[B-Greek] Word enquiry
James Ernest
j.d.ernest at bc.edu
Sat Oct 28 23:22:57 EDT 2006
On 10/28/06, Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu> wrote:
> Forwarded for: "Peter Mickelson" <PMICKELSON at sad6.k12.me.us>
> Date: October 28, 2006 2:03:57 PM EDT
>
> As an engineer (one who applies ingenuity) it has long been a concern
> for me that the word
> "technology" -- my very trade -- has become a four-letter word, as in
> a recent headline
> "Technology's Danger to Children" in which it was made clear that
> "technology" actually means
> obscene pictures, language, solicitations, movies and other creations
> of the mind of man that can
> harm young minds -- not in a museum, of course, but only when
> accessed over the Internet.
>
> So, I began a hunt to get to the core of this, and discovered (no
> surprise) that TECNH and LOGOS
> were originally combined to be a vowel encompassing the history (the
> word) of what one does
> (technique) -- or as one dictionary puts it "what mankind does to
> meet its needs and wants."
>
> Well, of course, that's a very limited view also, because any girl
> robin knows that her egg will
> roll right off the tree branch if she doesn't first create a nest out
> of selected architectural
> materials, found at her disposal, to create a gravitational potential-
> energy well.
>
> Then I turned to Greek dictionaries (my wife and her family are from
> Greece) and discovered a
> connection between "TEK" and TEC." So, I smacked two rocks together
> and guess what? They made the
> unique sound "tek!"
>
> Suddenly I could see this little girl, chipping a couple of stones
> together -- tek, tek, tek (or
> maybe even "TEC, TEC, TEC") and coming up with the first knife
> blade. "NH!" she exclaims.
> ("YESSS!" in today's vernacular) or "I did it!" And ushering in the
> Stone Age.
>
> Can any of you follow this deranged reasoning with me, and suggest
> any more support that might help
> me go back beyond Greek to more ancient times and follow this path?
> Language is a symbolic thing,
> and I'm betting it has been so since it's conception.
>
> Of course, I also stand open to the humbling academic put-downs that
> one so often receives for
> their imagination.
>
>
> Pete Mickelson
> <n.p.mickelson at ieee.org>
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
>
>
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