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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Phonological Clusters of Semantically Similar WordsSometime since 1998, a linguist named Philip Grew made three posts to the AWAD board and disappeared. But not without a trace. He wrote an interesting paper which can be found at http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/9/9-1106.html. Since Philip cited the article, it is possible that the topic has already been touched on on the board. On the other hand, this posting may be thought inappropriate altogether, in which case, please consider it withdrawn. Given both interest and propriety, however, the paper might provide the starting point of an interesting discussion. The paper is a somewhat detailed discussion of research into the phenomenon of "..fairly well known clusters of similar sounding words that also mean similar things…[e.g:] glisten, glow; glare; glaire; glaze; glint; glitter, gloom, glory, gleam, glimmer, glade, gloss, glum, glabrous, gloat." It's not a breezeread and, to paraphrase Lloyd Benson (and as I think I have amply demonstrated) I am no linguist; I can't even pretend to gloss the thesis. But given sufficient interest--and if a resident Pooh-bah can be voluntarilly impressed--the Clusters might prove a fun and interesting topic for discussion. Consider this more a suggestion than a post...Any seconds?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004 |
Hey there
I find myself invariably incapable of picking up on others' ideas and coming up with a list myself. As regards your word clusters, a mundane explanation would consist, I suppose, of two reasons:
1. Plain simple onomatopoeia.
2. Etymology - if the root word (say in PIE) had a 'gl-' sound, then all variants, since they would be its descendants, would have the same sound.
As far as adding to the list is concerned, the sw- sound seems to be associatd a lot with flowing/moving words: swish, sweep, swoop, swipe, swarm (the verb), swan (v.) etc
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
and as krusty the klown (of springfield, USA-- home of the Simpsons) points out-- k sound are funny--so all the klem kadiddlehoppers of koo-koo land know if you want to make them laugh-- just be a klutz!
I don't really see how K is phonetically different than C-- but Krusty said K's are funny so that must be how they differ.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Actually, what I had in mind wasn't so much reeling off lists of rhyming words, but of considering the phenomenon of clusters of rhyming words with similar meanings. These, as in the cluster cited, are often etymologically related [if sometimes because of the process by which a word develops in and as it becomes a member of such a group.] Understanding the relationship among the words of such clusters may add depth to the perception of their occurrence in poetic and imagistic language. For example, whatever its merit as poetry may be, "Glasciers glistened in the moonlight glow, a flickering glowering back at the gleaming of the glimp and firmament" has greater interest when we know it is not just the idle construction of some nattering nabob, but the expression of a phenomenal nexus of language. I can put some time into the paper I cited today and get back to you if the topic is of interest. But, and I mean this in the friendliest way,  I would rather keep the discussion theoretical, or let it be a consideration of the appearance of the phenomenon poetry, fiction, rhetorical and plain spoken language and its impact on those forms. Artisitc merit notwithstanding, the "glaciers glimmering…" line above is one poor example. Saphire's "nattering nabobs of …" (who can complete the phrase) might be an example of a flourish patterned *after* this phenomenon. In respect of that, it might also be worth considering what it is about the phonology of the Saphire line that makes it so manifestly derogatory (even if you leave the "nincompoops" out of it). 'nuff for now. IP
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Bel kindly advised that the URL in the original post wasn't clickable and told me how to fix it.
It's up and operational.
Check it out!
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