Monday, August 6, 2007

Crunch!

Yes! Onomatopoeia. I've got to look up the spelling, because I am into orthography, as well as philology and etymology. If you keep reading, I will explain what all these things are. You won't have to pick up a dictionary, although it might be good exercise (and a good habit to pick up, as well).

Onomatopoeia is a fun word which is difficult to look up in the dictionary, unless you know Greek. I have studied Greek for more that 2 years. I’m sorry to report that I cannot carry on an intelligent conversation, but I can spell onomatopoeia and other big words! When I was looking this up a few days ago, I realized that onoma means name in Greek, so I went past o-n-a towards o-n-o to find it. And I even remembered that poe, pronounced “pee” means to write poetry, so it’s related to poem, poet, and poetry! They just pronounce it differently. So onomatopoeia is a word that says its own name, or a word that sounds like what it is. Think snap, crackle and pop! These are words that sound like the sounds they describe! Other examples: Babbling, as in babbling brook, Tinkle like a bell, Chirp like a bird, and Ding dong, also like a bell. There are many more, but I don’t like to show off, that would be pedantic.

Orthography comes from 2 Greek words: orthos meaning correct and grapho meaning to write or draw. So it means correct writing or spelling.

Philology also comes from Greek. It means the study of literature or language.

Etymology means the origin or history of words. It comes from Greek, of course.

2 comments:

Cee said...

Hello Philolog
I clicked here from a Google search for the Greek words meaning 'babbling brook'.
I'm seeking a word that is defined by 'the illusion of hearing voices in running fans, trickling water and other such noises'. It's formed from two (?) Greek words that literally mean 'babbling brook'.
Are you familiar with it?

Philolog said...

Babling Brook translates to Tofleearo riaki in Greek. I don't know if that helps...