Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
Author Bio:
Editor and teacher Rob Kyff writes "The Word Guy," a collection of vocabulary trivia, language facts, and reader-submitted examples of bad grammar...
Read more about Rob Kyff.
Editor and teacher Rob Kyff writes "The Word Guy," a collection of vocabulary trivia, language facts, and reader-submitted examples of bad grammar...
Read more about Rob Kyff.
'Grammar' Gets a Makeover
Rob Kyff
The word "glamour" is the Susan Boyle of English. Though "glamour" is
now a dazzling celebrity, the word began, astoundingly enough, as the
nerdy, erudite word "grammar."
Derived from the Latin "grammatica" and, ultimately, from the Greek word "gramma" (letter), "grammar" originally referred only to the study of language and literature. But during medieval times, it came to denote learning in general, including such occult subjects as magic and astrology.
These esoteric "dark arts" of grammar were considered to be mysterious and exciting. Soon alchemists and sorcerers had become the movie stars of medieval Europe, and "grammar" had come to mean "an alluring or fascinating attractiveness."
But how did "grammar" become "glamour"?
Like Boyle, "glamour" is a Scot. During the 1700s, the Scots replaced the "r" in "grammar" with an "l" to produce "glamer" or "glamour."
Eventually, "glamour" spread throughout English with its current meaning of "enchanting allure." Meanwhile, "grammar" withered to its original linguistic roots to mean "the study of the function and relationships of words in a sentence."
Now that "glamour" has been given a complete makeover and gained international celebrity, it's hard to believe that it once stood on the stage, dowdy and diffident, as the scholarly word "grammar." It dreamed a dream.
Let's look at the origins of three other words associated with the study of language:
"Syntax," meaning "the way in which words and phrases are put together," derives from the Greek prefix "syn- " (together) and "tassein" (to arrange).
"Semantics," which surprisingly enough didn't appear in English until the late 1800s, refers to the study of meaning in language. It derives from the Greek "semainein" (to signify, mean) and, ultimately, from the Greek "sema" (sign), also the root of "semaphore" (a system for sending signals).
"Etymology," the study of the origin and development of words, derives from the Greek "etumos" (true) and "logia" (word), hence it denotes the truth (history) of a word.
During my first year of teaching, when the English department chairman was observing my class one day, I repeatedly referred to "etymology" as "entomology" (the study of insects), a blunder that he gently noted in his evaluation.
Fortunately, I didn't refer to "grammar" as "glamour." That probably would have made his blood, well, boil.
========
Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.
This news arrived on: 09/16/2009
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Post Comment
Rate This Story:
Great - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Bad
Posted Comments:
10-16-2009 17:53
Kaz wrote:
dreaming
I hate "I dreamed a dream;" it sounds wrong to me. I would use, "I dreamt a dream," conjugating it like "slept," which of course is a prerequisite for dreaming, to boot.
Where did "to boot" come from?
Where did "to boot" come from?
09-26-2009 07:51
wrote:
Well, alrighty then.
Comment archive | Comment FAQ's
 |
 |
View The Word Guy ezine stories by date or visit the complete archive |
The ArcaMax Politics channel is one of 70 content categories offered by ArcaMax Publishing on this ... |
VideoSquares.com
