writing or drawing

* -archy [Greek archE, rule, beginning] government, rule

monarchy rule by one

arch- chief, first archbishop

* -mania [Greek mania, madness] madness, exaggerated craving

bibliomania excessive craving for books

-maniac one displaying such an excessive craving

Exercise 1: Using the new combining elements and the vocabulary from the previous chapter (or words given with the exercises below), make up words meaning:

Using the new combining forms and the vocabulary from chapter eight, make up four or more additional definitions and words:

Exercise 2: What do these mean?

 

Exercise 3: make up fifty -logies: if you run out use the glossary. Know what the subject of each -logy is.

Need some help? Perhaps there are some here you did not think of:

Optional exercise: what do these fear?

  1. triskaidekaphobe
  2. skiaphobe
  3. scotophobe
  4. nyctophobe
  5. hypnophobe
  6. trichophobe
  7. demophobe
  8. demonophobe
  9. cynophobe
  10. capnophobe
  11. pyrophobe
  12. photophobe
  13. heliophobe
  14. xylophobe
  15. dendrophobe
  16. anthophobe
  17. anthropophobe
  18. agoraphobe
  19. necrophobe
  20. ornithophobe
  21. ichthyophobe
  22. arachnophobe
  23. zoophobe
  24. xenophobe
  25. pyrotechnophobe
  26. iatrophobe
  27. gynecophobe
  28. androphobe
  29. phobophobe
  30. pantophobe

Some words from the Grandiloquent Dictionary by Russell Rocke:

philotheoparoptesism ( < philo- theo- par(a)- + optan "roast" paroptan "to half roast") "to roast slowly for the love of God" said of heretics and others who have won the displeasure of the hierarchy.

osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary, without doubt a sesquipedalian, used to describe (in some detail) the structure of the human body, "made up of bone, flesh, blood, internal organs, cartilage, nerves and marrow." Translated into Greek elements, it becomes the comparatively streamlined, but still poly-syllabic, osteosarcohematenterochondroneuromyelic.

gawkocracy TV addicts as voters.

dystopia a place as bad as utopia is good, a word made up for humorous effect, as if utopia had been coined from eu- (good) instead of ou- (not) + topos (place).

Vocabulary IX

* algos [-algia] pain

anemos wind [cf. Latin, animus/anima breath, spirit]

aner, andr- man (male)

atmos steam, vapor

* chronos time

demos the people

dendron tree

ethnos nation, people

gamos marriage, sexual union

* ge [geo-] earth

glossa/glotta tongue, language

* gune, gunaik- woman

haima, haimat- [hem-/hemat-] blood

helios the sun

histos web, tissue

* hudor, hydro- water

* ichthus fish

karpos fruit

kephale head

* lithos stone

lukos wolf

* meter, metro- mother

* morphe shape, form

muthos speech, story

naus ship -naut sailor

nekros corpse

nephos/nephale cloud

* oikos [eco-] house, environment

ornis, ornitho- bird

oros mountain

osteon bone

* pais, paid- [ped-] child

* pater, patro- father

* pathos suffering, experience -pathy illness

petra rock

phos, photo- light

* polis city, city-state

pous, pod- foot

* psyche soul, breath, life

pur fire

* soma, somato- body

stethos chest

stichos line, verse

taphos tomb

tekton [-tect] carpenter, builder

techne art, skill

telos [teleo-] end

therapon/theraps attendant therapeia treatment

topos place

xenos foreigner, stranger

* zoon animal, living thing

Some additional words with some of their derivatives for use in the exercises:

Exercise 4: Make up or find two or more words using each of the new vocabulary words, five for those marked with an asterisk (*).

Examples:

soma, base: somat-, "body" > chromosome, idiochromosome, schistosome, microsome, somatic, psychosomatic, somatopsychic, somatology, somatogenic (arising within the body), somatotype (physique), somatoplasm (the protoplasm of a body cell)

lithos, "stone" > lithoid, lithic, lithology, lithography, lithosphere (the earth's rocky crust), Neolithic, Palaeolithic, Mesolithic (Miolithic), monolith, nephrolithectomy, xenolith ("foreign stone", that is, a rock foreign to the igneous mass in which it is found), lithiasis (production of bodily stones), litharge ("silver stone"), lithium (Li), lithophyte (a plant that grows on rocky surfaces), lithotrity ("stone crushing" as a surgical procedure); the combining element -lite comes from lithos, as in phonolite ("clinkstone", so named because it clinks when hit), chrysolite ("gold stone", also called olivene)

xenos, "strange, stranger" > xenon (Xe), xenia ("hospitality" used in botany with reference to hybrid plants), xenogenesis (supposed generation of offspring unlike the parents), xenogamy (cross-pollination), xenolith, xenophobe, xenophobia, euxenite ("good to strangers" used of a mineral containing many strange elements), pyroxene ("stranger to fire" of a foreign substance in igneous rock), xenoglossy (the speaking of a foreign language by a person in a trance), Euxine (the Greek name for the Black Sea)

taphos, "funeral rites, grave" > epitaph (inscription on a gravestone, unlike epithets, epitaphs are unlikely to be hurled), cenotaph ( < kenos "empty"), taphonomy (the study of what happens to bones after death)

Exercise 5

A. Take apart and define or use in a sentence:

1. etiology

2. neuralgia [neuron, nerve]

3. anemometer

4. anthropomorphic

5. androgyny

6. atmometer

7. biography

8. dendrochronology

9. ethnocentric

10. misogamy

11. geometrical

12. glossalgia

13. gyniatric

14. demophobia

15. hemophilia

16. heliograph

17. histopathology

18. hydromancy

19. ichthyornis

20. carpomania

21. hydrocephalous

22. cryoscope

23. lithograph

24. martyrology

25. metropolis

26. geomorphology

27. mythomania

28. cosmonaut

29. necropolis

30. economy

31. ornithocracy

32. orogeny

33. nephelolater

34. osteopath

35. pediatry

36. patriarch

37. psychopath

38. petroglyph [gluphein carve]

39. photography

40. plutonomy

41. cosmopolis

42. podiatry

43. psychosomatic

44. rhizomorph

45. pyromancy

46. skiagraphy

47. chromosome

48. stethoscope

49. technocrat

50. stichomythia

51. teleological

52. theocracy

53. cryotherapy

54. Theotokos

55. topolatry

56. xylography

57. xenophile

58. zoogeography

59. xenoglossy

60. gynecocracy

* B. Make up words meaning: (Turn in B or C)

*C. Give five or more derivatives from each of the following:  (Turn in C or B.)

