Behind the Word: The Hidden Liaisons

Tags

faith, respect, siren

Perchance an early word researcher! My students, dressed less formally, using laptops rather than parchment and quill, search online sources for clues as to the story behind a word. Like this earnest medieval scholar, they too have become dazed and amazed by what they have uncovered in the hidden lives of words!

Students working in pairs are investigating words that reflect concepts of our current unit on religion. These words under investigation are not just ‘unit’ specific. Rather these words crop up and can be applied to characters and themes we encounter in the novels studied, the poetry we read and the historical documents we examine in the units throughout the entire the year.

Below Kathleen and Chloe discuss their research so far on ‘respect’. You will notice that they have not just restricted themselves to a single base element found in the word respect : <re+spect>, but  have attempted to find all bases that have come from the Latin root ‘specere’: to look.

Stefan and Shea investigate the roots and morphemes in <faith>. They share their early discoveries and hypothesis that the root Latin fidere led to more than one base- a free and bound base element in present day English.

 

 

Questions

The research has been conducted by the students in a pair or trio who keep track of their thinking in a shared document. It’s been interesting to address their questions only after they have been able to explain the meaning of the word in their own words and that is after reading several dictionary entries, after reading Online Etymology Dictionary and the Mac Dictionary to explain what they believe is the root and its meaning and provide evidence for their morphemic analysis. Students have come to me with interesting puzzles such as:

“We’re wondering why the letter <s> is not present in the word  <expect> when it it comes from the same Latin root as <respect>. Could this be another base element?”

Another group had a similar question when investigating <inspire> .” Where has the <s> gone in expire?”

“We know that no English word ends with a <v> and to use <ve> instead, but <salv>  is bound base from Latin salvare: to save, with an <l> before the <v> so there seems no need to reinsert a final non syllabic <e>. It is not the same root as the free base <salve> which comes from Old English. What do you think?”

“What is the difference between the prefixes <mon> and <mono>? When should each be used? In <monotheistic>, would it be <mon+o+the+ist+ic> or “mono+the…”? If using “mon+o…” is correct, why is this? Does this then make <mon> become another base and is <monotheism> then a compound word?”

This student and others forming the question above-India, Jemma, and Michael and Junseo and Nick, had found <mon> and <mono> on a prefix chart but were beginning to question this resource. Together they found <monarch> which suggested that the <o> was not always present and therefore not part of the <mon> element but a connecting vowel letter.  This small group discovered that ‘monos’ was a Greek root meaning one. The <-os>  they had noticed appeared to be a Greek suffix that did not carry through into English elements as seen in ‘the(os)’: god.

Later in a conversation with our mentor ‘Old Grouch’ the word <monism> was introduced. This means ‘the view that reality is one unitary organic whole with no independent parts’ ( Meriman -Webster). Michael, who formed the question above, was able to analyze the word into <mon(e)+ism> and state that this was evidence that <mon> was a base element as no word can exist in English with out one. <Monism> could not possibly be analyzed as being composed of a prefix and a base element. He and his group are off and searching for additional examples to support this blooming hypothesis. They are proud of being specific despite a printed chart labeling this element as a ‘prefix’, or written sources stating ‘word forming element’ or ‘combining form’.

This question above led to another “What makes a prefix, a prefix?”

‘When does a word become English? When is it not viewed as an immigrant?’

The exciting aspect of this research now is that many students want discussion rather than a quick answer. They want to be pointed in a direction for further investigation rather than a right – wrong answer hunt.There is much debate and asking each other questions while I listen to the hypothesises of others. There is revision of an hypothesis in the face of uncovering more evidence. Although the research has been on one word ,that one word has led to another and students have understood that what can be learned from one word applies to hundreds. There is a creeping realization that one source is often not enough to provide evidence.  Slowly many are  beginning to value the process, to become caught up in the quest rather than the swift ‘right’  answer!

Sharing the Story

And where is all this research heading? Students are ‘sharing the back stories’ behind the word, an idea sparked by a ‘wordy’ colleague, Robyn, who is currently uncovering word stories with a group of 7th grade students in Melbourne, Australia.

Below is the work of the group who investigated ‘siren’ . Much of that story I shared  in the previous post. Shania, Nikki and Tatiana created an RSA Animate style to present – a form of visual and spoken note-taking. This involved not only research into the word itself but the RSA Animate genre: limited colours, block lettering in the graphic novel style, a combination of both text and stylised images, planning out the stages of the retelling and working out ahead the most effective layout and design. How could this be achieved without expensive lighting and animation tools? Below is their planning, quickly sketched on the whiteboard:

Plan for the story behind ‘siren’ 

Siren

Watch the first of the student presentations:

What have we learned?

