|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
Astrology
Chat
Cityscape
Classifieds
Entertainment
Health
Matrimonial |
|
  |
The life of words, like that of humans, is uncertain. A living language is always undergoing change. A number of words are no longer used in their original senses; others are merely listed in dictionaries and are, like 'heads without name, no more remembered'. Numerous French words were introduced into English in the 13th and 14th centuries by native writers who for the first time translated religious treatises, poems and romances from the French into English. French influence on the language peaked towards the middle of the 14th century. Around this period, many native words went out of use. Chaucer did much to fix the native vocabulary, and to stop the increasing inflow of borrowed words. While giving his authority to Romance words already in general use, he rejected others in favour of native terms. 'It is said that not more than perhaps one hundred Romance words used by Chaucer in his works have become obsolete'. To revert to my point about obsolescence, here is a sentence from one of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's lectures on The Art of Reading (1918): 'I suppose that if an ordinary man of my age were asked which has better helped him to bear the burs of life - religion or a sense of humour - he would, were he quite honest, be gravelled for an answer'. Now, the meaning of 'gravel', the transitive verb, is clear in the sentence 'I have asked our gardener to gravel (cover with gravel) the path leading to the swimming pool'. A gravelly soil is one full of gravel (coarse sand and small water-worn or pounded stones). We speak of a gravel pit, a gravelled path/walk, or a gravelly voice (that is, a deep and rough voice). The verb in my example has, however, been used in the outdated sense of 'perplexed/puzzled/nonplussed'. This meaning is derived from the obsolete sense of the word 'run aground'. The Middle English word is related to the Old French 'gravele' and 'grave'/'greve' meaning 'shore'. Note also the use of the expression, 'to bear the burs of life'. The COD entries against 'bur'/'burr' are (1) any plant with clinging seed or flower (2) person hard to shake off. Both words in my example convey nuances of meaning since lost to us. Take the following opening line of the poem 'Life' (attributed to Bacon): 'The World's a bubble, and the Life of Man/Less than a span'. Here 'span' is used in the outdated, vague sense of 'a short space'; 'properly the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger at their widest stretch, taken arithmetically to be nine inches'. 'Span' (noun) stands for the distance or portion between the supports of an arch or a bridge. Examples: The bridge across the river had a single span. This bridge, built by the Cholas, has eight spans. The noun is used figuratively in the sentence 'His span of concentration is short'. In this sense the noun refers to the length of time over which something lasts or extends from beginning to end. We speak of 'our brief span of life' and 'the entire span of Roman history'. The word is of Old English/Old High German origin. The verb (transitive) is used in the following sentences: The Sabarmati is spanned by a number of bridges in Ahmedabad city. An accomplished orator's knowledge spans many areas. The Queen Mother's life spanned the whole of the 20th century. Another obsolete but high-sounding word that one recalls at this juncture is 'sequacious'; meaning 'inclined to follow, lacking in independence or originality, servile'. The word is derived from the Latin 'sequax' ('sequi'-follow). Dryden (1631-1700) uses the adjective in his poem, 'Song for Saint Cecilia's Day, 1687', thus: 'Orpheus could lead the savage race, /And trees unrooted left the place/Sequacious of the lyre'. Commenting on this word, used in the sense of 'following', one editor wrote 90 years ago: 'This word, from 'sequax', is one of the hideous Latinisms of the later Renaissance, which time has mercifully stifled. We have, however, kept 'loquacious' from loquax'. 'Sequacious' has joined the fossilized hoard of inkhorn terms. I have more to say on this subject. Published on 20th April 2002 Readers' response/inputs can be e-mailed to mhdevan@chennaionline.com.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||