1. bios

2. zoon

3. ge

4. psuche

5. polis

6. soma

7. ichthus

8. chronos

Still looking for -logies? Perhaps these will help:

D. Give meaning of base word(s); look up any that interest you:

Example: oread, base oros "mountain" [oread, mountain nymph]

1. anemone

2. gamete

3. philodendron

4. hematoma

5. glossalalia

6. gynaeceum

7. helium

8. morpheme

9. ecumenical

10. patriot

11. phosphate

12. petroleum

13. pedagogue

14. empyreal

15. enthusiasm [en + theos]

16. hydra

17. teleost

Optional: Guess what bases these are hiding:

18. pew

19. squirrel

20. licorice

21. parsley

22. diocese

23. parish

24. talisman

E. Give examples of:

1. an etiological myth or story

2. anthropomorphism

3. a gloss

4. a patronymic

5. a matronymic

6. a plutomaniac

7. a megalopolis

8. stichomythia

F. What are these concerned with?

  1.  onomastics
  2.  aeronomy
  3.  chromatogenesis
  4.  scopophiliac
  5.  seismography
  6.  ecesis (oikesis), ekistics

Checklist for Unit Two

1. Common compounding nouns

2. New Vocabulary

Some words from arche/archein: archaic, archaism, archaeology, archaeopteryx, Archeozoic, Archean, archbishop, archiepiscopate, archdeacon, archidiaconate, archpriest, archdiocese, archimage (cf Magi), archduchess, archduke, archfiend, archdevil, exarch, archipelago, architect, architrave, archives, autarchy, menarche, archon, matriarch, patriarchate, archetypical, archenteron ...

 

Supplement for Unit Two

Words from Greek mythology and culture

1. Explain why:

2. What are these:

The Judgment of Paris The Wrath of Achilles

The Labors of Heracles Penelope's Web

The Seven against Thebes Philoctetes' Cave

The Sirens' Song The Sphinx's Riddle

Achilles' Heel A Procrustean Bed

Nephelococcygia Batrachomyomachy

3. In Search of... Find twelve Olympian Gods in this puzzle:

O R E H N O E H T N A P Z E G

A L M A H E P H A E S T U S O

P O S I E D E E P R A E E E H

H E U Z R R N R P O T Z S R C

R E T E M E D A O S H E P A R

O L P E A P O L L O E U M H A

D O S O N I E D O P N S I I E

I B A A L A S A T N A A N A S

T H E M E S U S Y N O I D R D

E X N O D I E S O P G D R A S

 

History in Words

-solecism-

A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction, such as "...between you and I..."

A violation of etiquette.

Any impropriety, a mistake, or an incongruity.

From Greek soloikismos, from soloikizein (soloiki/zein), to speak incorrectly, from soloikos, speaking incorrectly, after Soloi (Soli), an Athenian colony in Cilicia where a dialect regarded as substandard was spoken. Greek has various verbs about speaking Greek and other tongues such as hellenizein (e(llhni/zein "to speak Greek"), attikizein (a)ttiki/zein "to speak Attic Greek").

Not to be confused with solipsism (the belief that the self is the only reality).

-inauguration- 

A formal induction into office.

From Latin inaugurre < in-, "in" intensive pref. + augurre, "to augur"

From augur, "a soothsayer" an ancient Roman religious official who foretold the future by interpreting signs and omens, that is by reading the auspices (< Latin auspicium < avis "bird" + spicere/specere "to look at")

From the Indo-European Root *AUG- "to increase"Some other interesting derivatives of this root are:

From Old English

From Latin augere, auctum "to increase"  augment, auction, augend, author (Latin, auctor), authorial, authorize

From Latin augustus "majestic":  August, august

From Greek au)ca/nein / au)/cein (auxanein / auxein) "increase":  auxin (a plant hormone), auxesis (increase in size through cell growth)

 

UNIT THREE: GREEK ADJECTIVES USED IN ENGLISH WORDS

Vocabulary X

Study these Greek adjectives. They are mostly used as first elements in compounds. Learn those marked *.

akros [acro-] topmost

* allos [allo-] other

aristos [aristo-] best

* autos [auto-] self

axios [axio-] worthy

barus [bary-, bari-, baro-] heavy -bar a unit of pressure

bathus [bathy-, batho-] deep

brachus [brachy-] short

etumos [etymo-] true

eurus [eury-] wide

gumnos [gymno-] naked

* heteros [hetero-] other, one of two

hieros [hiero-] holy

* holos [holo-] whole

homos [homo-] one and the same

homoios [homeo-, homoio-] like

hugros [hygro-] wet, moist

* idios [idio-] one's own, peculiar

* isos [iso-] equal

* kainos [ceno-, caeno-; -cene] new

kakos [caco-] bad, ugly

kalos [kal-, calo-, calli-] beautiful

kenos [ken-, ceno-] empty

koinos [ceno-, coeno-] common

* makros [macro-] long

* megas, megal- [mega-, megalo-; -megaly] big

* mikros [micro-] small

* monos [mono-] alone, only, single

murios [myrio-] countless, 10,000

* neos [neo-] new

oligos [oligo-] few

orthos [ortho-] straight

oxus [oxy-] sharp

* palaios [paleo-, palaeo-] old

* pas, pant- [pan-, panto-] all

platus [platy-] wide, broad

* polus [poly-] much, many

pleion [plio-, pleo-] more, greater

pleistos [pleisto-] most, greatest

* protos [proto-] first

* pseudes [pseudo-] false

stenos [steno-] narrow

stereos [stereo-] solid, firm

* tele [tele-] far away [adverb]

thermos [thermo-] warm, hot

trachus [trach-, trachy] rugged, harsh

xeros [xero-] dry

Exercise 1: Form words meaning

Exercise 2: Give opposites of:

Exercise 3: define parts; give meaning of the whole word

1. acromegaly

2. acropolis

3. allogamy

4. autoecious

5. isobar

6. bathymetry

7. etymography

8. eurybathic

9. brachylogy

10. gymnobiblism

11. heterology

12. hieroglyph [gluphein carve]

13. Holocene

14. homeopathy

15. hygroscope

16. idiolatry

17. isotope

18. pleistocene

19. kaleidoscope [eidos form, what is seen]

20. caceconomy

21. cenobiarch

22. megalomania

23. omicron [o = o]

24. macron

25. monologue

26. myriapod

27. oligocene

28. orthoepy [epos word]

29. paleontology [-ont- being]

30. pantheon

31. platypus

32. polyphone

33. prototype

34. gymnosophist

35. theosophy

36. stenography

37. stereophonic

38. stereoscope

39. isotherm

40. trachea

41. xerophil

42. telemetry

43. polychromatic

44. gymnophilia

45. holograph

46. isosceles [skelos leg]

47. pliocene

48. megalomorph

49. monoecious [ < oikos]

50. orthoscope

* Exercise 4 Make up or find five words using each of these:  (Turn in.)

1. autos

2. protos

3. megas

4. micros

5. macros

6. monos

7. polus

8. pseudes

9. tele

10. palaios

11. neos

12. allos

Examples:

pas "all" [bases pan-, panto-]: pantomime, panacea, pantheon, pancreas, panoply, panegyric, pangenesis, pandemic, pandect, pandaemonium, panorama, pantograph, pantothenic acid, Pan-American, Pan-Hellenic

heteros "other, different": heteronym, heteromorphous, heterogeneous, heterogamy, heterosexual, heterodox, heterophyllous (phulla, leaves), heterophyte, heteroplasty, heterotrophic, heterosporous, heterochromatic: variegated

isos "equal": isobar, isosceles, isotherm, isotone, isotope, isomorphism, isogram, isochromatic, isomer, isochronal, isoclinal, isodynamic, isogamete, isopoda, isometric, isogon (-gon, "angle"), isogloss: a boundary marking the area in which a given linguistic feature is present, isohel: a line connecting areas with equal sunlight

platus, "wide" > platy (a fish), platyhelminth (a flatworm), platyrrhine (having a broad nose), platypus, plateau, plate, platen, platform, platitude, platinum, plaice, plane tree ( < platanos), AND, through plateia (feminine of platus, with hodos "road, way, street" understood), place, plaza, piazza.

Exercise 5. Review the vocabulary and find two or more words using each new adjective.

Some examples:

1. To help you distinguish kainos, kenos, koinos:

kainos, "new" > Cenozoic, Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene, Eocene, Paleocene, cenogenesis, kainite. Cognate to recent from Latin.

kenos, "empty" > cenotaph, kenosis

koinos, "common" > Koine, cenobium, cenobite, cenobiarch, epicene, coenocyte, coenurus. Cognate to Latin cum ("with"; cf. prefix com-)

2. Some others:

akros > acrophobia, acronym, acrobat, acrocarpous (bearing fruit on top), acrodont (having rootless teeth that are fused to the jaw), acrogen (a plant in which all growth is from the tip of the stem, as a fern), acromegaly (enlargement of the extremities), acropolis, acrostic ( < stichos "line").

hieros > hieroglyphic, hieratic, hierarchy (a body of people classified by rank, the clergy by ranks), hierocracy (government by the clergy), hierology (sacred literature), hierogram (a sacred symbol), hierodule (a temple slave), hierophant (one who officiates at the revelation of sacred things to initiates)

idios > idiot, idiom, idiomorphic, idiopathy, idiosyncrasy, idiolect. idioplasm NOT to be confused with ideo- which indicates "idea, form" (ideology, ideogram, ideologue)

stenos > stenographer, stenophagous, stenothermal

stereos > stereo, stereophonic, stereobate (a solid base), stereochemistry, stereochromy, stereogram (a solid diagram or picture), stereotype, stereoscope, microstereoscopic, steroid, cholesterol, ergosterol, stereopticon

Exercise 6 Give examples of:

Example: acronyms: NIMBY (Not In My BackYard);  POSSLQ (Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters); PESFA (Palouse Empire Science Fiction Association); RADAR (RAdio Detecting And Ranging); WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant); WAC (Women's Army Corps); NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research); NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization); MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving); NAFTA, OPEC, AIDS.

1. heteronyms

2. allegory

3. oxymoron

4. cacoepy (cf. Mrs Malaprop and Archie Bunker)

5. cacoethes (< ethos)

6. cenobium

7. homograph

8. homonyms

9. cacography

10. pseudonym

Optional: New nouns in the exercises

Use each of these word elements in an English word. If you cannot think of any, see below.

Hints:

  1. -- chthonic, autochthonous, allocthon
  2. -- dicast, dicastery, Eurydice, theodicy, syndic
  3. -- epic, cacoepy, orthoepy
  4. -- colloid, collotype, protocol
  5. -- pancreas, creosote
  6. -- isomer, polymer, meropia, allomerism
  7. -- moron, oxymoron
  8. -- conodont, orthodontia
  9. -- sarcophagus, sarcoma
  10. -- isosceles, triskelion (not skeleton)
  11. -- gymnosperm, spermatazoa
  12. -- atonal, tonic, oxytone, monotonous

Vocabulary Note

brachus "short" is cognate to the Latin brevis. Words in brachy-, such as brachylogy, brachycephalic, brachydactylic, brachyuran, brachypterous, are derived from it. From the comparative comes brachion "the upper arm" < "shorter" (as opposed to the forearm) and such words as brachiopod, brachiosaur ("arm foot" and "arm lizard" respectively), brachial, brachiate. The superlative is brachistos > brachistochrone ("the shortest time").