In spite of the miscue  of <* decieve> in the video animation, the students have understood how to find the root, interpret this and comment on how words can change or add in new senses over time. The miscue will be addressed by another group focusing on this base to ensure that the student /artist understands that the bound base element from Latin capere is <ceive>!

Students understand that every word, no matter how humble has a story to tell. Words have a past, have a family from their past and relatives in the present, they associate with others and can clamour and plead and cajole and whine.

Students are unravelling roots to uncover surprising ‘liaisons’: Who would have thought that caught in the roots of obey and obedience lurks Latin audire to listen? Or that infant and fate and nefarious keep company? ‘Who too would have thought that Liaison’  would itself cavort with religion in the Latin root ligare: to tie, to bind?  ‘Liason’ entered English via French in 1640’s and still retains the sense of an exotic new arrival. Who again would have thought that it’s entry into English was via the kitchen as cooking term? It was in the kitchen that ‘eggs were used to achieve the ‘liaison’ (thickening of sauces.'(Hitchings). Two hundred years later liason has extended beyond just any association to those of an intimate illicit association (1806) and to today where it can carry all these senses as well as a generalized sense of co-operation. Words  and what lies at the roots, continue to fascinate and add depth to our reading and writing.

Fatal Women, Nasty Girls: Female Monsters

Tags

fate, harpy, monster, sirens

A medieval siren up to no good!1250-1300 from a bestiary seen in the British Library.

‘I know there is an Other in the shadows,

whose fate it is to wear out the long solitudes

which weave and unweave this Hades

and to long for my blood and devour my death.

Each of us seeks the other. If only this were

the final day of waiting.’ (from Labyrinth by Jorge Luis Borges)

Myths and other sources from the past tell of monstrous people living at the edge of the known world: the ‘other’. Early maps show extraordinary races of humans living in India and Ethiopia:men with dog’s heads; and strange hopping one-legged creatures  who used their giant feet as umbrellas to protect them from the sun. Read more about medieval monsters here: at The British Library.

In our reading of Greek myths we have encountered monsters, many of them women. Many of us began to notice that women fell into two categories, the passive, patient and obedient and the other; those who transgress, who are ambitious and tricky. The latter are the women who do not conform, who are considered mad, bad and nasty – they lead poor hapless men astray or are deemed bad merely by being female and seductive!  It is through their beauty, pride or ambition that these women, these bad girls become transformed and monstrous.

Consider Medusa, a fling in a temple with Poseidon led to uncontrollable hair and a petrifying gaze. There are different versions of the temple liaison- Ovid (Metamorphoses, IV. 779ff)  says ‘rape’ in which case she is doubly punished: the attack itself and snaky hair and isolation while other versions suggest Medusa was punished for boasting that her beauty surpassed that of Athena. (Read more here) Arachne’s boasts about weaving led to her spinning for ever but in the shadows as a spider and Medea’s ambitions have  branded her as a heartless mother, a child killer. Her name is of Greek origins meaning cunning and is related to Greek medos, counsel , plan, cunning. (Read here about Medea and Jason from Bullfinch’s Mythology).

Scylla too is another hapless victim metamorphosed into a monster.  Her rejection of Glaucus causes his bitter revenge. Aided by Circe who is jealous of Scylla’s beauty and spurred by Glaucus’ indifference to her, in this particular version, Circe contributes to Scylla’s shocking metamorphosis.  Scylla’s name is perhaps connected to Greek scyllein to tear. And tear she does with her six heads all equipped with three sets of teeth as mariners attempt to pass through the narrow straits where she lurks in a cave opposite Charybidis, incessantly voracious, pouncing upon those who stray too close. Female and deadly. Perhaps as Marina Warner suggests in her brilliant 1994 Reith lectures, Managing Monsters,  this fear of these monstrous women may in fact be connected with fear of gynocracy, rule by women.

The students in humanities are attuned to these representations of women as monsters and the girls in particular are questioning this. This post could be a lengthy examination of how women are presented in myth and fairy tale, fascinating, but for now we are narrowing it to the ‘sirens’ and ‘harpies’ and one group’s work in progress on ‘fate’!

