Feature: Did Homo Sapiens Like Girls?

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Fanfic authors who write in English find that this language is both a blessing and a curse. While scholars argue over how to come up with an accurate count of the number of words in the English language, there is widespread agreement that English does have an unusually large vocabulary, offering authors an array of words to choose from that may be exhilarating—or terrifying.

One way to make English vocabulary less intimidating is to learn to recognize the roots of words. This is especially helpful in making sense of the long, complicated words that are derived from Latin or Greek.

When you look up an unfamiliar word in a good dictionary such as the Free Merriam-Webster dictionary online, you will usually see a line of text at or near the beginning of the definition that tells you the origin of the word. Pay attention to that text every time you have to look a word up, and very soon you'll be able to recognize common roots and make connections among related words. You will even begin to guess the meanings of words you haven't seen before by recognizing the roots.

Sometimes, however, these roots can trip you up. Some of them look confusingly alike, even though they have entirely different meanings. Here are a few of the most common to watch out for.

A note before we begin. Latin and Greek are both inflected languages, which means that they add endings to nouns and adjectives to indicate their grammatical function. The "lexical," or default form of a noun is the one you would use as a subject. When you start adding different endings, the stem of the word may change, and it's from this stem that we often get our English derivatives. Because of this, classicists often state a Latin or Greek word by giving both the subject form and the possessive form. That way you can see more easily, for example, how "nocturnal" comes from the Latin word nox, noctis ("night, night's"), or how "android" comes from the Greek word anēr, andros ("man, man's").

So, if Homo Sapiens was a "homo," why did he like girls?

Homo, hominis in Latin means "human being," "man" as opposed to other animals. It's where we get words like "hominid." It doesn't mean "man" as opposed to woman. In fact, homo in Latin can describe a man or a woman.

And it's not where we get the "homo-" in "homosexual." That comes from the Greek adjective homos, meaning "same." "Homosexual" literally means "same-sex." Similarly, if something is "homogeneous," it's the same kind of thing all the way through. If it doesn't start out that way, you make it so by "homogenization." Like milk.

Guess what the Greek adjective heteros means? If you said, "different," give yourself a hand! "Heterosexual" literally means "different-sex." Before you homogenize it, milk is "heterogeneous," made up of different kinds of things.

Connections: The Greek word for "human being" is anthrōpos, anthrōpou; hence, an anthropologist studies human beings, while philanthropists are people who love their fellow humans. The Latin word for "same" is idem, which gives us words like "identical." You remember that the Greek word for "man" as in a male human being is anēr, andros; the Latin word for "man" as in a male human being is vir, viri, which gives us words like "virile." The Greek word for "woman" is gyne, gynaikos; put that together with the word for man and you get "androgyny," the condition of having both masculine and feminine characteristics. The Latin word for "woman" is femina, feminae, which is where we get the word "feminine."

Then why don't pediatricians have to walk to work? Shouldn't they be pedestrians? They're bipeds, after all!

If we transliterate the Greek word for "child" very literally, it would be pais, paidos, while "foot" in Latin is pes, pedis. How could anyone ever confuse them?

When Greek words are transliterated into English, especially when we use them as the roots of English words, we don't transliterate them exactly letter-for-letter. Instead, we convert them to the Roman alphabet following the same conventions that the Romans used. The diphthong represented by "alpha-iota" in Greek usually becomes an "ae" rather than an "ai" in English. Frequently "ae" then becomes a plain "e," especially in American English. In Commonwealth English it is sometimes represented by an "a" and "e" stuck together, like so: "æ."

That's how we get the root "ped" from both Latin and Greek!

If we look at words with Greek roots, we can see that a "pediatrician" is a doctor who treats children. A "pedagogue," or "child-leader," used to be a slave who walked children to school and carried their books; now we use the term "pedagogy" to describe educational techniques.