Exercise 7 [optional] Interesting words using new vocabulary. Choose 3 or 4 and find their origins and meanings:

1. elixir

2. sophomore [not as popularly believed "wise fool"]

3. autarky

4. Jerome

5. hoi polloi  [not to be confused with hoity-toity]

6. pancreas

7. panacea

8. minster [as in Westminster]

9. autacoid

10. Eurydice

11. idiot

12. place

13. panoply

14. panegyric

15. protocol

16. cholesterol

17. phylloxera

18. xerox

19. barium

20. coenurus

21. autochthonous

22. cacoepy

23. oxymoron

24. coenosarc

25. etymon

26. pseudepigrapha

27. autopsy [opsis sight]

28. gymnosophist

 

Check list for unit three

1. Greek adjectives: review; use each in a word

2. New words in lesson: learn interesting ones and use them in sentences.

Supplement for unit three: Greek numbers

1. Fill in Latin equivalents.

2. Tell how many:

  1. triskaidekaphobia 
  2. dodecahedron
  3. hexapolis 
  4. hemisphere
  5. diplopia 
  6. chiliast
  7. pentagon 
  8. ennead
  9. triglyph 
  10. hemistich
  11. monograph 
  12. kilometer
  13. hexagram 
  14. Pentateuch
  15. trilogy 
  16. distich
  17. triptych 
  18. oligarchy
  19. pentathlon 
  20. octohedron
  21. decalogue 
  22. hecatomb
  23. dichotomy 
  24. hexameter
  25. tetrarchy 
  26. Deuteronomy
  27. protagonist 
  28. deuteragonist
  29. tritagonist

Some interesting words derived from Greek numbers: diploma, hectare, enosis, dimity, hendiadys, hyphen, trapezoid, Pentecost, tetra, trivet

Numbers Game: ordinal/cardinal

Match cardinals with ordinals of the same rank and language: this game uses both Greek and Latin.

  1. Proto-Geometric         quinquennium
  2. Deuteronomy             sexpartite
  3. tritagonist                 biceps
  4. primogeniture             enotic
  5. second-guess             trilateral
  6. tertiary                     December
  7. quartan fever             quadrivium
  8. quintessential             duopsony
  9. sextant                     unitarian
  10. decimal                     triarchy

 

Words in Context

In truth, as David Lodge knows very well, academics are never all that hip. "Cutting-edge academic" may actually be an oxymoron." Lisa Zeidner (in a review of David Lodge, Thinks..., N Y Times 10 June 2001.)

Polyglot waiters can tell us when the train starts in four or five languages. [1873]

This same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey. Oliver Goldsmith

Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep, moral, grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Francis Bacon

Hardy became a sort of village atheist brooding and blaspheming over the village idiot. G. K. Chesterton

History in Words

-Shibboleth-

"a password, test or watchword of a party, faction, or ethnic group." OR "a password, phrase, custom, usage, catchword, slogan that is distinctive of a particular group" [Scribner's dictionary].

The word comes from Hebrew and entered English as a transliteration of its original in Wycliff's 1382 translation of the Bible.

The meaning in Hebrew is "an ear of corn" OR "a stream in flood." How did a word meaning "an ear of corn" or "a stream in flood" come to mean a password?

The answer can be found by reading the passage in question: Judges xii.4-6.

Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manassaeh." And the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" When he said, "No," they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right; then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites. [RSV]

The word shibboleth was, as you can see from this context, used by Jephthah, king of the Gileadites, to distinguish the fleeing Ephraimites, who could not pronounce the sh sound, from his own men. The word passed into English from this passage and was gradually extended to a more general use, to mean any word, phrase, or sound which can be used as a test to detect outsiders or foreigners. For example, "They had a shibboleth to discover them, he who pronounced Brot and Cawse for Bread and Cheese hat his head lopt off" [John Cleveland, 1658].

 

UNIT FOUR: GREEK SUFFIXES

Noun and adjective forming suffixes

-ic, -tic pertaining to, having to do with

-ac used instead of -ic if an -i immediately precedes

cardiac having to do with the heart

-ics [Greek, -ika] things having to do with > art, science, study of [usually used with a singular verb]

-ical < -ic + -al (Latin), pertaining to, having the nature of

political pertaining to citizens/having to do with the relationship of citizens to the state [polis]

-oid resembling, like, shaped

android {thing that is} man-shaped thyroid door (thura) shaped

-ite one connected with, inhabitant of; a commercial product, a mineral

-ism the belief in, profession or practice of

hylozoism belief in connection of life and matter

-ist one who believes in, professes, or practices, a follower of

dramatist one who makes plays

-ast one who does or practices, one who believes in

-isk, -iscus small

asterisk a little star meniscus a little moon

-ia, -y act, state of [abstract noun forming suffix]

-sis act, state, condition of

-m, -me, -ma [base, -mat-] result of

Suffix exercise:

Make up or find at least three words using each suffix.

Examples:

-isk, -iscus, "small" asterisk, basilisk (a mythical serpent, "little king"), obelisk ("a little spit")

-oid "like" android, gynecoid, humanoid, anthropoid, "droid," odontoid, crystalloid, planetoid, spheroid, adenoid, asteroid, thyroid, pyroid, colloid, dendroid, sarcoid

-ast "one who does" iconoclast, dynast, pederast, dicast, osteoclast, gymnast, ecdysiast, scholiast, enthusiast. Words in -plast and -blast are not true -asts.

-ma "result of" plasma, protoplasm, coma, comma, axiom, anathema, biome, cinema, stigma (pl. stigmata), problem, lemma, pragmatic, dogma, dogmatic, drama, dramatic, gram, diagram, polygram, epigram, anagram, program, poem, rheum, schism, schismatic, enema, asthma, enigma, panorama, chrism, scheme, rhematic (pertaining to word formation)

Another suffix for your amusement:

-aster a diminutive suffix from Latin that implies inferiority; one who has pretenses or dabbles in something

*Exercise 1 Using vocabulary of previous lessons, make up words meaning: (Turn in # 21-33.)