Sirens

Sirens as well as being the watery temptresses of Greek mythology have been included in Medieval bestiaries where of course they are regarded through the lens of Christian morality. Sirens, with the upper body of women and the lower body of a fish or even a bird sang beautiful songs lulling and luring sailors to sleep. The rapacious siren then attacks and kills the hapless men. In the bestiaries of the Middle Ages the messages suggests that those who take pleasure in worldly diversions are exposing themselves to the devil.

We discovered that the word, ‘siren’,  first attested in English in 14th century, was of Greek origin as we had expected from the myths. We were intrigued by the root, and its metaphoric suggestion of the wiles of sirens. The etymon is Greek  ‘seira’ meaning “cord, rope’ so leading to a sense of a “binder, an entangler,”  This came to refer specifically to the sirens that Odysseus encountered as well as being applied more generally to any deceitful woman. We read how the sirens with their entangling and luring, sang their listeners in thrall, compelling them to come closer. We were also fascinated that the word ‘siren’ came to be used for a warning device that made listeners do the opposite run away or duck for shelter- become safe. The use of the warning device was coined in 1879. This etymological knowledge of the word has helped in our interpretation of Margret Atwood’s poem which we read, annotated and discussed.

Siren Song

This is the one song everyone would like to learn:

the song that is irresistible:

the song that forces men

to leap overboard in squadrons

even though they see beached skulls

the song nobody knows

because anyone who had heard it

is dead, and the others can’t remember.

Shall I tell you the secret

and if I do, will you get me

out of this bird suit?

I don’t enjoy it here

squatting on this island

looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs

I don’t enjoy singing this trio,

fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,

to you, only to you.

Come closer. This song

is a cry for help:Help me!

Only you, only you can,

you are unique

at last. Alas

it is a boring song

but it works every time.

 Student discussion of the poem:

 

 

 

Below illuminated sirens:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Harpy

Harpy by Jacob van Maerlant, Der Naturen Bloeme; Flandern, about 1350

 

At first we thought that the base element of harpy may be <harp>. I had already managed to link the voracious, winged and  shrieking harpy to the verbal sense to harp, to nag. Yet not so – pure folk etymologizing on my part. ‘To harp’  comes from Old English hearpian, yes with the instrument, so ‘harping’ in the sense of nagging and perseverating means to incessantly pluck at the same harp string! It is then not of the same root as those harpy hussies! ‘Harpy‘ we discovered comes from Greek Harpyia meaning snatchers and this perhaps may be connected to the Greek etymon harpazein to snatch which is in turn linked with the Proto Indo European root *rep that has led to Latin rapere meaning to snatch, seize and plunder. We were astonished to find that ‘rapid’ had its origins in this particular Latin root!

 

 

Fatal women- and there are many more of them in both myth and fairy tale. As for fate itself the Greeks referred to the godesses responsible as the Moirai (or Moirae)  those who represented time past, time present, time future. They represented man’s inevitable destiny.  Every person has their fate or lot assigned and their greek names means “parts.” “shares” or “alottted portions. Marina Warner reminds us of time past which is ‘already spun and wound onto the spindle’, time present which is ‘already drawn between the spinners fingers’:and time future which’ lies in the wool twined on the distaff, and which must still be drawn out by the fingers of the spinner onto the spindle, as the present is drawn into the past’ .These godesses were named:Klotho, whose name means “Spinner,” Lakhesis, whose name means “Apportioner of Lots”  and Atropos , name means “She who cannot be turned,” cut the thread of life. These classical Fates later metamorphose, according to Warner, into the’ fairies of stories where they continue their fateful and prophetic roles.’

Students have formed pairs recently as we have begun our new unit on religion with words that get at the the concepts. Students are currently investigating these words  and preparing to tell the ‘back story’ behind their word. Listen to the research by two students, still ongoing, on the morphology and etymology of fate. I am so impressed by the way the students are researching their chosen word. I have asked all students  to keep track of their thinking, and their hypothesis on a document so that when they are ready we can confer. When they feel they have adequate information, refined their hypothesis, they proceed to develop a matrix and identify any other base elements that have developed from the root. These ‘working notes’, as the students are calling their research, and the conversation below are revelatory in terms of what has been understood and what needs further thinking and clarification. I am impressed by the way this pair continues to work on this. I am impressed by their many questions : can <ne-> be a prefix? Is <-and> a suffix?  Watch and listen to their discussion with me below as they share their research and prepare to tell the story behind the word ‘fate’: a work in progress.

–