Subject
Dmitri Nabokov on "OOLOGY
Date
Body
RE: NAB VOCAB
"OOLOGY" IS, IN FACT, NOT "ZOOLOGY"__A LA COQUILLE__, BUT AN EXAMPLE OF
HOW CERTAIN LETTERS CAN BE LOST OR ACQUIRED IN PASSAGE FROM LATIN. THE
TERM WOULD BE MORE READILY RECOGNIZABLE IF WE THOUGHT OF __OVUM__,
"OVARY," OR THE PRESENT-DAY ITALIAN __UOVO__, EVEN IF WORDS THAT HAVE
DETOURED THROUGH TUSCAN DIALECTS DO TEND TO LOSE THEIR U'S, TO WIT,
__OVO__, USED IN FLORENCE AND VICINITY EVEN TODAY.
BUT WHY NOT STEER CLEAR OF THAT PIRATE TRANSLATION AND STICK TO VN'S
ENGLISH? "EGG-LIKE," IN FACT, HAS A VISUAL DIMENSION MUCH LESS
RECOGNIZABLE IN THE SOMEWHAT CLUMSY __OOLOGICHESKUJU ALLITERACIJU__ (I
CONSERVE THE ITALIAN METHOD OF TRANSLITERATION USED BY MR. TOMPA).
DOLININ'S DEFINITION IS, OF COURSE, EXACT.
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"OOLOGY" IS, IN FACT, NOT "ZOOLOGY"__A LA COQUILLE__, BUT AN EXAMPLE OF
HOW CERTAIN LETTERS CAN BE LOST OR ACQUIRED IN PASSAGE FROM LATIN. THE
TERM WOULD BE MORE READILY RECOGNIZABLE IF WE THOUGHT OF __OVUM__,
"OVARY," OR THE PRESENT-DAY ITALIAN __UOVO__, EVEN IF WORDS THAT HAVE
DETOURED THROUGH TUSCAN DIALECTS DO TEND TO LOSE THEIR U'S, TO WIT,
__OVO__, USED IN FLORENCE AND VICINITY EVEN TODAY.
BUT WHY NOT STEER CLEAR OF THAT PIRATE TRANSLATION AND STICK TO VN'S
ENGLISH? "EGG-LIKE," IN FACT, HAS A VISUAL DIMENSION MUCH LESS
RECOGNIZABLE IN THE SOMEWHAT CLUMSY __OOLOGICHESKUJU ALLITERACIJU__ (I
CONSERVE THE ITALIAN METHOD OF TRANSLITERATION USED BY MR. TOMPA).
DOLININ'S DEFINITION IS, OF COURSE, EXACT.
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