Exercise 2: Take apart and define:

1. chthonic

2. epic

3. oxytonic

4. orthodontist

5. necrosis

6. chiliast

7. android

8. misoneism

9. macrobiotic

10. kenosis

11. cryogenics

12. geopolitics

13. zodiac [< zodiakos kuklos] [< zodion, diminutive of zoon]

14. asterisk

15. gymnast

16. necrographist

17. axiologist

18. demotic

19. sophism

20. telepathy

21. monomaniac

22. typographical

23. prototypical

24. theism

25. telekinesis [< kinein move]

Exercise 3 make up words from these bases using as many of the new suffixes as you can:

1. mimos

2. axios

3. chroma, chromat-

4. ethos

5. cosmos

6. aster

7. schole

8. tupos

9. oikos

10. psuche

11. hupnos [sleep]

Examples: anthropos ("human being"): anthropoid, philanthropic, philanthropist, misanthropy, anthropological, anthropomorphism, anthropopathism, anthropogenesis, anthropophagy, anthropophobia.

graphein ("write"): pseudepigraphical, program, epigrammatic, graphics, graphologist, graphite, agraphia, graptolite, epigraphic, topography, tachygraphy, grammatical (grammar, glamor), brachygraphy.

 

Vocabulary XI

Go over these; learn any marked with an asterisk

 

"Periphrastics" are rewritten proverbs, maxims, or cliches with sesquipedalian words and phrases substituted for the energetic and epigrammatic expressions of the originals, for example:

Let it be interdicted to apply a stomatoscope to a donated hippic quadruped.

Exercise 4

A. Take these apart (optional)

1. colloid

2. agronomic

3. anthology

4. tyrannosaurus

5. intergalactic

6. phrenetic

7. sematic

8. hypnosis

9. hylozoism

10. hoplite

11. chemotherapy

12. chlorosis

13. helicoid

14. hipparch

15. cynophile

16. mitosis

17. polemics

18. eremite

19. rhetorical

20. panoply

21. catharsis

22. dinokeras

23. magic

24. phylum

25. sclerosis

26. chrysanthemum

27. electrotype

28. angiosperm

29. toxemia

30. stearic

31. phylogeny

B. Make up words meaning:

C. Some interesting words and names derived from the new vocabulary. Choose one or two and find out what they mean and how they come to be used as they are.

Some more "periphrastics":

A hiatus quickly develops between a fatuous or moronic individual and his (or her) pelf.

A bursoklept obtains merely quisquilious matter from me.

Chronotherapy is the optimal treatment for every trauma.

People and places:

1. A biblioklept would be most unwelcome a. in a shoestore b. at church c. in the library d. at a bar

2. A necrophobe would very likely avoid a. high places b. zoos c. the gymnasium d. mortuaries

3. The likeliest place to see a lycanthrope is a. at a charity ball b. at an art opening c. on creature features d. at tea

4. A cynophile might be met at a. a cat show b. the animal shelter c. the hippodrome d. a philosophers' convention

5. A misologist would be least likely to enjoy a. a public debate b. the superbowl c. grand opera d. a beauty contest

Check list for Unit Four

1. Learn all suffixes.

2. Learn new vocabulary.

3. Make a chart of suffixes and use each in a word.

History in Words

-Burke-

"to murder by suffocation or strangulation" (originally, leaving as little trace as possible, for the purpose of selling the corpse for disscetion in the laboratory).  From the name of William Burke, a villain of vocabulary.

Burke was hanged for murder in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1829. He and his partner in crime, William Hare, lived in a rather seedy section of Edinburgh in the early 19th century. One evening a visitor to their rooms happened to pass away. Rather than go to the trouble of disposing of his mortal remains in the traditional manner, the pair carted the corpse off to the University and sold it for the use of medical students. The receipt of seven pounds sterling for as otherwise useless body set the two men on the road of crime. They began enticing other down-and-outers to their rooms with the promise of liquid refreshment and not willing to wait for the unlikely event of their dying of natural causes, they carefully smothered them so as to leave them intact for dissection in the school laboratory. Fifteen or more unfortunate wayfarers were thus sacrificed to science and avarice before the two murderers were caught and tried. The Times of London on the day of the execution, 2 February 1829, contained this item:

 As soon as the executioner proceeded to his duty, the cries of "Burke him, Burke him, give him no rope," were vociferated. "Burke Hare too."

Other words from people's names include: bowdlerize, dunce, nicotine, lynch, macabre, sadism, chauvinism.

 

Words in Context

Radionics was already flourishing in England by the mid-fifties. It was a pseudo-scientific practice that had started in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century. It claimed to diagnose and cure at any distance disorders and ailments in people, animals and vegetables. It gained a following, and to-day still enjoys a considerable number of believers. That it is a totally irrational method of healing is not to discount it and certainly the claims of radionics (the word is not in the dictionary) are no more a subject for mockery than the claims of all our religions. Muriel Spark, A Far Cry from Kensington.

The Beatles were the perfect cynosure of the 1960's. (NPR) cynosure: something that is a focus of admiration or attention < kuon, kunos dog + oura tail, dogs tail (a name for the constellation Ursa Minor).

 

UNIT FIVE: GREEK PREFIXES

 

* a- [an- before a vowel] not, un-, -less

amphi- both, on both sides, around, about

* ana- [an- before a vowel] up, back, again

* anti- instead, against, in opposition to

* apo- [ap- before a vowel or h] from, away from, off, utterly, completely, lack of

* cata-, cat- [Greek, kata] down, against, completely [opp. ana-]

* dia-, di- through, across, over, assunder

Be careful not to confuse dia with di- "two" (diode, dimeter, dicotyledon) or dicho- which indicates "division into two parts" (dichotomy) or with Latin dis- "in different directions" (dissect, dismiss).

dys- [Greek, dus-] ill, un-, mis-, difficult, bad

* ec-, ex- [Greek, ek, ex] out, from, off

ecto- [Greek, ekto-] on the outside

ectoderm outer skin

* en-, em- in

enantio- [en- + anti-] opposite

endo- within, inside, internal

endoscope instrument for observing inside

eso- inward, within

esoteric more inward

exo- outward, external

* epi- (ep- before a vowel or h) upon, over, at, near

* eu- (rarely, ev-) well, good

* meta-, met- among, between, change, behind, later

palin-, pali- back, again

* para-, par- beside, beyond, near, incorrectly, like

* peri- around, about

Do not confuse with the Latin prefix per-, "through".

