Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 1

William Shakespeare
The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and
Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2)
ROMEO [coming forward]
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.
Be not her maid, since she is envious.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
[Enter Juliet aloft]
It is my lady, O, it is my love.
O that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold. 'Tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!
JULIET Ay me.
ROMEO (aside)
She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel; for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingd messenger of heaven
Unto the white-upturnd wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-passing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.
JULIET [not knowing Romeo hears her]
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO (aside)
Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
ROMEO (to Juliet) I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love and I'll be new baptized.
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JULIET
What man art thou that, thus bescreened in night,
So stumblest on my counsel?
ROMEO
By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself
Because it is an enemy to thee.
Had I it written, I would tear the word.
JULIET
My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words
Of thy tongue's uttering, yet I know the sound.
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
ROMEO
Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike
[in WSCO, p. 345]

William Shakespeare
Sonnet CXXXV
Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,
And Will to boot, and Will in overplus.
More than enough am I that vex thee still,
To thy sweet will making addition thus.
Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?
Shall will in others seem right gracious,
And in my will no fair acceptance shine?
The sea all water, yet receives rain still,
And in abundance addeth to his store;
So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will
One will of mine, to make thy large Will more.
Let no unkind, no fair beseechers kill;
Think all but one, and me in that one Will.
[in WSCO, p. 767]

William Shakespeare
Sonnet CXXXVI
If thy soul check thee that I come so near,
Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy Will,
And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;
Thus far for love my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.
Will will fulfil the treasure of thy love,
Ay, fill it full with wills, and my will one.
In things of great receipt with ease we prove
Among a number one is reckoned none.
Then in the number let me pass untold,
Though in thy stores' account I one must be;
For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold
That nothing me a something, sweet, to thee.
Make but my name thy love, and love that still,
And then thou lov'st me for my name is Will.
[in WSCO, p. 136]

Vasile Voiculescu
CLXX (16)
The seed of timelessness, my love, 's the word.
Eternity hides in a moment's shell,
Like in an egg the wingd flight doth dwell,
Till comes the time to rise high out the bird.
Thy only name, heralding liberty,
Broke age and world alike; closed in their night,
Did love's live eagle from the rests burst free,
With golden claws to haul us to the height.
Who to our soul these magic keys did lend?
Alike in beauty and in genius twin,
Of thought eternal we disclosed the land,
Returned to moulds supreme that urge us in,
From our decay, to the first pureness felt,
In white, divine voluptuousness to melt.
(1955) [English version by Cristina Ttaru; in SLFS, p. 49]

Vasile Voiculescu
CLXXXIII (29)
We always beg from life years without end,
Rebelling we deplore our frailty's doom
But, without love, we still don't understand
That Time will fade in us, like a torn bloom.
Broken from timelessness, it asks to own.
A land alike where its frail graft to set.
With ice it's welcomed, planted on grit-stone,
When Love's the sole eternity we'll get.
In vain now angerst, throw'st me 'way so scoffed,
Love's miracles no limits have at all.
The way Lazarus heard commandments soft,
At any place or time my name shouldst call,
Even in grave, the tombstone upon me
I still will rise from death to run to thee.
(1955) [English version by Cristina Ttaru; in SLFS, p. 77]

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 2

The Word became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was
made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the
light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness
has not understood it.
6
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was
John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so
that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the
light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that
gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10
He was in the world, and though the world was made
through him, the world did not recognise him. 11He came to that
which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all
who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God 13children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of
God.
14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15
John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This
was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed
me because he was before me' ".
16
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one
blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No-one has ever
seen God, but the only begotten Son, who is at the Father's side,
has made him known.

`It's very provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence,

looking away from Alice as he spoke, `to be called an egg -- very!'
`I said you looked like an egg, Sir,' Alice gently explained. `And
some eggs are very pretty, you know,' she added, hoping to turn
her remark into a sort of compliment.
`Some people,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as
usual, `have no more sense than a baby!'
Alice didn't know what to say to this: it wasn't at all like
conversation, she thought, as he never said anything to her; in
fact, his last remark was evidently addressed to a tree -- so she
stood and softly repeated to herself:
`Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.'
`That last line is much too long for the poetry,' she added, almost
out loud, forgetting that Humpty Dumpty would hear her.
`Don't stand chattering to yourself like that,' Humpty Dumpty said,
looking at her for the first time, `but tell me your name and your
business.'
`My name is Alice, but --'
`It's a stupid name enough!' Humpty Dumpty interrupted
impatiently. `What does it mean?'
`Must a name mean something?' Alice asked doubtfully.
`Of course it must,' Humpty Dumpty said with a short laugh: `my
name means the shape I am -- and a good handsome shape it is,
too. With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost.'
[Excerpted from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Chapter
VI. Humpty Dumpty.]

