THE LOGOPHILE LEXICON
is a language and literary reference for word lovers, readers and writers
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Introduction
WHAT IS A LOGOPHILE?
A logophile is a lover of words. They can also be called a word lover or a philologo. Another word used dramatically or in a sensational way is logomaniac, which Oxford English Dictionary defines as "a person who is obsessively interested in words." This definitely describes that magnetic pull words can have on us.
ETYMOLOGY
LOGOPHILE is from the Greek ‘logo’ meaning “word” and -phile meaning “love. Earliest documented use is 1959.
A logophile does not have to be a writer and a writer does not have to be a logophile. The one thing they both seem to have in common though is voracious love for reading. They have a passion for words. Both can always be found with their nose in a book. Where else could they have discovered their passion? I would bet most of us were early readers and our parents instilled the love of books in us as babies. I have no facts or figures on this, but I can apply that description to me. Let me tell my story of words.
DEFINING A WORD :
It is a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others (or sometimes alone) to form a sentence. A unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning.
In linguistics, a word of a spoken language can be defined as the smallest sequence of phonemes (unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another in a particular language) that can be uttered in isolation with objective or practical meaning. Or in other terms, a word is a combination of letters. For many languages, words also correspond to sequences of graphemes (letters) in their standard writing systems that are delimited by spaces wider than the normal inter-letter space, or by other graphical conventions. Words are thought of as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. The concept of "word" is usually distinguished from that of a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of speech which has a meaning, even if it will not stand on its own.
In the school of theoretical syntax, words (also called lexical items in the literature) are construed as "bundles" of linguistic features that are united into a structure with form and meaning. The task of defining what constitutes a "word" involves determining where one word ends and another word begins. This is done by identifying word boundaries. There are several ways to determine boundaries:
DEFINING ETYMOLOGY
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Etymologists make use of texts, and texts about the language, to gather knowledge about how words were used during earlier periods, how they developed in meaning and form, when and how they entered the language.
It was defined in the 14th century; from the Middle English ethimologie, from Anglo-French, from Latin etymologia, from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning "true sense or sense of a truth", and the suffix -logia, denoting "the study of".
ETYMOLOGY OF WORD: Word was first recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch woord, German Wort, Old Norse orth, orð, Gothic waurd, waúrd, all from Germanic wurdam (unattested); akin to Latin verbum meaning “word,” Greek rhḗtōr (dialect wrḗtōr ) meaning “public speaker, orator, rhetorician,” Old Prussian wirds “word,” Lithuanian var̃das “name”
DEFINING LEXICON
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a person, language or branch of knowledge. The Logophile Lexicon is a word list that is catered to the vocabulary of logophiles. Who loves to play with beautiful words enough to be defined as a logophile? Writers do. And they weave beautiful words together to form the oldest form of communication in history - the art of storytelling. From modern Latin, from Greek ‘lexikon’ ‘biblion’ ‘meaning “book of words,” from ‘lexis’ meaning “word,” from ‘legein’ meaning “speak.”
Dictionaries categorize a language's lexicon (vocabulary) into lemmas (canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of words.) These can be taken as an indication of what constitutes a "word" in the opinion of the writers of that language. The most appropriate means of measuring the length of a word is by counting its syllables or morphemes.
The Logophile Lexicon is not a dictionary or glossary of terms. It’s an eclectic collection of literary words that appeal to the lover of words and which form a literary vocabulary.
Most people know what an acronym is or what a synonym is. But what is a glottal stop? Tautology? Onomatopoeia? What about structure - what are the meanings of prefixes like ‘hypo’ or a suffixes such as ‘logue’? What is symbolism in the Elizabethan Age?
Words alone convey basic meaning. Mood is conveyed in the way that words are strung together and understood and pronounced. Words can inspire, teach, clarify, amuse, motivate or persuade. The way we use language - in addition to the particular words we choose - is crucial for effective communications and better understanding. The more robust your vocabulary, the more effective your writing. This makes your message more powerful.
Articulate writers have power behind their words; they create, motivate and inspire. They invoke deep emotions in readers. They change people’s thoughts or opinions with persuasive arguments. This is a powerful responsibility. It’s also personal. The way we use language gives insight into who we are. Our personalities, goals, motives, and desires are seen on the pages we write. The study and awareness of linguistics helps us to know why we speak and write in different ways; how general language develops; and how so many words different languages share the same roots and origins. Pretty cool right?
SOME WORD LOVE
Logolatry - from 1810 sense meaning the “worship of words or the “deepest regard for words or the literal truth.”
And you will also see some beautiful words about words.
A logophile is a lover of words. They can also be called a word lover or a philologo. Another word used dramatically or in a sensational way is logomaniac, which Oxford English Dictionary defines as "a person who is obsessively interested in words." This definitely describes that magnetic pull words can have on us.
