The word “stick” is one of those short Germanic words that form the core of the English vocabulary. Relatives of the word “stick” can be found in many Germanic languages; it can be traced all the way back to Proto-Indo-European, and it shows up in Greek and Latin. The Proto-Indo-European root is “*steig-” (the asterisk … Continue reading Stick, Stigma, Astigmatism, Etiquette

In my previous post (“Cather’s Characters”, posted 16 July), I discussed fifteen character sketches in Willa Cather’s The Song of the Lark (and a couple of sketches in Jane Austen’s Emma). I noted that all the sketches in The Song of the Lark concern secondary or tertiary characters. There is no sketch of the principal … Continue reading More on Character Sketches

I my previous post I began to discuss the little character sketches in Willa Cather’s novel, The Song of the Lark. There are, by my count, fifteen of these. Here’s a list of the sketches I’ve found: 1. Thea Kronborg’s mother, p. 14–15.2. Thea’s father, pp. 17-18.3. Thea’s aunt Tillie, pp. 20–21.4. Thea’s friend, Mrs. … Continue reading Cather’s Characters

Willa Cather was born in Virginia in 1873, she grew up in Nebraska, but she lived most of her adult life in New York City, and she died in 1947. She’s often considered a mid-Western realist, but that description really doesn’t begin to describe her writing. Her style is mostly rather understated; her use of … Continue reading Portraits in Willa Cather’s “The Song of the Lark”

I. The ancient Greek word “spora” (σπορά) meant “seed”. The modern English word “spore” doesn’t quite mean “seed”, but it does mean one of the stages in the reproduction cycle of fungi, such as molds, yeast, or mushrooms, and of some non-flowering plants, such as ferns. The ancient Greek “sporadên” (σποράδην) means “spread or scattered … Continue reading Precious Bodily Fluids

English verbs (and verbs in some related languages) can be divided into two types. One type makes its past tense and past participle by adding a dental suffix, which is pronounced “d” (“I love, I loved, I have loved”) or “ed” (“I want, I wanted, I have wanted) or “t” (“I walk, I walked, I … Continue reading Think, Thank, Thunk

In a previous post (“Ships and Shirts”, posted 28 March 2022), I examined some words which have entered English at two (or more) different times. Both “ship” and “shirt” go back to Old English and derive, through regular laws of sound change, from words in Proto-Germanic; “skipper” and “skirt” also go back to Proto-Germanic, but … Continue reading Fragile Dishes

I was intending to write two or three more essays about etymological families, and I will get back to these soon, but I got sidetracked by Albert Camus’ great novel, La Peste—The Plague. I’ve read it a few times, and it always catches hold of me. I love Camus’ elegant style, and the story he … Continue reading The Beginning of the Plague

Words often belong to etymological families. Sometimes the family relationships are obvious, but sometimes they can be surprising. In this post I will talk about two etymological families, the ship family and the shirt family. A lot of the information here comes from a wonderful book edited by Calvert Watkins, The American Heritage Dictionary of … Continue reading Ships and Shirts

When I was in junior high school, I think it was grade eight, we had regular vocabulary drills. Our grammar book had a section on words that we should know; there was also a list of pairs and triples of words that could be easily confused. I remember just one of these pairs, which for … Continue reading Cynosure and Sinecure