Aries 15: An Ind ian weaving a blanket

T h e p r o p e r n o u n In d i a n e n t e r e d E n g l i s h f r o m t h e L a t i n I n d i a , b y w a y of the Greek India meaning region of the Indus River and later used to describe the region behind it. These two terms descend from the S a n s k r i t s i n d h u wh i c h m e a n s r i v e r. 1 A n d r i v e r descends from Indo-European (IE) root rei-1 w h i c h m e a n s t o sc r a t c h , t e a r , c u t . 2 P a r o n y m s i n c l u d e t h e w o r d s r i m o se ( f u l l o f c h i n k s , c r a c k s , o r c r e v i c e s ) , r o w , r o p e , r i v e ( t o re n d o r t e a r a p a r t ; t o b r e a k i n t o p i e c e s , a s b y a b l o w ) , r i ft , r i f e , r i p a r ia n , ( o f, o n , o r r e l a t i n g t o t h e b a n k s o f a n a t u ra l c o u r s e o f w a t e r ) , r a v a ge , a r r i v e , r ip e , r e a p , a n d r i p p l e . T h e v e r b w e a v e de s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t w e b h - w h i c h m e a n s t o w e a v e , t o m o v e q u i c k l y . 3 A m o n g i t s p a r o n y m s a r e w a f e r , w a f f l e , w a ve , w a ve r , w e b , w e e v il , w o b bl e , w e f t , a n d w o o f . D e fi n i t i on s of t h e w o r d i t se l f i n c l u d e t o c o n s t ru c t b y i n t e r l a ci n g o r i n t e r w e a v i n g s t r i p s o r s t r a n d s o f material and to make (cloth) by interlacing the threads of the weft and t h e w a r p on a lo o m. 4 T h e n o u n b l a n k e t d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t b h el - 1 w hi c h m e a n s t o s h i n e , f l a s h, b u r n ; s h i n i n g w h i t e a n d v a r i o u s b r i g h t c o l o r s . A m on g i t s p a r o n y m s a r e t h e w o r d s b l a c k , b l a n ch , bl a z e , bl e a c h , b l e a k , b l e n d, bl i n d, b l o n d , bl u e , f l a g r a n t , fl a m e , f l a m in g o , p h l e g m , a n d fu l ge n t . 5 T H E M E S : T h e p r i ma r y t h e m e c on c e r n s U N IT I NG v s . TE AR I N G A P A R T . R e c a l l f i r st t h a t t he r o o t o f r i v e r m e a n s t o s c r a t c h , t e a r , c u t a n d t h a t o n e o f i t s p a r o n y ms i s r i v e (t o r e n d, t e a r a p a r t ). F u r t he r, a s a v e r b , w e a v e me a n s t o c on s t r u c t . T h i s i s t he o p p os i t e o f t e a r i n g a p a r t . A l s o,
1 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=India 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 70 3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 95 4 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/weave 5 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 9 Starling Hunter 2011 1

r e c a l l t h a t a m on g t h e p a r on y m s o f b l a n k e t i s bl e n d w h i ch m e a n s b o t h t o c o m b i n e o r m i x s o t h a t t he c o n s t i t u e n t p a r t s a r e i n d i st i n g u i s h a b l e f r o m o n e a n o t h e r a n d t o b e co m e m e r g e d i n t o on e ; u n i t e . 6 N o t a b l y, R o ge t s 2 1 s t C e n t u r y T h e sa u r u s l i st s b o t h b l e n d a n d u n i t e a s sy n o n y m s o f weave.7

6 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/blend 7 http://thesaurus.com/browse/weave Starling Hunter 2011 2