ETYMOLOGY
LOGOPHILE is from the Greek ‘logo’ meaning “word” and -phile meaning “love. Earliest documented use is 1959.
A logophile does not have to be a writer and a writer does not have to be a logophile. The one thing they both seem to have in common though is voracious love for reading. They have a passion for words. Both can always be found with their nose in a book. Where else could they have discovered their passion? I would bet most of us were early readers and our parents instilled the love of books in us as babies. I have no facts or figures on this, but I can apply that description to me. Let me tell my story of words.
DEFINING A WORD :
It is a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others (or sometimes alone) to form a sentence. A unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning.
In linguistics, a word of a spoken language can be defined as the smallest sequence of phonemes (unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another in a particular language) that can be uttered in isolation with objective or practical meaning. Or in other terms, a word is a combination of letters. For many languages, words also correspond to sequences of graphemes (letters) in their standard writing systems that are delimited by spaces wider than the normal inter-letter space, or by other graphical conventions. Words are thought of as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. The concept of "word" is usually distinguished from that of a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of speech which has a meaning, even if it will not stand on its own.
In the school of theoretical syntax, words (also called lexical items in the literature) are construed as "bundles" of linguistic features that are united into a structure with form and meaning. The task of defining what constitutes a "word" involves determining where one word ends and another word begins. This is done by identifying word boundaries. There are several ways to determine boundaries:
- Potential pause: A speaker will tend to insert pauses at the word boundaries.
- Indivisibility: Extra words will tend to be added in the word boundaries of the original sentence.
- Phonetic boundaries: Some languages have rules of pronunciation that specify where a word boundary should be. For example, in a language that regularly stresses the last syllable of a word, a word boundary is likely to fall after each stressed syllable.
DEFINING ETYMOLOGY
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Etymologists make use of texts, and texts about the language, to gather knowledge about how words were used during earlier periods, how they developed in meaning and form, when and how they entered the language.
It was defined in the 14th century; from the Middle English ethimologie, from Anglo-French, from Latin etymologia, from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning "true sense or sense of a truth", and the suffix -logia, denoting "the study of".
ETYMOLOGY OF WORD: Word was first recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch woord, German Wort, Old Norse orth, orð, Gothic waurd, waúrd, all from Germanic wurdam (unattested); akin to Latin verbum meaning “word,” Greek rhḗtōr (dialect wrḗtōr ) meaning “public speaker, orator, rhetorician,” Old Prussian wirds “word,” Lithuanian var̃das “name”
DEFINING LEXICON
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a person, language or branch of knowledge. The Logophile Lexicon is a word list that is catered to the vocabulary of logophiles. Who loves to play with beautiful words enough to be defined as a logophile? Writers do. And they weave beautiful words together to form the oldest form of communication in history - the art of storytelling. From modern Latin, from Greek ‘lexikon’ ‘biblion’ ‘meaning “book of words,” from ‘lexis’ meaning “word,” from ‘legein’ meaning “speak.”
Dictionaries categorize a language's lexicon (vocabulary) into lemmas (canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of words.) These can be taken as an indication of what constitutes a "word" in the opinion of the writers of that language. The most appropriate means of measuring the length of a word is by counting its syllables or morphemes.
The Logophile Lexicon is not a dictionary or glossary of terms. It’s an eclectic collection of literary words that appeal to the lover of words and which form a literary vocabulary.
Most people know what an acronym is or what a synonym is. But what is a glottal stop? Tautology? Onomatopoeia? What about structure - what are the meanings of prefixes like ‘hypo’ or a suffixes such as ‘logue’? What is symbolism in the Elizabethan Age?
Words alone convey basic meaning. Mood is conveyed in the way that words are strung together and understood and pronounced. Words can inspire, teach, clarify, amuse, motivate or persuade. The way we use language - in addition to the particular words we choose - is crucial for effective communications and better understanding. The more robust your vocabulary, the more effective your writing. This makes your message more powerful.
Articulate writers have power behind their words; they create, motivate and inspire. They invoke deep emotions in readers. They change people’s thoughts or opinions with persuasive arguments. This is a powerful responsibility. It’s also personal. The way we use language gives insight into who we are. Our personalities, goals, motives, and desires are seen on the pages we write. The study and awareness of linguistics helps us to know why we speak and write in different ways; how general language develops; and how so many words different languages share the same roots and origins. Pretty cool right?
SOME WORD LOVE
Logolatry - from 1810 sense meaning the “worship of words or the “deepest regard for words or the literal truth.”
- THE LOGOPHILE LEXICON
And you will also see some beautiful words about words.