Emily Dickinson (183086)

LXXXIX

(John 1:1-18) [in HB, p.1115]

Wisdom
A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.
3
Sorrow is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5
It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke
than to listen to the song of fools.
6
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
(Ecclesiastes 7:1-6) [in HB, pp.723-724]

A good name is more desirable than great riches;

to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
(Proverbs 22:1) [in HB, p. 707]

Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass
Chapter VI. Humpty Dumpty
HOWEVER, the egg only got larger and larger, and more and
more human: when she had come within a few yards of it, she
saw that it had eyes and a nose and mouth; and, when she had
come close to it, she saw clearly that it was HUMPTY DUMPTY
himself. `It can't be anybody else!' she said to herself. `I'm as
certain of it, as if his name were written all over his face!'
It might have been written a hundred times, easily, on that
enormous face. Humpty Dumpty was sitting, with his legs crossed
like a Turk, on the top of a high wall -- such a narrow one that
Alice quite wondered how he could keep his balance -- and, as his
eyes were steadily fixed in the opposite direction, and he didn't
take the least notice of her, she thought he must be a stuffed
figure, after all.
`And how exactly like an egg he is!' she said aloud, standing with
her hands ready to catch him, for she was every moment
expecting him to fall.

A WORD is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.
(from CPED (1924); Part One: Life)

Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
Chapter 1
My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name
Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer
or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be
called Pip.
I give Pirrip as my father's family name, on the authority of his
tombstone and my sister Mrs Joe Gargery, who married the
blacksmith. As I never saw my father or my mother, and never
saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before
the days of photographs), my first fancies regarding what they
were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones. The
shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd idea that he
was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the
character and turn of the inscription, 'Also Georgiana Wife of the
Above,' I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled
and sickly. To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a
half long which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave,
and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine
who gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early in that
universal struggle I am indebted for a belief I religiously
entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their
hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in
this state of existence.

Gertrude Stein
Poetry and Grammar1
Words have to do everything in poetry and prose and some
writers write more in articles and prepositions and some say you
should write in nouns, and of course one has to think of

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 3

everything.
A noun is a name of anything, why after a thing is named write
about it. A name is adequate or it is not. If it is adequate then why
go on calling it, if it is not then calling it by its name does no good.
People if you like to believe it can be made by their names.
Call anybody Paul and they get to be a Paul call anybody Alice
and they get to be an Alice perhaps yes perhaps no, there is
something in that, but generally speaking, things once they are
named the name does not go on doing anything to them and so
why write in nouns. Nouns are the name of anything and just
naming names is alright when you want to call a roll but is it any
good for anything else. To be sure in many places in Europe as in
America they do like to call rolls.
As I say a noun is a name of a thing, and therefore slowly if
you feel what is inside that thing you do not call it by the name by
which it is known. Everybody knows that by the way they do when
they are in love and a writer should always have that intensity of
emotion about whatever is the object about which he writes. And
therefore and I say it again more and more one does not use
nouns.
Now what other things are there beside nouns, there are a lot
of other things beside nouns.
When you are at school and learn grammar grammar is very
exciting. I really do not know that anything has ever been more
exciting than diagraming sentences. I suppose other things may
be more exciting to others when they are at school but to me
undoubtedly when I was at school the really completely exciting
thing was diagraming sentences and that has been to me ever
since the one thing that has been completely exciting and
completely completing. I like the feeling the everlasting feeling of
sentences as they diagram themselves.
In that way one is completely possessing something and
incidentally one's self. Now in that diagraming of the sentences of
course there are articles and prepositions and as I say there are
nouns but nouns as I say even by definition are completely not
interesting, the same thing is true of adjectives. Adjectives are not
really and truly interesting. In a way anybody can know always
has known that, because after all adjectives effect nouns and as
nouns are not really interesting the thing that effects a not too
interesting thing is of necessity not interesting. In a way as I say
anybody knows that because of course the first thing that anybody
takes out of anybody's writing are the adjectives. You see of
yourself how true it is that which I have just said.
Beside the nouns and the adjectives there are verbs and
adverbs. Verbs and adverbs are more interesting. In the first place
they have one very nice quality and that is that they can be so
mistaken. It is wonderful the number of mistakes a verb can make
and that is equally true of its adverb. Nouns and adjectives never
can make mistakes can never be mistaken but verbs can be so
endlessly, both as to what they do and how they agree or
disagree with whatever they do. The same is true of adverbs.
In that way any one can see that verbs and adverbs are more
interesting than nouns and adjectives.
Beside being able to mistaken and to make mistakes verbs
can change to look like themselves or to look like something else,
they are, so to speak on the move and adverbs move with them
and each of them find themselves not at all annoying but very
often very much mistaken. That is the reason any one can like
what verbs can do. Then comes the thing that can of all things be
most mistaken and they are prepositions. Prepositions can live
one long life being really being nothing but absolutely nothing but
mistaken and that makes them irritating if you feel that way about
mistakes but certainly something that you can be continuously
using and everlastingly enjoying. I like prepositions the best of all,
and pretty soon we will go more completely into that.
Then there are articles. Articles are interesting just as nouns
and adjectives are not. And why are they interesting just as nouns
and adjectives are not. They are interesting because they do what
a noun might do if a noun was not so unfortunately so completely
unfortunately the name of something. Articles please, a and an
and the please as the name that follows cannot please. They the
names that is the nouns cannot please, because after all you
know well after all that is what Shakespeare meant when he
talked about a rose by any other name.
I hope now no one can have any illusion about a noun or
about the adjective that goes with the noun.
But an article an article remains as a delicate and a varied
something and any one who wants to write with articles and

