ThinkBlog

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been jotting down some notes about things that are worth revisiting once I have enough of them and the time, and I wanted to get them down here now that I have several miscellaneous observations. (Don’t stop at the end of lines when reading poetry; etymology of “barbarian” and “matter”.)

First of all, if you’re reading poetry aloud, don’t stop, pause, or inappropriately inflect your voice at the end of the line unless there is actually punctuation there. Everyone has been guilty of this at some point, even if it was just a few times in high school, because it’s the most natural way of reading: you come to the end of a line, you’ve come to the end of a thought. This is the way advertising works on billboards and commercials where huge fonts and limited screen space (and still more limited time and viewer attention span) make it difficult to convey complete thoughts.

But don’t stop. Train your eye to go to the next line at least several words in advance of your voice’s arrival there. This isn’t a problem with many poems: for instance, Shakespearean sonnets tend to have punctuation or a certain lilting tone anyway near the ends of lines. But when it comes to some poetry, the effect of flow and continuity of thought can be disrupted severely if you inflect what is not intended by the author.

Secondly, the etymology of the word “barbarian” apparently (according to the Online Etymology Dictionary descends from the sound that the Macedonian peoples’ unintelligible speech made in the Greeks’ ears. I have understood that the origins of the word make the original and literal meaning something along the lines of “wearer of pants,” but while that describes the barbarian peoples (in contrast to the Greeks’ togas, tunics, and general pantslessness), this explanation of the origins of the word makes much more sense—while also providing small but significant insights into how the Greek mind perceived foreign tongues.

Thirdly, the etymology of “matter” descends from Latin materia; that much is clear. But strong connections suggest that materia descends from mater—Latin for “mother.” Now, that puts a certain spin on things, doesn’t it? This is why philosophers try to be very precise with their terminology. Gives a certain spin to “Mother Earth,” doesn’t it? And I must wonder what medieval neoPlatonists did with this concept, what with “God the Father” and Earth, “mater.” Certainly something to keep in mind.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been jotting down some notes about things that are worth revisiting once I have enough of them and the time, and I wanted to get them down here now that I have several miscellaneous observations. (Don’t stop at the end of lines when reading poetry; etymology of “barbarian” and “matter”.)

First of all, if you’re reading poetry aloud, don’t stop, pause, or inappropriately inflect your voice at the end of the line unless there is actually punctuation there. Everyone has been guilty of this at some point, even if it was just a few times in high school, because it’s the most natural way of reading: you come to the end of a line, you’ve come to the end of a thought. This is the way advertising works on billboards and commercials where huge fonts and limited screen space (and still more limited time and viewer attention span) make it difficult to convey complete thoughts.

But don’t stop. Train your eye to go to the next line at least several words in advance of your voice’s arrival there. This isn’t a problem with many poems: for instance, Shakespearean sonnets tend to have punctuation or a certain lilting tone anyway near the ends of lines. But when it comes to some poetry, the effect of flow and continuity of thought can be disrupted severely if you inflect what is not intended by the author.

Secondly, the etymology of the word “barbarian” apparently (according to the Online Etymology Dictionary descends from the sound that the Macedonian peoples’ unintelligible speech made in the Greeks’ ears. I have understood that the origins of the word make the original and literal meaning something along the lines of “wearer of pants,” but while that describes the barbarian peoples (in contrast to the Greeks’ togas, tunics, and general pantslessness), this explanation of the origins of the word makes much more sense—while also providing small but significant insights into how the Greek mind perceived foreign tongues.

Thirdly, the etymology of “matter” descends from Latin materia; that much is clear. But strong connections suggest that materia descends from mater—Latin for “mother.” Now, that puts a certain spin on things, doesn’t it? This is why philosophers try to be very precise with their terminology. Gives a certain spin to “Mother Earth,” doesn’t it? And I must wonder what medieval neoPlatonists did with this concept, what with “God the Father” and Earth, “mater.” Certainly something to keep in mind.