* pro- before, forward, for

Do not confuse with the Latin prefix pro- "forth, for, forward, instead of, publicly" (proceed, procrastinate, progress, proscribe) or with the Greek prefix pros- "to, toward, besides" (see next), or with the Greek adjective protos "first" (protoplasm, protozoic).

pros- to, toward, besides, in front

* syn-, sym-, syl-, sys- [Greek, sun] with, together

* hyper- [Greek, huper] above, beyond, exceedingly

* hypo-, hyp- [Greek, hupo] under

Some pitfalls:

Not from para-: parasol, parachute, parade (from Latin parare); paradise (from a Persian word meaning "a pleasure garden"); parasang (also from Persian); paramour, parboil (both from Latin per-, respectively, "for love" and "boil thoroughly").

Exercise 1 Take apart and define parts:

Some words using the base of * hodos "road, way"

Some words using the base of ode "song"

Exercise 2: Choose one prefix and find as many words as you can using it. Make sure they are all legitimate.

Example: kata-: catholic, cathode, cathedral, cathexis, cation, catheter, catechism, catechumen, category, catastrophe, catalogue, catabolic, catachresis, catadromous (migrating downstream), catalepsy (muscular rigidity), catalyst, catastasis (intensified action before a catastrophe), catarrh, catapult, catalectic, cataract, catatonic.

But not: catalpa [from Creek, not Greek], catamaran [from Tamil], catamount ["cat of the mountains"], catalo [cattle + buffalo], catenary [< Latin catena, chain], catamite [ < the name Ganymede], catacomb [from Latin, but of obscure origin], catharsis [from katharos "pure"]

Some more pitfalls:

eunuch NOT from eu-, but from eune "bed" + echein "have" (Go figure or, better, look it up in a dictionary.)

NOT from peri-: periwig, periwinkle

Exercise 3 A: Word words [from onoma, using element -onym]: take apart and explain parts. Give an example of each or use it in a sentence.

Example: enantionyms: words that sound the same but have opposite meanings: cleave (cut), cleave (cling); raze, raise; table (to put on the table for consideration or to postpone consideration).

1. anonymous

2. eponymous

3. paronymous

4. metonymy

5. synonym

6. antonym

7. homonym

8. acronym

9. pseudonymous

10. euonymous

Exercise 3 B: House words [from oikos, combining form, eco-]

Exercise 4: Make up compounds from these bases, using the new prefixes:

1. logos

2. kuklos

3. metron

4. ergon

5. pathos

6. demos

7. gram-, -graph

8. derma [skin]

Exercise 5: Make up words meaning:

Exercise 6: Review of prefixes and suffixes. Fill in one word using the same prefix as the word given and one word using the same suffix or last combining element:

apathetic atheist archaeologist

  1. amphiarthrosis [arthron joint]
  2. anarchy
  3. analytic [luein loosen]
  4. antiphonal
  5. aposiopesis [siope silence]
  6. diagnostics [gno- perceive]
  7. dysteleological
  8. ecdysiast [ekduein take off]
  9. ectoderm
  10. encephalitis [-itis inflammation of]
  11. enantiomorph
  12. endocrinology [krinein separate]
  13. esoterism [-ter- more]
  14. exodontia
  15. epidermoid
  16. eupatrid [-id son of > Atreides]
  17. catalogue
  18. metaphysics [physis nature]
  19. palindrome [dromos a running]
  20. paradigmatic [dig- < deik- show]
  21. periodical
  22. problem [ball-, ble- throw]
  23. prosthesis [the- put]
  24. symmetry
  25. hyperopia [opia eye condition >diplopia] hypochondriac [chondros cartilage]

 

Check list for Unit 5 

Know all Greek prefixes

Make a chart using each prefix in a word

Words in Context

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells

The speaking in perpetual hyperbole is comely in nothing but in love. Francis Bacon

 

Supplement for Unit Five

Greek and Latin prefixes compared; some English cognates included

Greek Latin English cognate

Latin: ad-/ English at

Greek: koinos/ Latin com-

Latin: de-/English to, too

Greek: zeugma/ Latin juxta-/ English yoke

Latin: se-, sine-/ English asunder

Latin: trans-/ English through, thorough, nostril

 

Word Game: Pitfalls

Which are from Greek?

parachute catalpa anaconda anticipate aport enmity ephah euchre meticulous palisade periwinkle proa syllabub hyson

[answer: none of these]

Some interesting words using the new Greek prefixes: Choose one and explain it and find an example or picture.

Distinguish:

 

History in Words

Squash

The vegetable of a variety of plants "of the genus Cucurbita, having fleshy edible fruit with a leathery rind and unisexual flowers."

Etymology: alteration of Narragansett asktasquash. [AHD]

Words of Native American origin include:

Algonquian:

Ojibwa:

Cree:

pemmican trail mix or emergency rations made of meat and dried fruit

Narragansett:

Nootka

potlatch: a ceremonial feast and distribution of gifts [Chinook Jargon, from Nootka p'achitl, to make a potlatch gift.]

Navajo:

hogan

Hopi:

 

UNIT SIX: GREEK VERBS

 

Study the verb stems and meanings in the list below. The Greek present infinitive is given in brackets. Present infinitives end in -ein (thematic verbs), -nai (athematic verbs), -esthai/asthai (deponent verbs). Thematic and athematic refer to the two conjugations (or patterns) and deponent means that the verbs do not appear in the active voice but in the middle/passive. Verbs ending in -an are -a-stems or -a-contract verbs of the thematic type.

