New Year, Old Books

One of my many resolutions for the New Year is to try to bring this blog back to life, even if in a slightly different form. I'm going to try (ah, hostage to fortune!) to write more, rather than simply posting pictures and links, although I suppose pictures and links are pretty and informative on certain levels. The blog died away a little bit in 2014 for two main reasons: first, because I've been doing a lot more work this last year, which has mean that I have had less time to post things, and secondly, my general postage and linkage has migrated almost entirely to Facebook. So from now on Trunt will try to have slightly longer posts with a little more effort put into them. Oh well, it's an experiment, and if it doesn't work then I'll think about something a little different later on down the line. Anyway, today is slightly cheating: one final post (pictures and links!) of the books I liked the most in 2014. Five books I'd never read before, plus one I reread with more pleasure than I read it the first time. Maybe the first few steps into longer-form writing will be to say a little bit more about why I liked these books so much. Promises, promises…

Jacqueline Harpman, The Mistress of Silence (Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes, 1995, trans. Ros Schwartz 1997). More about Harpman here (in French).

Sophie Calle, Fantômes (2013). More about Calle here (in French). 

Steve Ely, Oswald's Book of Hours (2013). More about Ely here.

Bengt Jangfeldt, Mayakovsky: A Biography (Med livet som insats, 2007, trans. Harry D. Watson 2014). More information about Jangfeldt here (in Swedish). My review of the book in the Literary Review here.

Moshé Raviv-Vorobeichic, Ein Ghetto im Osten-Wilna (1931). More information about Raviv-Vorobeichic here.

Jack Spicer, My Vocabulary Did This To Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (2008, ed. Peter Gizzi and Kevin Killian). More about Spicer here.

Rodolphus Agricola (1444-1485)

'Ut doceat, ut moveat, ut delectet'. More information here.

On the Goodness of the Supreme Being

Orpheus, for so the Gentiles call'd thy name,
Israel's sweet Psalmist, who alone couldst wake
Th'inanimate to motion; who alone
The joyful hillocks, the applauding rocks,
And floods with musical persuasion drew;
Thou who to hail and snow gav'st voice and sound,
And mad'st the mute melodious! — greater yet
Was thy divinest skill, and rul'd o'er more
Than art or nature; for thy tuneful touch
Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul,
And quell'd the evil Angel: — in this breast
Some portion of thy genuine spirit breathe,
And lift me from myself, each thought impure
Banish; each low idea raise, refine,
Enlarge, and sanctify; — so shall the muse
Above the stars aspire, and aim to praise
Her God on earth, as he is prais'd in heaven. […]

For the rest, see here.

September is Etymology Month (30)

ПОДКУЗЬМИТЬ [podkuz'mit'] 'to do someone a bad turn'. From the festival of Sts. Kuz'ma and Dem'jan (17th October, OS), at which deals were concluded and accounts settled between employer and employee, originally 'to dispel hopes connected with St. Kuz'ma's Day'. Cf. объегорить 'to cheat', originally referring to the practice of reneging on similar deals struck before St. George's Day (Егор(ий) from Георгий, patron saint of agriculture), 26 November NS.

September is Etymology Month (29)

КОСМОНАВТ [kosmonávt] 'spaceman'. based on Gk. kósmos 'space', naútes 'sailor', widely known after the first manned space flight by Jurij Gagarin on 12 April 1961 (космонавтика 'outer space exploration' is recorded in dictionaries from 1958). Cf. астронавт 'astronaut', used mainly of US spacemen, and occasionally астрокосмонавты, used in 1975 during the joint Apollo Sojuz flight (ЭПАС - Экспериментальный полёт Аполлон-Союз 'Apollo-Sojuz Experimental Flight).

September is Etymology Month (28)

ПЛОЩАДЬ [plóščad'] 'square'. OR 'square, street', from ChSl., based on Gk. plateia (hodós 'way' understood) 'street', lit. 'flat, broad way', alternatively from *ploskědь, cf. плоский 'flat', with -sk- palatalising to -šč- before -ě-, thus 'flat area'.

September is Etymology Month (27)

ДОСТОПРИМЕЧАТЕЛЬНЫЙ [dostoprimečátel'nyj] 'noteworthy'. A calque of Gk. axiothéatos, id. (axios 'worthy', theatós 'to be seen'). Cf. достопримечательности 'the sights', Ger. Sehenswürdigkeiten, id.