knows how to use them will always have the pleasure that using
something that is varied and alive can give. This is what articles
are.
Beside that there are conjunctions, and a conjunction is not
varied but it has a force that need not make any one feel that they
are dull. Conjunctions have made themselves live by their work.
They work and as they work they live and even when they do not
work and in these day they do not always live by work still
nevertheless they do live.
So you see why I like to write with prepositions and
conjunctions and articles and verbs and adverbs but not with
nouns and adjectives. If you read my writing you will you do see
what I mean.
Of course then there are pronouns. Pronouns are not as bad
as nouns because in the first place practically they cannot have
adjectives go with them. That already makes them better than
nouns.
Then beside not being able to have adjectives go with them,
they of course are not really the name of anything. They represent
some one but they are not its or his name. In not being his or its or
her name they already have a greater possibility of being
something than if they were as a noun is the name of anything.
Now actual given names of people are more lively than nouns
which are the name of anything and I suppose that this is because
after all the name is only given to that person when they are born,
there is at least the element of choice even the element of change
and anybody can be pretty well able to do what they like, they may
be born Walter and become Hub, in such a way they are not like a
noun. A noun has been the name of something for such a very
long time.
That is the reason that slang exists it is to change the nouns
which have been names for so long. I say again. Verbs and
adverbs and articles and conjunctions and prepositions are lively
because they all do something and as long as anything does
something it keeps alive.
1

Excerpted from the essay with this title in Lectures in America, 1935.
[in NR, pp. 86-89]

T.S. Eliot
The Naming of Cats
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
[in CPPTSE, p. 209]

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 4

Henry Reed
Naming of Parts
LESSONS OF THE WAR

He saw an animal that liked to snort

Horns on his head and they werent too short
It looked like there wasnt nothin that he couldnt pull
Ah, think Ill call it a bull

To Alan Michell
Vixi duellis nuper idoneus
Et militavi non sine gloria

Man gave names to all the animals

In the beginning, in the beginning
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago

I. NAMING OF PARTS
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.
This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.
And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.
They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and
forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.
[New Statesman and Nation 24, no. 598 (8 August 1942): 92.]

