[B-Greek] Word enquiry

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Oct 29 06:16:33 EST 2006


On Oct 28, 2006, at 11:44 PM, James Ernest wrote:

> Before this comment ran right off the rails (clicking rocks and
> whatnot), I thought it was headed in a direction that might put us on
> course for an excursion from Plato to Gadamer on the difference
> between wisdom or understanding, on the one hand, and on the other the
> skill or cunning or artisanry (techne) needed for accomplishing this
> or that practical task with or without any profound understanding of
> its goodness or truth or beauty. But that would have been a bit far
> afield for this list.
>
> I doubt the etymology of techne, whatever it may be, could shed any
> light on the meaning of technology--except possibly in the imaginative
> way so loved by the likes of Heidegger and Gadamer: if truth
> (a-letheia) is unveiling, why shouldn't technology be rock-banging
> (tek, tek, tek) .

I think that what's suggested here is more a matter of philosophical  
speculation than of demonstrable propositions. Although some posters  
in this forum have attempted to formulate propositions on word-usage  
based upon etymological evidence, the recurrent admonition is that  
the origin of a word, even when it can be demonstrated, does not  
necessarily have any bearing upon its actual usage at any particular  
period of a word's history within a language's history.

My own little bit of research into the etymology of TECNH has taken  
me to Hofmann's _Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen_,  where  
I find TECNH linked to TEKTWN ("builder," "constructor"), to a  
Sanskrit noun 'taksan' with the same meaning and to Latin 'texo/texui/ 
textum' with the meaning "weave." There is evidently no relationship  
to the word for "child," TEKNON and the root from which that word is  
derived, TEK/TOK ("give birth to") and the verb TIKTW/TEXOMAI/ETEKON.

> 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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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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