#31927
06/13/2001 1:20 AM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
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If anthropomorphism is the word to define animals with human characteristics, what is the word to define humans with animal characteristics?
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#31928
06/13/2001 1:39 AM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear ZYsUR: Welcome to the board. I am not educated in anthropology. Humans are animals with special mental abilities. When they fail to use their intelligence properly, they deserve to be called animals. A special term does not seem to be needed.
Anthropomorphism is also used to denote the attribution of human shape and behaviour to a god or to inanimate objects.
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#31929
06/13/2001 2:15 AM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
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I'm using the word in a literary context, I suppose - e.g. the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland could be described as anthropomorphised. He walks on two legs, wears a waistcoat and talks incessantly about being late. These are specifically human characteristics superimposed onto an animal. But if the same was done to a human (I can't think of a specific example at the moment), would the same word apply?
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#31930
06/13/2001 2:57 AM
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Posts: 4,189
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Bestiality?  No, really...the semantical nuances of such nomenclature are tantalizing. Have you ever read H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" where his experiments with vivisection render components of animals and humans unto each other...until the distinction becomes so blurred that one is never really sure if the human or bestial side of the creature has the upper hand? (and there has yet to be a movie made that doesn't trivialize the book...so if anyone is curious, read the book!) Were they "anthropomorphs"? Or, perhaps, (and I'm just throwing this word out here, I'm not sure it exists...but it might be close to what we're searching for) "homomorphs"? Or, since all species are mammals does their fusion in any amount really require a new identity? What of today's science? What of a human with a pig's heart? Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock" is here! Or, perhaps, we're speaking of a porpoise, for instance, that has human-like intelligence...the word for that would be different, wouldn't it? Not anthropomorphic??? Then again, creatures that are humanized as a literary device may be in a whole nother category...now I'm confusing myself!  Interesting thread, 2YsUR! And a hearty welcome to the board! Always good to see new energy appear! And I think you'll find our band of merry word-addicts to be a charming and entertaining crowd! 
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#31931
06/13/2001 8:51 AM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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addict
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Welcome 2YsUR. An interesting question on the antonym of anthropomorhism. We use phrases and specific similes, such as "he was acting like an animal" or "his panther-like grace". We also say things like "The soldiers were brutalised by their experiences" to mean they were likely to behave in an inhumane way. But as for a general word to cover the imposition of non-human or animal traits onto humans, I can't think of one. Anthropomorhism is the superimposition of human (a very small - but special to us - part of the animal kingdom) characteristics onto animals, gods, and objects, effectively the rest of the universe. That is a very wide area from which to impose characteristics onto humans. There may be words to cover specific subsets such as from the gods, but again I can't think of any offhand.
Rod
PS. I presume we are discussing emotional and mental chacteristics rather than physical ones such as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream
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#31932
06/13/2001 11:18 AM
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Oh! It IS "two"YsUR! NOW I get the meaning! I really had thought it was Z. (Hint: highlight the name where it
appears in red--it's clear, then.) Good eye, WoN and rod.
Welcome to you, O owlish one.
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#31933
06/13/2001 2:52 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
enthusiast
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enthusiast
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The word is theriomorphism. It is usually used to describe the depiction of Egyptian gods in animal form. The Greek ther, therion '(wild) animal' is cognate with German Tier 'animal', English deer, and Latin fer- as in feral.
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#31934
06/14/2001 3:06 AM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
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Great response - thanks! That H.G. Wells story - is that a novel or a short story - I'd really like to read it.
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#31935
06/14/2001 4:58 AM
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Posts: 4,189
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Is it "Two Eyes You Are" or "Two Wise You Are"? Or, perhaps, that is the myth surrounding your name that will become part of your legend someday? "The Island of Dr. Moreau," 2YsUR, is a novel (albeit a short one by today's standards...189 pages) and is a gripping, fascinating read (as is most of H.G. Wells' work). You should be able to find it in any library or at any half-decent bookstore. And I think NicholasW hit the jackpot for us on this thread with theriomorphism ...thanks Nic!