Bob Dylan
Man Gave Names to All the Animals

He saw an animal leavin a muddy trail

Real dirty face and a curly tail
He wasnt too small and he wasnt too big
Ah, think Ill call it a pig
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago
Next animal that he did meet
Had wool on his back and hooves on his feet
Eating grass on a mountainside so steep
Ah, think Ill call it a sheep
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago
He saw an animal as smooth as glass
Slithering his way through the grass
Saw him disappear by a tree near a lake...
[Special Rider Music, 1979]

Tom Leonard
Unrelated Incidents
(2)
ifyi stull
huvny
wurkt oot
thi diffrince tween
yir eyes
n
yir ears;
geez peace,
pal!
fyi stull

Man gave names to all the animals

In the beginning, in the beginning
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago
He saw an animal that liked to growl
Big furry paws and he liked to howl
Great big furry back and furry hair
Ah, think Ill call it a bear
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago
He saw an animal up on a hill
Chewing up so much grass until she was filled
He saw milk comin out but he didnt know how
Ah, think Ill call it a cow
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago

huvny
thoata langwij izza
sound-system;
fyi huvny
hudda thingk
aboot thi dif
frince tween
sound
n object n
symbol; well,
ma innocent

wee
friend iz
god said ti
adam:
a doant kerr
fyi caw it
an apple
ur
an aippl
jist leeit
alane!
[in IV, p. 87]

Yann Martel
Life of Pi
CHAPTER 5
My name isnt the end of the story about my name. When your
name is Bob no one asks you, How do you spell that? Not so
with Piscine Molitor Patel.
Some thought it was P. Singh and that I was a Sikh, and they
wondered why I wasnt wearing a turban.
In my university days I visited Montreal once with some
friends. It fell to me to order pizzas one night. I couldnt bear to
have yet another French speaker guffawing at my name, so when
the man on the phone asked, Can I ave your name? I said, I
am who I am. Half an hour later two pizzas arrived for Ian
Hoolihan.
It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so
profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our
names. Witness Simon who is called Peter, Matthew also known
as Levi, Nathaniel who is also Bartholomew, Judas, not Iscariot,
who took the name Thaddeus, Simeon who went by Niger, Saul
who became Paul.

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 5

My Roman soldier stood in the schoolyard one morning when
I was twelve. I had just arrived. He saw me and a flash of evil
genius lit up his dull mind. He raised his arm, pointed at me and
shouted, Its Pissing Patel!
In a second everyone was laughing. It fell away as we filed
into the class. I walked in last, wearing my crown of thorns.
The cruelty of children comes as news to no one. The words
would waft across the yard to my ears, unprovoked, uncalled for:
Wheres Pissing? Ive got to go. Or: Youre facing the wall. Are
you Pissing? Or something of the sort. I would freeze or, the
contrary, pursue my activity, pretending not to have heard. The
sound would disappear, but the hurt would linger, like the smell of
piss long after it has evaporated.
Teachers started doing it too. It was the heat. As the day wore
on, the geography lesson, which in the morning had been as
compact as an oasis, started to stretch out like the Thar Desert;
the history lesson, so alive when the day was young, became
parched and dusty; the mathematics lesson, so precise at first,
became muddled. In their afternoon fatigue, as they wiped their
foreheads and the backs of their necks with their handkerchiefs,
without meaning to offend or get a laugh, even teachers forgot the
fresh aquatic promise of my name and distorted it in a shameful
way. By nearly imperceptible modulations I could hear the change.
It was as if their tongues were charioteers driving wild horses.
They could manage well enough the first syllable, the Pea, but
eventually the heat was too much and they lost control of their
frothy-mouthed steeds and could no longer rein them in for the
climb to the second syllable, the seen. Instead they plunged hellbent into sing, and next time round, all was lost. My hand would
be up to give an answer and it would be acknowledged with a
Yes, Pissing. Often the teacher wouldnt realize what he had just
called me. He would look at me wearily after a moment,
wondering why I wasnt coming out with the answer. And
sometimes the class, as beaten down by the heat as he was,
wouldnt react either. Not a snicker or a smile. But I always heard
the slur.
I spent my last year at St. Josephs School feeling like the
persecuted prophet Muhammad in Mecca, peace be upon him.
But just as he planned his flight to Medina, the Hejira that would
mark the beginning of Muslim time, I planned my escape and the
beginning of a new time for me.
After St. Josephs, I went to Petit Seminaire, the best private
English-medium secondary school in Pondicherry. Ravi was
already there, and like all younger brothers, I would suffer from
following in the footsteps of a popular older sibling. He was the
athlete of his generation at Petit Seminaire, a fearsome bowler
and a Powerful batter, the captain of the towns best cricket team,
our very own Kapil Dev. That I was a swimmer made no waves; it
seems to be a law of human nature that those who live by the sea
are suspicious of swimmers, just as those who live in the
mountains are suspicious of mountain climbers. But following in
someones shadow wasnt my escape, though I would have taken
any name over Pissing, even Ravis brother. I had a better plan
than that.
I put it to execution on the very first day of school, in the very
first class. Around me were other alumni of St. Josephs. The
class started the way all new classes start, with the stating of
names. We called them out from our desks in the order in which
we happened to be sitting.
Ganapathy Kumar, said Ganapathy Kumar.
Vipin Nath, said Vipin Nath.
Shamshool Hudha, said Shamshool Hudha.
Peter Dharmaraj, said Peter Dharmaraj.
Each name elicited a tick on a list and a brief mnemonic stare
from the teacher. I was terribly nervous.
Ajith Giadson, said Ajith Giadson, four desks away
Sampath Saroja, said Sampath Saroja, three away
Stanley Kumar, said Stanley Kumar, two away
Sylvester Naveen, said Sylvester Naveen, right in front of
me.
It was my turn. Time to put down Satan. Medina, here I come.
I got up from my desk and hurried to the blackboard. Before
the teacher could say a word, I picked up a piece of chalk and
said as I wrote:
My name is
Piscine Molitor Patel,
known to all as

