Virgo 4: A colored child playing with white children

T h e w o r d c o lor ed d e s c e n d s f r o m t he I n d o - E u r o p e a n ( I E ) r o o t k el -1 w h i c h m e a n s t o c o v e r, c on c e a l, s a v e . 1 I t s p a r on y m s i n c l u d e c a l yp s o, c el l , c e l la r, c la n de st in e ,

c o n c e a l, h a l l, he l m , h e l m e t, h o l d, h o l e, h o l l o w, h o l s te r, h ou s i n g , Va l h a l l a , a n d occult.
T h e w o r d s c hi ld a n d c hi ld re n d e s c e n d f r o m t h e O l d E n g l i s h c i l d m e a n i n g c hi l d , i n fa n t a n d m o re r e mo t e l y f r o m t h e G o t h i c ki l pe i m e a n i n g w o m b a n d t h e D a n i s h ku l d m e a n i n g c hi l d r e n o f t h e sa m e marriage.2 T h e w o r d p l ayi ng de s c e n d s f r o m t h e IE r o o t d le gh - w h i ch m e a n s t o e n g a g e on e s e l f . 3 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u de i n du l ge, p le dge , p l i gh t, a n d

re p l e vin ( a n a c t i on t o r e c o v e r p e r s o n a l p r o p e r t y s a i d o r c l a i m e d t o b e
unlawfully taken).
4

T h e w o r d w hi t e de s c e n d s f r o m t he I E r o o t k we i t - w h i c h m e a n s w h i t e , t o s h i n e . 5 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e wh e a t, bi s m u t h, e de l we i s s,

wh i t i n g ( a f o o d f ish ) , a n d wi t l oo f ( y ou n g , b r o a d - le a v e d e n d i v e p l a n t ) .
TH EMES : A s n ot e d a b o v e , t h e w o r d s c hi ld a n d chi ld re n sh a r e a c o m m o n e t y m o l o g y w i t h a G ot h i c w o rd , ki l pe i, w h i c h m e a n s w o m b . A w o m b i s a h o l l o w m u s c u l a r o r g a n i n t h e p e l v i c ca v i t y o f f e m a l e s ; c o n t a i n s t h e d e v e lo p i n g fe t u s 6 a n d m o r e g e n e r a l l y a p la c e w h e r e s o m e t h i n g i s g e n e ra t e d a n d a n e n c om p a s si n g , p r o t e c t i v e h o l l o w o r s p a ce . T h u s t he r e i s a li n k a g e he r e b e t w e e n t h e c h i l d a n d t h e w o m b

1 2 3 4 5 6

Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo -European Roots, p. 38 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=child Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo -European Roots, p. 21 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/replevin Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo -European Roots, p. 45 http://onelook.com/?w=womb&ls=a Starling Hunter 2011 1

a n d / o r t h e ( h o l l o w) sp a c e i n w h i c h i t d e v e l o p s. T h e t h e m e i s DEVE LOPM ENT . A s e c o n d t he m e c on c e r n s HOLD ING PLA CES . Re c a l l t h a t o n e o f t he p a r o n y m s o f c o lo r e d i s t h e w o r d h o l l ow w h i c h a s a n o u n c a n m e a n a c a v i t y , ga p , o r sp a c e . 7 O t h e r p a r o n y ms i n c l u d e h o l d ( t he l o w e r i n t e r i o r p a r t o f a s h i p o r a i r p l a n e w h e r e c a r go i s s t o r e d ) , h o l e ( a h o l l o w e d p l a c e i n s o m e t h i n g s o l i d ; a c a v i t y o r p i t ) , cel l a r ( a r o o m o r e n cl o s e d s p a c e u s e d f o r s t o r a g e ) , a n d c e l l ( a n a r r o w c o n f i n i n g r o o m ; a sm a l l e n c l os e d c a v i t y o r sp a c e ) . As s h o w n a b o v e , t h e k e y w o r d s c h i ld a n d c hi ld re n d e s c e n d f r o m a w or d t h a t m e a n s w o mb ( a h o l l o w m u s c u la r o r g a n ) .

7 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/hollow Starling Hunter 2011 2