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Re: THOUGHTS: Botkin, V
From
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Elaine: most interesting. Thanks. Irish (and Scots***) orthography took ages
to stabilize. (The Cornish folk are still squabbling!) Ciotog seems the
preferred spelling but both citeog and kithogue are found. It means
left-hand¹ or left-hander¹ in normal usage, but, as you say, can be used
figuratively or derisively (awkward, unlucky, or worse, cursed by the
Devil!) I was amused to discover that at least one group of ³oppressed²
left-handers exchange their grudges at http://kithogue.com/ from which I
quote
New research shows that fierce pagan Celtic warrior was left handed.
However, there is absolutely no proof to show that he used his kithogue for
writing - it was an oral culture afterall - but rather for chopping off
heads and the like.
Ciotog happens to be feminine gender, 2nd declension, but no misogyny
implied. The etym. Is strange because you might expect the root laimhe
(hand) to be present (as in mala-laimhe: hand-bag or lamhscribheoireacht:
handwriting) whereas in ciotog, we have cio (from cle=left) followed by tog,
a root meaning take/hold/build/pick up. That is, we¹ve moved from a physical
hand¹ to actions usually performed by hand. You can see how it may affect
how native Irish speakers might visualize¹ the word. Any Irish natives out
there?
The possible link between left-hand¹ and awkward, unlucky, worse (gay or
Roman Catholic) starts with the disadvantage faced by the ³odd² (minority)
left-handed children, often forced to use the right (correct!) hand. In a
real sense, the right hand is better when writing from left to right. (With
other scripts such as Arabic, the roles are reversed.) If you watched the
left-handed President Obama signing his first batch of executive orders, you
might have noticed the non-standard pen-grip and angle. His strategy, in
fact, is consisered optimal, that is the least awkward given the physics of
writing left-to-right with the left-hand. Children forced to switch
writing-hands are known to suffer, and happily, teachers are no longer
enforcing this indignity.
Meanwhile, the slur on kithogues typified by Nabokov¹s ³sexually
left-handed² shows no sign of disappearing.
** Elaine will know of the Menzies pronounced Mingus spelling quirk, but for
others there¹s a helpful lmerick
A lively young damsel named Menzies
Inquired: "Do you know what this thenzies?"
Her aunt, with a gasp,
Replied: "It's a wasp,
And you're holding the end where the stenzies."
skb
On 18/02/2009 03:22, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
>
>
> Subject:
> Re: [NABOKV-L] THOUGHTS re: Botkin, V.
> From:
> Emgramma@aol.com
> Date:
> Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:35:20 EST
> To:
> NABOKV-L@listserv.ucsb.edu
> I noticed that you mentioned Tim Finnegan, the hod carrier who fell from the
> ladder while drunk.
> James Joyce also refers to left-handed in the "Circe" chapter of Ulysses with
> "Kithogue", Anglicized Irish for a left-handed and thus considered an unlucky
> person.
> "Cithogue" is repeated on page 91 of Joyce's Finnegans Wake where it refers
> to the Roman Catholic priest as he lifts his hand during the Mass.
>
> Elaine Mingus
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to stabilize. (The Cornish folk are still squabbling!) Ciotog seems the
preferred spelling but both citeog and kithogue are found. It means
left-hand¹ or left-hander¹ in normal usage, but, as you say, can be used
figuratively or derisively (awkward, unlucky, or worse, cursed by the
Devil!) I was amused to discover that at least one group of ³oppressed²
left-handers exchange their grudges at http://kithogue.com/ from which I
quote
New research shows that fierce pagan Celtic warrior was left handed.
However, there is absolutely no proof to show that he used his kithogue for
writing - it was an oral culture afterall - but rather for chopping off
heads and the like.
Ciotog happens to be feminine gender, 2nd declension, but no misogyny
implied. The etym. Is strange because you might expect the root laimhe
(hand) to be present (as in mala-laimhe: hand-bag or lamhscribheoireacht:
handwriting) whereas in ciotog, we have cio (from cle=left) followed by tog,
a root meaning take/hold/build/pick up. That is, we¹ve moved from a physical
hand¹ to actions usually performed by hand. You can see how it may affect
how native Irish speakers might visualize¹ the word. Any Irish natives out
there?
The possible link between left-hand¹ and awkward, unlucky, worse (gay or
Roman Catholic) starts with the disadvantage faced by the ³odd² (minority)
left-handed children, often forced to use the right (correct!) hand. In a
real sense, the right hand is better when writing from left to right. (With
other scripts such as Arabic, the roles are reversed.) If you watched the
left-handed President Obama signing his first batch of executive orders, you
might have noticed the non-standard pen-grip and angle. His strategy, in
fact, is consisered optimal, that is the least awkward given the physics of
writing left-to-right with the left-hand. Children forced to switch
writing-hands are known to suffer, and happily, teachers are no longer
enforcing this indignity.
Meanwhile, the slur on kithogues typified by Nabokov¹s ³sexually
left-handed² shows no sign of disappearing.
** Elaine will know of the Menzies pronounced Mingus spelling quirk, but for
others there¹s a helpful lmerick
A lively young damsel named Menzies
Inquired: "Do you know what this thenzies?"
Her aunt, with a gasp,
Replied: "It's a wasp,
And you're holding the end where the stenzies."
skb
On 18/02/2009 03:22, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
>
>
> Subject:
> Re: [NABOKV-L] THOUGHTS re: Botkin, V.
> From:
> Emgramma@aol.com
> Date:
> Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:35:20 EST
> To:
> NABOKV-L@listserv.ucsb.edu
> I noticed that you mentioned Tim Finnegan, the hod carrier who fell from the
> ladder while drunk.
> James Joyce also refers to left-handed in the "Circe" chapter of Ulysses with
> "Kithogue", Anglicized Irish for a left-handed and thus considered an unlucky
> person.
> "Cithogue" is repeated on page 91 of Joyce's Finnegans Wake where it refers
> to the Roman Catholic priest as he lifts his hand during the Mass.
>
> Elaine Mingus
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/