Cancer 06: Game birds feathering their nests

The word game has two distinct meanings, neither of which descends f r o m a n I n d o - E u r op e a n ( I E ) r o ot . T he first meaning is its noun form and r e f e r s t o a c o mp e t i t i v e a c t i vi t y o r sport in which players contend with e a c h o t he r a c c o r d i n g t o a se t o f r u l e s , e . g . a g a m e o f b a s k e t b a l l. 1 T h i s m e a n i n g c a n b e t r a c e d b a c k t o t h e O l d E n g l i s h g a men w h i c h m e a n s j o y , f u n , a m u se m e n t . 2 T h e s e c on d m e a n i n g o f g a m e i s a s y n on y m f o r c r i p p l e o r l a m e a n d i t s o r i g i n i s un k n o w n . 3 The word bird here refers to any of the class Aves of warm -blooded, egg-laying, f e a t h e r e d v e r t e b r a t e s w i t h f o r e l i m b s mo d i f i e d t o f o r m wings.4 It descends from the Old English brid which means young bird. A g a me bi rd i s a b i r d , s u c h a g r o u s e o r p h e a s a n t t h a t i s w i d e l y h u n t e d for sport.5 T h e w o r d f e a t he ri n g de s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t p e t - , t o r u s h , f l y . 6 A m o n g i t s p a r on y m s a r e t h e w o r d s p e ti t i on , p et u l a n t, a p pe ti t e, c o m pe te,

i m p et u o u s , i mp e tigo , pa na c h e, p t o ma i n e, s ym p t o m, h ip p op o t a m us , a n d
t h e s u f f i x e s pe t a l a n d - p te r. T h e k e y w o r d n e st d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e r o o t s e d-1 w h i c h me a n s t o si t . 7 A m o n g t h e m o r e w e l l - k n o w n d e r i v a t i v e s o f t h i s r o ot a r e s a n c e, se t t le,

s e di m e nt , se s si o n, s e we r, si e ge, a s se s s , re s i de, c at h e dra , c h ai r, s a dd l e, e rs a t z, s o i l, s ub s i de , n i c h e, a n d n i c k.

1 2 3 4 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/game http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=game http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/ga me_2 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/bird 5 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/game%20bird 6 Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo -European Roots, p. 67 7 Watkins, c. (2000), The American He ritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, p. 73 Starling Hunter 2011 1

T H E M E S : T h e f i r st t h e m e c on c e r n s C O M P E T I T IO N . R e ca l l t h a t o n e of the definitions of game is a competitive activity or sport. I n t e r e st i n g l y , o n e o f t h e p a r o n y m s o f f e a t h eri ng i s t h e w o r d c o m p e t e. A s e c o n d t h e me co n c e r n s MOVEME NT o r ( IM )MOBI LITY . R e ca l l t h a t f e at h er i ng d e sc e n ds f r o m t h e I E r o ot p et - w h i c h me a n s t o r u s h, f l y . w h i l e n e st d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I E r oo t s ed - w h i c h m e a n s t o s i t . The f o r m e r i m p l i e s mo t i o n o f a k i n d a n d t h e l a t t e r i m p l i e s t h e e x a ct o p p o s i t e . A l s o, r e ca l l t h a t on e o f t he d e f i n i t i o n s o f g ame i s c ri p p l e d o r l a m e . T he w o r d l a m e m e a n s d i s a b l e d s o t ha t m o ve m e n t , e s p e c i a l ly w a l k i n g , i s d i f fi c ul t o r i m p o s si b le . 8 O n e o f i t s s yn o n ym s i s t h e w o r d i m m o b i le . 9 F i n a l l y , r e c a l l t h a t t h e p ri m a r y d e f i n i t i on o f g a me re f e r s t o a c o m p e t i t i ve a c t i v i t y o r s p o r t . A s n ou n s , b o t h g ame a n d m o v e m e n t a re s y n o n y m s o f t he w o r d a c t i o n . 10

8 9

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/lame http://thesaurus.com/browse/lame 10 http://thesaurus.com/browse/action Starling Hunter 2011 2