I double underlined the first two letters of my given name

Pi Patel
For good measure I added
= 3.14
and I drew a large circle, which I then sliced in two with a
diameter, to evoke that basic lesson of geometry.
There was silence. The teacher was staring at the board. I
was holding my breath. Then he said, Very well, Pi. Sit down.
Next time you will ask permission before leaving your desk.
Yes, sir.
He ticked my name off. And looked at the next boy.
Mansoor Ahamad, said Mansoor Ahamad.
I was saved.
Gautham Selvaraj, said Gautham Selvaraj.
I could breathe.
Arun Annaji, said Arun Annaji.
A new beginning.
I repeated the stunt with every teacher. Repetition is important
in the training not only of animals but also of humans. Between
one commonly named boy and the next, I rushed forward and
emblazoned, sometimes with a terrible screech, the details of my
rebirth. It got to be that after a few times the boys sang along with
me, a crescendo that climaxed, after a quick intake of air while I
underlined the proper note, with such a rousing rendition of my
new name that it would have been the delight of any choirmaster.
A few boys followed up with a whispered, urgent Three! Point!
One! Four! as I wrote as fast as I could, and I ended the concert
by slicing the circle with such vigour that bits of chalk went flying.
When I put my hand up that day, which I did every chance I
had, teachers granted me the right to speak with a single syllable
that was music to my ears. Students followed suit. Even the St.
Josephs devils. In fact, the name caught on. Truly we are a nation
of aspiring engineers: shortly after, there was a boy named
Omprakash who was calling himself Omega, and another who
was passing himself off as Upsilon, and for a while there was a
Gamma, a Lambda and a Delta. But I was the first and the most
enduring of the Greeks at Petit Seminaire. Even my brother, the
captain of the cricket team, that local god, approved. He took me
aside the next week.
Whats this I hear about a nickname you have? he said.
I kept silent. Because whatever mocking was to come, it was
to come. There was no avoiding it.
I didnt realize you liked the colour yellow so much.
The colour yellow? I looked around. No one must hear what
he was about to say, especially not one of his lackeys. Ravi, what
do you mean? I whispered.
Its all right with me, brother. Anythings better than Pissing.
Even Lemon Pie.
As he sauntered away he smiled and said, You look a bit red
in the face.
But he held his peace.
And so, in that Greek letter that looks like a shack with a
corrugated tin roof, in that elusive, irrational number with which
scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge.

James Berry
Isn't my name magical?
Nobody can see my name on me.
My name is inside
and all over me, unseen
like other people also keep it.
Isn't my name magical?
My name is mine only.
It tells I am individual,
the one person it shakes
when I'm wanted.
Even if someone else answers
for me, my message hangs in air
haunting others, till it stops

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 6

with me, the right name.
Isn't your name and my name magic?
If I'm with hundreds of people
and my name gets called,
my sound switches me on to answer
like it was my human electricity.
My name echoes across playground,
it comes, it demands my attention.
I have to find out who calls,
who wants me for what.
My name gets blurted out in class,
it is terror, at a bad time,
because somebody is cross.
My name gets called in a whisper
I am happy, because
my name may have touched me
with a loving voice.
Isn't your name and my name magic?
[from Only One of Me (Macmillan, 2004)]