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#31936
06/19/2001 12:10 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 76
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 76 |
I believe the word you're looking for is zoomorphism. Tho' sometimes it's hard to tell whether the creature you're looking at is a human with animal characteristics, or vice versa, the Great Sphinx, for instance (maybe that's the riddle of the Sphinx?).
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#31937
06/20/2001 12:02 AM
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zoomorphic
Hmmm...the trail continues! Zoomorphic and theriomorphic have strikingly similar definitions.
What say ye, folks???
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#31938
06/20/2001 1:27 AM
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take a look at these citations; they couldn't figure out which one they liked in the 1880s either! thermiomorphic Having the form of a beast; also transf. of or pertaining to a deity worshipped in the form of a beast.
1882 Sat. Rev. 21 Jan. 71 The process by which Theriomorphic became Anthropomorphic Gods is+sufficiently illustrated in early religions. 1884 E. H. Plumptre in Expositor July 4 The ‘abominations’ of the Egyptian theriomorphic worship. zoomorphic Attributing the form or nature of an animal to something, esp. to a deity or superhuman being. (Cf. anthropomorphic.)
1880 Murray Philol. Soc. Addr. 22 The enlargement or abbreviation of words by letters, which in the curious zoomorphic dialect of many books, creep in, or drop out, or fall away, or develop as parasites. 1884 A. Lang Custom & Myth 118 Mr. Sayce, who recognises totemism as the origin of the zoomorphic element in Egyptian religion.
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#31939
06/20/2001 1:30 AM
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zo·o·mor·phism (zō'ə-môr'fĭz'əm)
n.
Attribution of animal characteristics or qualities to a god.
Use of animal forms in symbolism, literature, or graphic representation.
zo'o·mor'phic adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Theriomorphism gets my vote!
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#31940
06/20/2001 1:48 AM
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Posts: 10,542
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hey mav! theriomorphism - The ascription to God or to a god of the form or characteristics of a beast.
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#31941
06/20/2001 1:52 AM
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I placed my vote 3 secs from yours, so saw that daftinition only afterwoes. Woe izme. But why keep either of those for that when we have the delightful anthropophuism?
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#31942
06/20/2001 2:57 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Not to mention the ever-elusive tetrapylomorph hog! If anyone sights this rare beast in the near future, please notify me immediately!
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#31943
06/20/2001 9:34 AM
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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I believe the word you're looking for is zoomorphism
One of the problems in these searches for lesser used words (be honest, when was the last time you used zoomorphism in everyday conversation?) is that various dictionaries give different definitions for the word. For example for "zoomorphism" one finds variations of:
- conception of a god or man in animal form
- Attribution of animal characteristics or qualities to a god
- The transformation of men into beasts
The only online definition of "teriomorphism" I can find online gives:
- the belief that gods exist in animal form
So as an antonym to "anthropomorphism", my vote goes to "zoomorphism" since at least one definition uses both men and gods, and at least one (other) definition allows both form and other characteristics.
Rod
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#31944
06/20/2001 11:56 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 76
journeyman
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journeyman
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Actually, I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking and talking about anthropomorphism and zoomorphism! (It's a dirty job, but.......) I've discovered that older definitions of anthropomorphism point to the use of word to describe the application of human atttributes to dieties, but newer definitions are broader and cover the application of human characteristics to anything (and the dish ran away with the spoon!).
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#31945
06/20/2001 1:46 PM
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I've discovered that older definitions of anthropomorphism point to the use of word to describe the application of human atttributes to dieties, but newer definitions are broader and cover the application of human characteristics to anything.oh no! not another transferral?!
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#31946
06/21/2001 10:49 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393
enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Having now checked the OED, I find there is no difference. The zoo- forms in each case (-morph, -morphic, -morphism) precede the therio- forms by a few years or decades, but the quotations don't illustrate any difference. Neither mentions the other, but both are contrasted with anthropomorphism.
When I first posted theriomorphism it was because I had recently read about it and had the impression it was the form used in discussion of Egyptian religion. (The person using the word was an expert graduate student, but a philologist rather than specifically an Egyptologist.)
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