If we look at words with Latin roots, on the other hand, we see that a "pedestrian" is someone who goes by foot, "pedals" are things that you push with your feet, and a "biped" is a creature with two feet.

Connections: Latin uses a few different words for "child," but one common one is filius, "son," or filia, "daughter." TV stations that are "daughter" stations, connected with a mother station that supplies some of their programming, are called "affiliates." Another common Latin word is puer ("boy" or "child"); a pejorative* word for "childish" in English is "puerile." The Greek word for "foot" is pous, podos, from which we get words like "octopus" ("eight-footed") and "podiatrist" (foot doctor). The "iatr" root, from iatros, "doctor," is a common root in a number of Greek-derived medical terms such as pediatrician, podiatrist, geriatrics, and iatrogenic ("caused by medical personnel," usually used to describe a disease caught in a hospital).

What about the "-estrian" part of "pedestrian"? Well, "pedestrian" (someone who travels by foot) is related to "equestrian" (someone who travels by horse), so you can tell that "-estrian" means "someone who travels by." You might already know that equus is Latin for "horse," from which that play with a nekkid Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe as a disturbed stableboy takes its name.

*"Pejorative" means "having a negative connotation." It comes from pejor, which is Latin for "worse." The Latin word for "worst" is pessimus, which is why we call someone who always expects the worst a "pessimist." The Latin word for "bad," malus, gives us the English root "mal"—but Firefly fans already know that one.

So how do we keep from tripping on all these roots?

Let's go back to the beginning when I mentioned that section at the beginning of dictionary definitions, where it states the roots of the word. Every time you have to look up an unfamiliar word, pay close attention to that section. Pretty soon you'll be seeing your own connections. But be careful; you may find that exploring etymology (roots of words) is so much fun that it's addictive! I sometimes set out to look up the origins of a word in the delightful Online Etymological Dictionary and find myself wandering from one fascinating word to another, completely forgetting what I set out to find.

---

References:
Liddell, Henry George & Robert Scott. A Greek Lexicon Abridged from Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. (This volume is popularly known as the "Middle Liddell," which rhymes. H.G. Liddell was the father of Alice Pleasance Liddell, who served as the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. Yes, even the bibliography has trivia!) London: Oxford University Press, 1963 (rept.).

White, John T. The White Latin Dictionary. Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1933.

The Online Etymological Dictionary. <http://www.etymonline.com>

The Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary>

Comments

[snycock.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That was very interesting!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed!

[facetofcathy.livejournal.com]

So, if Homo Sapiens was a "homo," why did he like girls?

I don't find this funny. But then, I don't find the whole 'no homo' thing funny either.

For me, using a word that is, in usual practice, a pejorative or a slur in a humourous way is a tricky thing and not something to be entered into lightly. I get no vibe of reclamation or empowerment from this usage. I only get that it's funny because the joke calls someone a homo. The scare quotes don't help.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

You've raised a very serious point, and I'd like to think about it before deciding whether to emend the passage.

The question wasn't intended to be a joke, exactly; it's a question that I've actually gotten from students, and I try to turn it into a teaching moment. They are often genuinely confused because they think "homosexual" means "man-sex," which isn't *completely* illogical, and getting them to understand better the words they use and what those words originally meant can help them to think before they talk.

Does that transfer to this forum? I'm not sure. Obviously in at least one case it was offensive, and I honestly didn't mean for it to be.

[facetofcathy.livejournal.com]

Sounds reasonable. I'm just saying how I feel, and I never had any doubts about your intent.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your candidness. I really appreciate it.

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

This is tangential, but I think I've seen the term "co-opt" used to identify the practice of pejorative slurs that the "slurred" demographic uses to reclaim/empower/water down the insult.

Is there really an official word for doing that? Surely there are some linguistics grad students out there who are writing theses on the expiry dates of slang...

[sid]

Fascinating and fun!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Great icon choice!

[mistress-tien.livejournal.com]

Thanks. This is a great perspective on word choice.