acou-, acu- [akouein] hear

acoustics, pseudacusis

aesth-, esth- [aisthanesthai] feel, perceive

aesthetic (esthetic), anaesthesia

ag- the base sometimes appears as -eg- [agein] lead, bring

ba-, be- [bainein] go, step, walk

basis, diabetes

ball-, ble-, bol- [ballein] throw

ballistics, problem, hyperbole

chor- [chorein] move

-chore indicates a plant distributed by a specific agency: anemochore, zoochore

cin-, kin- [kinein] move

kinesiology, kinescope, cinematography

cle- [kalein] call

paraclete

clin-, cli- [klinein] bend, make to slope

geosyncline, climate

cop-, com- [koptein] cut

pericope, comma

crin-, cri- [krinein] separate, judge, decide

eccrine, apocrine, criterion, criticaster

crypt-, cryp- [kruptein] hide

cryptographer, apocrypha

do- [didonai] give

dose, anecdote

doc-, dog-, dox- [dokein] seem, think

dra- [dran] do, act, perform

dramaturgy, melodrama (melos "tune")

drom- [dramein] run

dromedary, palindrome

dyn- [dunasthai] be able, be powerful

glyph- [gluphein] carve

petroglyph, hieroglyphic

gno- [gignoskein] know

diagnosis, gnomic, agnostic

graph-, gram- [graphein] draw, write

histanai, see sta-

i- [ienai] go

ion, anion, cation

lab-, lep-, lem- [lambanein] take, seize

leg-, lex-, lect-, log- [legein] gather, say

ly- [luein] loose, break, destroy

paralysis, catalyst, analyze

math- [manthanein] learn

polymath, mathematician

chrestomathy (a collection of useful learning)

nem-, nom- [nemein, cf. nomos] assign, allot

-ont-, -ous- [einai] be [root, -es]

-ont- and -ous- are the masculine and feminine active participial endings and so mean "being" -ousia is the noun form, meaning "substance, nature"

pau-, -pose (influenced by Lat. ponere) [pauein] cease, stop

pha-, phe- [phanai] say, speak (pheme a saying)

phag- [phagein] eat

phen-, phan-, pha- [phainein] show, cause to appear; appear

pher-, phor- [pherein] bear, carry

phy- [phuein] make to grow; grow, be by nature

physics, neophyte, symphysis

poie-, poe- [poiein] make, do

pol- [polein] sell

ichthyopole, aeropole, molopoly, oligopoly

cf. opsonein "to buy" -opsony > monopsony, oligopsony

prag-, prac- [prattein] do

pragmatic, practical, chiropractor

rhe(u)-, rhy-, rho- [rhein] flow

schiz-, schis- [schizein] split

schizogenesis, schistosome, schism

scop-, scep-, skep- [skopein] examine, look at

sta-, ste- [histanai] stand, cause to stand

stasis, iconostasis, ecstasy, hemostat, apostasy, system

stol-, stal-, stl- [stellein] send, make ready

apostolic, systalic, epistle, apostle

streph- (strep-), stroph- [strephein] turn

tak-, tac-, tax- [tattein] arrange, assign, assess

ten-, ta-, ton- [teinein] stretch out, strain

the- [tithenai] put, place

thesis, theme, epithet

tme-, tom- [temnein] cut

troph- [trephein] feed, nourish

eutrophic, atrophy, dystrophy

trop(h)- [trepein] turn

tropic, heliotrope, entropy, trope, tropology; trophy

And a final verb, not for the fainthearted:

hec-, hex-, sche-, ech- och-, -uch- [echein] have, hold

Exercise 1: Study the verbs and examples; using the suffixes and prefixes from the previous two lessons, make up several more words using each verb (in any of its forms).

Examples:

akouein acoustic, hyperacusia, anacusia, acoustician (possibly related to kudos "glory")

aisthanesthai aesthetics, aestheticism, aesthete, kinesthesia, synesthesia, anesthetic, anestheticist, anesthesiology

ballein ballista, ballistics, ballizein > ball (dance), ballet, ballad, balletomane, [not ball, ballooon]; catabolic, catabolism, diabolic, devil, emblem, symbol, symbolic, problem, problematic, metabolism, hyperbole, parabola, parable, parley, parlor, palaver, parole, parliament, amphibole (a large group of structurally similar hydrated double silicate minerals), amphibology (ambiguity in language), epiboly (a throwing over, refers to the growth of one embryonic part over another), ecbolic, Discobolus (the Discus Thrower)

gignoskein gnostic, Gnosticism, agnostic, diagnostic, gnome (a maxim), gnomic, physiognomy, prognosis, prognosticate, gnomon (an indicator), gnosis (intuitive understanding of spiritual truths); cognate to Latin (g)noscere > cognition, recognize, notice, acquaint, note, connote, annotate, connoisseur, ignore; cognate to English know, ken, can, cunning, uncouth.

Exercise 2: Find the common verb stem in each group; take apart and explain the meaning of the whole.

1. demagogue, pedagogue

2. aesthetic, anesthesia

3. acoustics, pseudacusis

4. acrobat, diabetes

5. problem, metabolism

6. anemochore, anchorite

7. anecdote, apodosis

8. dogmatic, heterodox

9. dromedary, hippodrome

10. dramatic, drastic

11. dynasty, dynamite

12. cachexia, entelechy

13. ion, cation

14. ontological, paleontology

15. agnosticism, diagnosis

16. hieroglyphic, petroglyph

17. seismograph, diagram [seismos, earthquake]

18. ecstatic, iconostasis

19. paraclete, ecclesiastical

20. cinema, hyperkinetic

21. enclitic, climate

22. pericope, syncope

23. critic, hypocrisy

24. apocryphal, cryptogram

25. dilemma, epilepsy

26. eclectic, prologue

27. dyslexia, catalogue

28. psychoanalytic, paralysis

29. polymath, mathematics

30. nomad, nemesis

31. pause, menapause [men- month]

32. sarcophagus, papyrophagy

33. epiphany, phenomenon, diaphanous

34. prophesy, dysphasia

35. euphoria, anaphora

36. physics, neophyte

37. onomatopoetic, poem

38. bibliopole, monopoly

39. impractical, pragmatic

40. diarrhoea, logorrhoea, rheum

41. schismatic, schizogenesis

42. episcopal, telescope

43. epistle, apostolic

44. catastrophic, antistrophe

45. syntax, paratactic

46. atomic, dichotomy [dicho- in two]

47. atrophy, entrophic

48. heliotrope, tropic

49. monotone,hypotenuse [-use is the participial ending,=-ing]

50. parenthetical, metathesis, anathema

Exercise 3: make up words meaning

Some interesting words from the new Greek verbs:

Find one that interests you and learn more about its etymology and meaning.

