I Could Think of Things I Never Thunk Before

Great job on your homework, kids! Ready for your lesson?!

[My source here is Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry (Perrine and Arp), a book which was recommended to me by the lovely, talented, and intelligent Cat and has been most helpful in my studies.]

OK, so you know about onomatopoeia—words that sound like their meaning, such as plop or hiss. But have you ever heard of…I’m so excited. I LOVE WORMS. WORMS, ROXANNE.*

I mean, words.

Have you ever heard of phonetic intensives? I HADN’T EITHER.

These words are not onomatopoetic, and yet their sound, “by a process as yet obscure, to some degree connects with their meaning.”

For example, an initial fl- often introduces words meaning moving light. You all gave me flicker and flamboyant. Others: flame, flare, flash.

Right?

Now it doesn’t always work, as evidenced by flatulent (thank you, Michelle). But still. It often indicates a relationship.

Here are more associations:

• Initial gl- with unmoving light…gloaming, glorious, glamor
• Initial sl- with smooth and wet…slimy, slather, slithering, and I guess we could throw slattern and slut in there…
• Initial st- with strength…stasis, stalwart, stanchion, stump, statutory, standoff
• Short i with small size…impish (Y’all didn’t give me much on that one, but think little, bit, inch, midget.)
• Medial att with particled movement…rattling, prattling, splatter
• Final -er or -le with repetition…zipper, chortle, doodle, glimmer, falter
• Final ck with sudden cessation of movement…quack, frack, check, flick

(The only one you guys totally failed me on was long o or oo, which can suggest melancholy or sorrow, as in moan, groan, doom, gloom, and woe.)

DO YOU FEEL TOTALLY SMART NOW OR WHAT?

CAN YOU THINK OF MORE WORDS THAT FIT THESE IDEAS?

I’M A NERD. EVERY DAY.

*If you don’t belong to the Scott family, you may not get this reference.