It wasn't what I was expecting from the title and above the cut. What I was hoping for was a clear explanation of (the example that's been in my head for ages) how these words are different and why we use different ones of them at different times.

Poop, manure, bullsh*t, sh*t, excrement, crap.

I do NOT expect an answer to this question, but I was hoping for one anyway.

Thanks for the useful and interesting link, too!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind feedback! :-)

Poop, manure, bullsh*t, sh*t, excrement, crap.

Hey, maybe we could do a feature on that sometime! Most of our "four-letter" words aren't from Latin, and I'm no expert on Old English or Middle High German or whatnot, but we might have someone who is.

I actually looked up "poop" last semester because we had gotten the vocabulary word puppis, which means the poop of a ship, and I figured the kiddos would be sure to ask about the other meaning(s)! So I looked it up and learned that yes, the English word "poop" as in the raised platform at the back of a ship does come from the Latin word; "poop" as in excrement is unrelated, is of uncertain origin, but may be onomatopoeia (I never thought of it that way!); and "poop" as in "real information" (like "the straight poop") apparently has everyone baffled.

[mistress-tien.livejournal.com]

I teach English Language Learners (ELLs), so I get questions like this one from time to time. The students that come from non-European backgrounds are especially difficult with this sort of thing. I had one tell me last year that "bullsh*t" is ok in his language, but, of course he'd never heard/used any of the proper names for excrement. ELLs run in to the "eight words for same thing" problem all the time. Connotation and denotation can be explained, but word origin is completely foreign to many.

I often explain that words of Latin extraction are considered proper (or more proper in the presence of adults ;-), than words of Saxon or Anglo Saxon heritage.

Since I work with 10-18 year olds I get to learn new word meanings on a daily basis!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I know there are quite a few ELLs writing in fandom. I'm often impressed that they would even try. English is such a confusing language!

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating post! Isn't language cool? :) Thanks so much!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Isn't language cool? :)

It sure is! The hardest part was figuring out where to stop! Thank you kindly for the feedback!

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

Well, see that's because you stopped far to soon! More, please!

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

No surprises (which I don't suppose will surprise you), but a good, clear presentation. Especially the treatment of combining forms.

One of those that I get into discussions of often is "octopus"/okto-pous. Many people take the plural form to be "octopi," which suggests that they are interpreting it as a Latin word, octop-us. That's not quite an overcorrection, but it's at least a miscorrection; the proper classical plural ought to be "octopodes," which no one ever uses. I'm inclined to say that it's safer to treat it as a fully assimilated English word, with the plural being "octopuses." But it's probably a lost cause.

I was in a bookstore today, and saw a book with the title Dragonology, and a little voice in my brain whispered, "It ought to be dracontology!" Do you go around wanting to revise signs and book titles?

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Do you go around wanting to revise signs and book titles?

All the time!!!! :-) Thanks for the kind feedback.

[impunctuation.livejournal.com]

thanks for this! fun and educational. :D

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[chorale.livejournal.com]

Interesting and clear. I like the etymology of words myself; so much so that I avoid dictionaries because I tend to lose myself in them.* Great to know that there is an etymological dictionary available on line.

*I know this sounds a little weird, but it really is a problem for me. I must learn some self-discipline in that matter since I wish to become educated.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

I like the etymology of words myself; so much so that I avoid dictionaries because I tend to lose myself in them.*

That TOTALLY makes sense to me! Brewer's Book of Phrase and Fable, which addresses the etymology of phrases rather than individual words, is dangerous that way too!

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Thank you - that was fun and interesting - and you'll have me looking up every other word now!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it - thanks for the feedback!

[dark-weezing.livejournal.com]

Etymology can take many twists and turns, as you've proved ably. Thanks for the post and the food for thought.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome - thank you kindly for the comment!

[akasha-lilian.livejournal.com]

Very interesting article, really enjoyed it, great job!

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much!