From: Jonathan Robie (jonathan@texcel.no)
Date: Tue Sep 15 1998 - 14:26:28 EDT
>Yes- such words are called onomonopoetic (or some such thing...) from the
>greek "onoma" and "poiew" = doing its name. Like the English buzz, etc.
I think that POIEW in this case has a sense like the German "machen", which
can mean "make" or "do", depending on context. I think the root meaning is
"making a name" or "making up a name".
>>Is this a possibility?
Sure, OUAI not?
Notes:
(1) The above joke only works with Erasmian pronunciation.
(2) I *do* think this is an interesting and useful suggestion. And perhaps
trying too hard to exegete the exact meaning of such words isn't that
helpful...
Jonathan
jonathan@texcel.no
Texcel Research
http://www.texcel.no
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