September is Etymology Month (26)

ТРЕСКА [ treská] 'cod'. Early 17th century in this meaning. Possibly from 11th-century meaning 'splinter'. cf. earlier рыба-щёпка 'cod', lit. 'splinter-fish', analogous to Ger. Stockfisch 'cod', lit. 'stick-fish'. Perhaps from the fish's tendency to shred into fibres, like wood, during the drying process (cf. трескаться 'to crack'). Alternatively, cognate with Ger. Dorsch 'cod' (cf. Dan. Torsk, id.), from dürr 'dry, dried out' (Dorsch is properly Dörrfisch from dörren 'to dry, bake'), thus lit. 'dried smoked fish'. Cf. IE *ters- 'to rub, dry'.

September is Etymology Month (25)

ТИСКИ [tiskí] 'vice' (tech.). 16th century, cf. тискать 'to squeeze', cognate with тесный 'cramped'.

September is Etymology Month (24)

ЧЕПУХА [čepuchá] 'nonsense'. Mid-18th century 'splinter' (cf. analogous вздор 'nonsense' originally 'litter', cognate with драть 'to tear'). Alternatively, a blend of щепа 'splinter' and чуха (obs. reg.) 'nonsense'. Unlikely to be associated with тщетный 'futile'.

September is Etymology Month (23)

ВОСТОК [vostók] 'east'. 11th century, from ChSl., calqued from Gk. anatole 'rising, especially of the sun or moon' (cf. Gk. anatéllo 'i rise up'), thus the place where the sun rises (вос-/ana- 'upward' + ток, cognate with течь 'to flow', CSl *tekti 'flow, run') cf. Lat. oriens 'rising sun, east'.

September is Etymology Month (22)

НОСОРОГ [nosoróg] 'rhinoceros'. A calque of Gk. rinókeros, id. (rís, gen. rinós 'nose', kéras 'horn') cf. Ger. Nashorn, id., lit. 'nose-horn', also calqued from Gk.

September is Etymology Month (21)

ПОЛОТНО [polotnó] 'linen'. OR 'linen fabric, web', from CSl. *poltъno, with inter-consonantal -оло- in ESl. Cognate with Skr. patah 'piece of cloth', cf. dim. derivative полотенце 'towel'.

September is Etymology Month (20)

ПОНЧИК [pónčik] 'doughnut'. Early 20th century, from Pol. 15th-century pączek 'pancake, doughnut', lit. 'small bud', cf. Pol. pąk 'bud'.

September is Etymology Month (19)

АКУЛА [akúla] 'shark'. Recorded in dictionaries (originally with -kk-) since 1789, but known earlier, probably from Sc. languages, cf. OSc. hakarl (with -a in R. perhaps by analogy with рыба 'fish') alternately from a Norw. dial. source, cf. also Farøese hakallur 'basking shark', hákelling 'Greenland shark', Icel. hakka 'to eat like a beast'.

September is Etymology Month (18)

ЯЩИК [jáščik] 'box, drawer'. 14th-/15th centuries аскъ, then яскъ 'basket', possibly of Gmc. origin, cf. OIcel. askr 'ash-tree, wooden vessel' (the ash was much prized in wood carving), cf. OHG asc 'dish', earlier 'boat', probably of ash-wood.

September is Etymology Month (17)

КОПЬЕ [kop'ë] 'spear'. 10th century (also 'man with spear', cf. Eng. gun 'member of shooting party'), from CSl. *kopьje, cognate with *kopati 'to strike', thus 'what you strike with', Cf. Gk. kopis 'cleaver'.

September is Etymology Month (16)

ХАЛАТ [chalát] 'dressing-gown, oriental robe'. 17th century at the latest, via Tkc. (Radlov designates khyl'at as Turk.), from Ar. khil'at 'robe of honour'. (In some Asiatic societies such garments wer presented by high-ranking dignitaries, as a mark of favour.) Derivatives include халатный 'negligent'.

September is Etymology Month (15)

РЫБА [ryba] 'fish'. 11th century, from CSl. *ryba, possibly cognate with late MHG rup(p)e 'caterpillar, grub' (Ger. Raupe, id., cf. also Ger. Aalraupe 'eel-pout, burbot'). A taboo for earlier *zъvь (cf. Lith žuvis 'fish'), a word said to have been avoided by fishermen because of its similarity to звать 'to call' (to 'call' the fish would be unlucky, cf. невод 'sweep-net', lit. 'non-net'). A connection has also been proposed with рябой 'pock-marked', thus initially 'speckled fish' (e.g., a salmon).

September is Etymology Month (14)

ЖАР [žar] 'heat'. 12th century жаръ 'fire, intense heat', from CSl. *gerъ/*žarъ. Cognate with гореть 'to burn', греть 'to heat', горячий 'hot', жаркий 'hot' (of climate), Gk. thermos 'hot'.