LATIN
KILLS STORY TITLE . . .
You
were indeed courageous to feature your cover story's
title (Maritricide, by L.S. James, Vol. 2, No.
4) so boldly; alas, I am afraid that 'maritricide'
is an incorrect coinage.
The
suffix '-cide' is Latin for killer or killing.
To describe the 'killing of husband' we need, in
the first element, the genitive form of the Latin
word for husband, maritus. This genitive form is
mariti, and so our coined term should be 'mariticide,'
with no 'ri in the middle.
The
author was undoubtedly working on an analogy with
matricide and patricide; these derive from mater
and pater, whose genitive forms are matris and
patris.
If the
writer had thought about the word genocide, for
instance, he (she?) would have realized that the
'r' was not attached to the suffix.
All
that would then be needed to solve this research
problem would be to find out the Latin word for
husband, and use a Latin text to find the gentive
form.
I am
not a classical scholar, and I don't even have
a Latin dictionary in the house; but I was able
to dope this question out using The New Century
Dictionary and an old high school Latin text.
Of course,
it isn't often we need to construct a Latinate
term like the title of this story. But not knowing
the roots of English is, to my mind, a serious
impediment to the writer who hopes to master the
tools of his trade.
It's
like being entirely ignorant of your own family
tree, as so many of us (myself included) unfortunately
are these days -- it gives you very limited resources
to draw on. And the last thing writers should do
is limit themselves.
I hasten
to add that this error, easy enough to make, did
not by any means damage the rest of the story,
which was a very pleasantly chilling litle tale.
I don't
at all wish to put down L.S. James, but to encourage
all writers to study dilligently to close up the
gaps the system has left in our education.
By
Donna Farley
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
AUTHOR
NOT SURPRISED . . .
I must
thank you for your boldness in publishing the title
'as is' (Maritricide, front page, TbT Vol. 2, No.
4).
I am
not entirely surprised that you were not sure it
was indeed a word. I did not find the title in
my Webster's Collegiate, but in Roget's Thesaurus
(fourth edition), under "murder" (sub-heading
homicide, 409.3).
I enjoy
words to the extreme and pick them with especial
care. You might say I am a verbomaniac. (Roget's
Thesaurus, Mania, 473.36).
By
L.S. James
Palmdale, California, USA
READER
ENJOYS SAMPLE COPY!
Received,
read, and enjoyed my sample copy of Tickled
by Thunder. You have a fine nifty little literary
production -- which I have already recycled and
sent to my nephew who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana,
and fashions himself a writer of sci-fi.
Best
wishes for continued success with your fine literary
publication.
By
T. Kilgore Splake
Munising, Michigan, USA
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