Exercise 4: give examples of:

1. paradox

2. hyperbole

3. palindrome

4. anagram

5. protasis

6. euphemism

7. metaphor

8. boustrophedon ["as the ox turns"]

9. tmesis

10. epithet

Exercise 5 review of verbs

A. Match with meaning of base verb; fill in one additional English word using the same base.

  1. _x_ apocryphal 1. know crypt
  2. ___ mystagogue 2. go [use twice]
  3. ___ esthete 3. run
  4. ___ discobolus 4. be
  5. ___ zoochore 5. have
  6. ___ antidote 6. do
  7. ___ doxology 7. lead
  8. ___ catadromous 8. throw
  9. ___ melodramatic 9. seem
  10. ___ dynamic 10. give
  11. ___ epoch 11. move
  12. ___ cation 12. hear
  13. ___ ontic 13. be able
  14. ___ gnostic 14. feel
  15. ___ acoustic x. hide
  16. ___ basis

 

  1. ___ anaglyph 1. stop
  2. ___ program 2. learn
  3. ___ thermostat 3. gather
  4. ___ kinesthesia 4. hide
  5. ___ epiclesis 5. cut
  6. ___ proclitic 6. call
  7. ___ apocope 7. stand
  8. ___ endocrine 8. carve
  9. ___ cryptic 9. move
  10. ___ epilepsy 10. lean
  11. ___ analects 11. separate, judge
  12. ___ catalyst 12. take
  13. ___ monomath 13. loosen
  14. ___ anomy 14. write
  15. ___ diapause 15. assign

 

  1. ___ anthropophage 1. put
  2. ___ phantasmagoria 2. sell
  3. ___ prophesy 3. eat
  4. ___ dysphoria 4. cut
  5. ___ physics 5. flow
  6. ___ pharmacopoeia 6. seem, appear
  7. ___ oenopole 7. arrange
  8. ___ catarrh 8. make
  9. ___ schismatic 9. speak
  10. ___ epistolary 10. turn
  11. ___ apostrophe 11. grow
  12. ___ hypotactic 12. carry
  13. ___ nephrolithectomy 13. send
  14. ___ prosthesis 14. split

B. Match words from same verb and give meaning of verb base:

  1. ___ dialect 1. pericope
  2. ___ schism 2. emblematic
  3. ___ graphite 3. homoiousian
  4. ___ system 4. epigram
  5. ___ diacritical 5. poetry
  6. ___ dilemma 6. anabatic
  7. ___ dose 7. phantom
  8. ___ paradoxical 8. dogmatic
  9. ___ symbolic 9. criterion
  10. ___ basis 10. schizogenesis
  11. ___ stratagem 11. apostasy
  12. ___ ontological 12. synagogue
  13. ___ comma 13. dyslexia
  14. ___ mythopoeic 14. astrolabe
  15. ___ phenomenology 15. anecdotal

 

Word Game: which does not belong?

  1. demagogue strategic pedagogy ago
  2. acoustics pseudacusis acute
  3. anabasis stylobate bass acrobat
  4. devil ballistics metabolic balloon
  5. dos-a-dos dose antidote anecdote
  6. dramaturgy dromedary palindrome hippodrome
  7. hectic hex eunuch cachexia
  8. gnostic genesis prognosis gnomic
  9. graffiti graminivorous grammar telegraph
  10. cinerous cinema kinetic telekinetic
  11. criticaster crinate criterion crisis
  12. lyceum lysis catalyst paralytic
  13. polyandry monopoly oligopoly oenopole
  14. Prakrit practical pragmatic praxis
  15. thesis thematic parenthetical theanthropism
  16. epistle apostolic constellation systalic

Checklist for Unit Six

Learn Greek verb stems

Review prefixes and suffixes

Review of Part Three

Supplement to Unit Six:

Some Greek and Latin verb formations compared:

Add to this list as a review of Greek and Latin elements.

Words in Context

...a falseness in all our impressions of external things which I would generally call the "pathetic fallacy" Ruskin

Never make a defence of apology before you be accused. Charles I

Poetry is not the proper antithesis to prose, but to science. Poetry is opposed to science, and prose to metre. Coleridge

The excitement of being in Paris produced a sudden wild euphoria, the more intense by its contrast with the despairing lassitude in which she had recently been plunged. Iris Murdoch

She considered saying onomatopoeia, a word that had enabled her to win a spelling bee in the fifth grade. But onomatopoeia was a jumble of syllables, not at all like the simple sounds it was supposed to represent. Crash, boom, bang. Amy Tan, The Bonesetters Daughter

If you are anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line... W. S. Gilbert

 

Verbum sapienti: A note to the student

 

S_S_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N *

_______ Students of etymology derive many academic benefits and we hope some fun as well. With words a foot & a half long * you can gleefully garrotte your pals during dull meetings, improve your trivial pursuit, beat your profs at the dictionary game. With logomania you need never be bored.

 

The Dictionary Game

Equipment: A big dictionary; scrap paper; one pencil for each player

How to play: The player who is "It" finds an obscure [and if possible amusing] word in the Big Dictionary. He/she announces and spells the word for the other players who write it down on their pieces of scrap paper. If any player knows the word, that word is disqualified. The player with the dictionary then writes down the dictionary definition while each other player writes down a definition of his/her own invention, aiming at the greatest absurdity within the limits of dictionary diction. "It" then collects the definitions and reads them to the other players who vote for the definition of their choice. Play continues.

Players receive points for votes for their false definitions. The player who is "It" receives a point for each vote for a wrong definition.

I said it in Hebrew--I said it in Dutch--
I said it in German and Greek;
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!  Lewis Carroll

 

 

History in Words

       yam     

The edible starchy tuberous root of various vines of the genus Dioscorea. A sweet potato.

Of West African origin Fulani [a West African pastoral people and their language] nyami, "to eat" from Wolof [a West African people of Senegal and their language] am, "food", "to eat" or Mandingo [a group of peoples and languages of the Niger valley of West Africa] ambu, manioc (also called cassava, the source of tapioca). [from AHD]

Words of African Origin include:

A roadside drinking establishment that offers inexpensive drinks, food, and music for dancing. To dance, especially in a roadside drinking establishment or to the music of a jukebox. [Probably from Gullah juke, joog, disorderly, wicked, of West African origin Wolof dzug, to live wickedly Mandingo dzugu, wicked.]