John Adams the Anti-Agrammatist: Third Week

An interesting recent word from Johnson’s 1773 edition is “agrammatist.” Johnson defines it as: “An illiterate man.” He says the word comes from α and γράμμα (gramma). The Greek α provides the negation, just as the a in agnostic means: not. Gnostic comes from the Greek word γνῶσις (gnosis) which means: knowledge or knowing. When one adds the negation of a, the meaning becomes: not knowing. Hence, the agnostic is one who professes some thing(s) is (are) unknowable. Next is γράμμα. This Greek root means among other similar things: letters, the alphabet. An agrammatist is literally someone without letters. In a former age when there was greater illiteracy, a man who could read and write was considered a man of letters. This was a prestigious designation. Johnson’s “illiterate man” was not a man of letters.

It is of note that the ability to read and write in one’s own language is surely a blessing and sadly one that is often taken for granted among the American masses. To relate a personal story on this point may illustrate its potency. My grandfather was born in a rural part of Arkansas in 1903. The extent of his formal education was the third grade. Obviously, his ability to read and write was severely limited. How did this come about? He was reared in a time without compulsory education laws and in a region where manual labor was valued more than “book-learning.” My great-grandfather did not see the value of classroom education, so did not insist that my grandfather continue with his. This was taken to the extreme with one of my grandfather’s sisters who was not allowed any education whatever and continued in a child-like state even unto and through her adult years. Bad decisions and disvaluing education resulted in a life-long impediment for my grandfather, stifling his self-confidence and making him very prone to manipulation by those with more education. What is worse, the same sort of circumstance passed on to my father, with similar results.

I relate this information not to be melodramatic but simply to show what kind of tragedy an under-appreciation for the ability to read and write can bring. Being able to read, and not only read but comprehend what one reads, is a powerful thing that opens unimagined paths to opportunity and achievement. Sadly, too few have the attitude of John Adams, a contemporary of Johnson’s time. Reflecting in 1804 on his formative years at Harvard, Adams wrote, “I soon perceived a growing Curiosity, a Love of Books and a fondness for Study, which dissipated all my Inclination for Sports, and even for the Society of the Ladies. I read forever…” (Diary of John Adams from November 30, 1804. A link to that page has been added on the right for those who might want to browse the diary on the Massachusetts Historical Society’s website). Interestingly, the very time about which Adams was writing was when Johnson’s 1755 first edition was published. Adams attended Harvard from 1751 to 1754. John Adams was certainly the antithesis of Johnson’s “agrammatist” becoming one the America’s most well-read and well- educated men of the eighteenth century.

Until next week.

John

 

Johnson's Erstwhile "Aches" and Pains of Etymology: Second Week

 

I was introduced this week to the world of XML. The Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary Project Online database uses XML. This is not in the least foreign to the database and website environment, but it was a foreign environment to me. I have not dipped my toe in the waters of the “programming” world since junior high school – about thirty-five years ago. That was before Windows 95 and even before Windows 3.1! Though the UI (user-interface) looks quite different than the screens I used last semester the input protocol is not so different as might be imagined. I am still proofing, correcting, and recording the corrections – just as before. I just got started in the database this week, so I hope next week will see me up and humming. 

A Greek etymology close to the top of my list is for the word “ache.” Johnson writes that this English noun comes from the Greek root ἄχος (akos). The English spelling is not so removed from the Greek. The meaning is the same. In Greek it means “pain.” In English it means “pain.” 

However, The Oxford English Dictionary argues that the proper older spelling is ake and has no connection to the Greek ἄχος at all. The Greek connection and the change in spelling they think was reinforced and perpetuated by Johnson’s entry which states that “ache” is the better spelling and it has its history in ἄχος. The OED says the word is Old English and may come from German and Dutch roots. Comparing “ache” and ἄχος in spelling and meaning, the confusion is rather easy to see. Linguistic studies since the time of Johnson have added considerable information about word histories. A quick perusal of the Latin lexicon seems to show that “ache” did not come through Latin into the beginnings of English (neither does the OED mention a Latin etymology). This is rather telling from my experience because many English words travel backward to Greek through Latin. The relationship between Greek and Latin is easily comprehended when one understands that they were contemporary languages. Greek was the normal language of the Greek or Hellenistic world. As the Roman Empire expanded so did Latin. But that expansion was across a land already Hellenized centuries before, especially by Alexander and his army. Latin was laid over the top of a Greek lingua franca (universally adopted language). 

The first century A.D. language environment in the Mediterranean region is highlighted by this passage from the New Testament: “And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Luke 23:38; cf. John 19:20). An inscription was put on the cross of Jesus in three languages. Why? Because Hebrew (or Aramaic) was the native language of the Jews, but they lived in a Roman suzerainty (I will let you look that one up yourself) that was part of the greater Greek speaking world. 

I hope that I am making it sufficiently clear that studying language is studying the history of the world. Sometimes its in broad strokes, sometimes its in tiny details. However it comes – it’s always fascinating. 

Until next week.

John

A New Semester and New Work: First Week

This week’s blog post opens a new semester and a new series of posts to share. I am continuing my work with the dictionary project, but I am functioning in a new role. This semester I will be concentrating on correcting the Greek etymologies in Johnson’s fourth edition from 1773. I consider it a singular honor to be asked to continue in the project and to specialize in Greek.

One may now ask how I came to study Greek and why it is important to me. The short answer is that I came to study Greek while in preacher training school and it is supremely important to me because it is the original language of the New Testament. The specific Greek is Koine rather than Classical. Because of my careful research into Koine Greek and translating various passages of the New Testament, I am convinced that one cannot thoroughly and deeply understand the New Testament without at least a basic knowledge of its original Greek text. Please understand that I am not saying that one cannot understand the New Testament at all without Greek, but am I speaking of deep understanding. The short answer of why such is the case is that many Greek words cannot be translated by a single English word. The structure of the two languages is different. Greek is a more precise language than English and the precision requires a careful and nuanced translation into English to maintain the fullness of the meaning. Its is the fullness of meaning that I refer to as being practically impossible to grasp from the English alone. 

This now leads to the necessity of a brief explanation of the word Koine (pronounced koinā). It comes from the Greek root κοινός (koinos) meaning: common or general. Thus, Koine Greek is common Greek – the Greek in common use throughout the Mediterranean region in the first century. It was once thought that Biblical Greek was a special divine form of Greek. Archaeological discoveries in the Middle East have since shown that the Greek of the New Testament is the Greek used by ordinary people of the time. 

Another reason why Greek is important to me is that as a native English speaker many words of the language I speak derive from Greek. The Oxford English Dictionary website, through their “Advanced Search” tab returns 7935 entries as deriving from Greek. A few familiar words in the list are: acme, aesthetic, agnostic, barometer, basilica, calligraphy, characteristic, and many more. Greek and English are inseparably linked – knowing one helps you know the other. Want to expand your English vocabulary? Learn some Greek. 

To reduce redundancy, I have refrained from simply reintroducing myself in this post. If you are new to the blog, please peruse the earlier posts. They introduce the author of these posts and the dictionary project at UCF. My new work has not progressed yet beyond the preliminaries so hopefully next week I will have a more work specific post to offer. 

If you are new to the blog, thank you for spending a little of your time with me. If you are returning to blog, thank you for finding the material interesting enough to come again. 

Until next week.

John