“A word bearing the acute upon the ultima is known as an oxytone, one with the acute upon the penult as a paroxytone, one with the acute upon the antepenult as a proparoxytone. One which bears the circumflex upon the ultima is called a perispomenon, one with the circumflex upon the penult is a properispomenon. These terms, though formidable, will save much laborious periphrasis.”

- A New Introduction to Greek, Chase & Phillips, 1941


Needless to say, we never did master the terms, and laborious periphrasis has been our lot ever since.

Laborious Brit. /ləˈbɔːrɪəs/, U.S. /ləˈbɔriəs/

Characterized by or involving hard work or exertion; requiring much time or effort; arduous, tiring; painstaking, tiresomely difficult. Also of a physical action: performed with great effort or difficulty; slow or deliberate; heavy.

Periphrasis Brit. /pᵻˈrɪfrəsɪs/ , U.S. /pəˈrɪfrəsəz/

Chiefly Rhetoric. A figure of speech in which a meaning is expressed by several words instead of by few or one; a roundabout way of speaking, circumlocution.

- OED Online, accessed 9/1/12

Sunday, September 9, 2012

I love to Travel, I love the Challenge, I love Change

Well, the eagle has landed and all that.  It has been a very busy couple of days, and while I could recount for you every last bleeding detail, I'll spare us all the drudgery of such a thing.  It is my instinct to go through things chronologically, but doing so would soon create such a backlog of things I hadn't mentioned yet that I'd be paralyzed, unable to move forward until I had covered every inch of the past.  Nonsense.  I've been assured that would do far better to be brief than to go dark entirely, only to resurface every month or two with a saga in hand.

I'm currently in my flat, on the top floor of a building about a 15-minute walk from the main campus.  I'm eating jam on toast, drinking tea out of a turkish coffee pot, for lack of a better vessel, and watching the new episode of The Thick of It (expect a tirade on this subject in the near future), which in the typical fashion of British television, is just nearly too awkward to watch.  It is 1:30 am now, and there's much to do tomorrow, like buy a blanket for starters.  The University is putting on a hell of a lot of events, frankly more than I could possibly work up the energy to attend, but I shall endeavor to socialize.  I spent today meeting two of my flatmates (young ladies from Virginia and Oregon, respectively), doing a paltry grocery shop at Scotmid, and just generally getting lost in the city to learn my way around - and in doing so, tripping over a number of landmarks, including the National Library,  Deacon Brodie's Tavern, and the Surgeons' Halls Museum.  All places that will have to wait for another day.

Buying an alarm clock.  Another chore for tomorrow.
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 6, 2017 at 9:47 AM

    "much laborious periphrasis" indeed. your blog made my day -- thank you!
    That wonderful phrase has been skulking about my subconscious, surfacing at unexpected and not always convenient times for 50 years, since freshman year in Comparative Linguistics. It is gratifying to see the banner carried forward. The work that had the most powerful impact on me, was the study of Creole language formation -- unfortunately the article is now pay-walled... Look forward to reading your book, whenever written and whatever about. Blessings on your life and growth. M

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)