Category: Words

Neptunes-uouue

On By Annika PerryIn Nature, Vanishing words, Words, Writing98 Comments

TWILIGHT

A world without words is a terrifying thought. They are the very essence of our being and no part of our existence is untouched by words.

Yet we are complacent with this precious gift and like the thousands of animals that silently, almost unnoticed, fall into extinction, so to do our words.

A recent research project by Dr Selin Kesebir at London Business School has discovered that an incalculable number of our words in the English Language are quickly disappearing and many of these are associated with our natural environment. These words were robustly used and alive until the 1950s but have since dwindled in usage until their presence in society is a mere backdrop, often known only to academic staff.

Poetry is found within the words themselves, their sounds a sensory delight, almost tactile and a joy to pronounce (or attempt!). The highly evocative ‘Landskein’ describes the weave of horizon lines on a hazy day – where one word takes the place of the clumsy formation of nine!

Equally rich and expressive is ‘roarie-bummlers’, a Scottish playful-sounding word describing the swift-moving storm clouds.

Whilst school children become more attuned to the digital world and where nearly 80% can name Pokemon characters as opposed to only 50% who can name pictures of wildlife, the hope is that this same expansive digital network can come to the rescue of the vanishing words.

Through the use of social media there is an aspiration that words such as ‘shivelight’, which means lances of light cast through woodland canopy, will enter our everyday language. In one experiment a tweet sent by Dr MacFarlane at the University of Cambridge about the Anglo-Saxon heritage of the word ‘Holloway’ for a sunken lane worn into the landscape by generations of travellers received 20,000 retweets and likes.

Other words highlighted in the research include the following:

‘Owl-light’    Twilight

‘Petrichor’    Smell of dry earth and rock that comes before and during rainfall 

‘Glashtroch’    Incessant rain

‘Gludder’    Fleeting sunshine between showers

‘Neptunes-uouue’    Sea mist

‘Smeuse’      Sussex dialect for a hole in the hedge left by the repeated passage of a small animal

‘Stravaig’     Scots and Irish word for wander aimlessly

‘Nurdle’     East Anglian dialect for wander aimlessly

tree

One area where there is an exception to the decline of words is weather-related vocabulary, which is as popular as ever and no doubt shows the predisposition in the UK to talk endlessly about the weather…of yesterday, today, tomorrow!

However, the decline of words surrounding nature are of concern ‘not only because they imply foregone physical and psychological benefits from engagement with nature, but also because cultural products are agents of socialisation that can evoke curiosity, respect, and concern for the natural world.’*

The onus on us is to save our rich heritage which is part of us all!

* Selin Kesebir

Photos courtesy of Pixaby

Sources include The Times & BBC Todaysea mist

 

The 17th Century Kindle

On By Annika PerryIn 17th Century Books, Kindle, Library, Words, Writing37 Comments

Book Open

It took a photo and a snippet of an article yesterday to reinforce to me the precious nature of the written word. In recent times the written word is fighting for our attention in so many forms; there are not many moments a day when we are free from the tidal wave of information, articles, stories, newsfeeds. Consider this then, the world’s first Kindle.

That is how the Jacobean travel-library has been described by the librarian at the University of Leeds. Created in 1617 the library of 50 miniature books are encased in a wooden box which itself resembles one large book. Once the box is opened three shelves are revealed, carrying books ranging from history, poetry and philosophy/theology.

With each word typeset by hand, each page hand-printed and hung to dry individually, the precious nature of every single word is highlighted. Today it is cheap and easy to type a word, which leads to a sentence, which leads to a story. Then press print and the copy is in our hands. To have a book bound costs slightly more but the workmanship is not labour intensive.

These 50 miniature books are bound in soft vellum with fabric ties. Furthermore the spine of each book is gold-tooled with a wreath and flower and the covers of each are adorned with a gilt angel holding a scroll which engraved with the words ‘Gloria Deo’, meaning ‘Glory to God Alone’.

50 BooksBook Being Held

The folio-style box is bound in brown turkey leather and ornately decorated on the inner leaf with the catalogue written in gold on blue vellum set into three painted cathedral arches and columns.

This 17th Century travel-library was the only manner large amounts of literature could be transported on trips for the discerning Jacobean traveller.  Without disruption from tablets, computers, mobile phones the traveller could recline at leisure to read uninterrupted one of the books.

Big Book ClosedOne book open

The collection is a true rarity and as a University of Leeds graduate I am proud they have managed to acquire one of the four in existence. The acquisition was made possible by funding of £1.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The remaining three miniature libraries are held at the British Library, the Huntington Library California, and the Toledo Museum of Art Ohio.

The first collection was commissioned by the MP William Hakewill as a gift to a friend and within five years he asked for a further three collections to be made, which were then given to friends as presents.

Sources:

I read about the above in ‘L.Leeds’ Alumni Magazine. Issue 16. Winter 2014-2015. This article itself was previously covered in ‘Daily Mail’ and US ‘Slate’. The photographs were sourced from the ‘Daily Mail’ online.

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth… not going all the way, and not starting.
Buddha