News Home > Odd News > Story

What's in a Name? Well, Matt Is Sexier Than Paul
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 2:03 p.m. ET

LONDON (Reuters) As Shakespeare said, a rose by any other

name would smell as sweet. Right?
Wrong. Scientists say the right name can make you sexier.
Linguist Amy Perfors, of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, posted photos of men and women on the U.S. Web
site "Hot or Not," which lets viewers rate pictures according to how
attractive they find them.
When she posted the same pictures with different names, she
found that the attractiveness scores went up and down depending
on the vowels, the London-based magazine New Scientist
reported.
Men with "front vowels" in their names sounds formed at the
front of the mouth like the "a" in Matt were considered sexier
than men with "back vowel" sounds like the "au" in Paul, she
concluded.
The opposite held for women, who were sexier with back vowels
than front ones.
Perfors said front vowels are often perceived as "smaller" than
back vowels, so the difference could be a sign that women are
seeking men that are sensitive or gentle, traits usually perceived
as feminine.
But men who might be thinking of taking more feminine names to
become sexier should be careful not to go too far: men with
women's names were rated least sexy of all.
[Yahoo! News Whats in a Name? Well, Matt Is Sexier Than Paul.
Reuters Limited, 2003. Lycos, Inc., 2004. August 11, 2004.]

Kabalarian Philosophy
Your personal Name Report, which is the first step in helping
you to recognize your full personal potential, is a unique approach
to the measurement and understanding of human nature.
A personal Name Report will assist you in understanding the
cause of circumstances in your life, your personality, your inner
nature, and better still how to make very positive changes.
Know yourself in greater depth and discover how to fulfil your life's
purpose. Health, happiness, success, and personal fulfilment
await your response. [in KP, p. 3]
What is the Kabalarian Philosophy?
The Kabalarian Philosophy is dedicated to bring constructive
thinking to the world. It embodies the knowledge of healthful living,
of balanced, harmonious thinking, and of spiritual ideals. This
knowledge can contribute to constructive accomplishment and the
betterment of the world in which we live.

The Kabalarian Philosophy includes a logical explanation of

mind that relates it to mathematics, language, and consciousness.
This understanding of mind forms the basis of a complete
philosophy of life that unites the practical, scientific concepts of
the West with the idealistic concepts of the East in which the goal
in human life is to merge with the conscious plane.
One's mental characteristics, state of well-being, and
experiences in life are determined by one's name, which
incorporates the specific forces of intelligence in the mind of the
individual. Greater harmony and balance can be achieved in one's
life through using a name balanced to enhance the constructive
and natural expression of the inner conscious potential. A cyclic
pattern in the unfoldment of mind is also revealed.
The Kabalarian Philosophy regards the physical body as the
instrument for the expression of the conscious forces of life, and
so, stresses the importance of a vegetarian diet, emotional
control, and physical fitness through exercise and deep breathing.
The Kabalarian Philosophy is non-denominational. It derives
its name from the Hebrew word kabal which means to receive. In
ancient Hebrew lore, numbers and the twenty-two letters of the
Hebrew alphabet were considered to represent forces of creation.
Kabal means to receive the esoteric knowledge of numbers and
the letters of the alphabet.
What is the Difference between Kabalarian Philosophy
and Numerology?
The Kabalarian Philosophy teaches a complete universal
principle of living encompassing the physical laws of well-being,
the mental laws of balance, harmony, and freedom, and the
spiritual laws which explain one's purpose in life and the
necessary steps to achieve one's birthright, namely, merging with
the highest source of mental awareness, universal consciousness.
Numerology deals primarily with analyzing names to
understand mental qualities, but lacks the basis of a spiritual
principle and fails to provide a clear explanation of the unfoldment
of one's higher potential. It does not relate the physical, mental,
and spiritual aspects of life. [in KP, pp.4-5]
Your personal Name Report
Helping you realize your full potential
How important is your name?
Ask yourself: If I did not have a name how could I identify
myself? If I had no name, who would I be?
Your name is extremely important. Your name is your life! It is
how you identify yourself. It is how others identify you. The better
insight you have into the powerful influence of your name, the
greater the opportunity to enjoy the success you are capable of
achieving.
The hidden power of your name
Mind and thought have their origin in an abstract plane of
conscious intelligence, which comes into manifest form through
the symbols of language. The brain is not the source of the mind,
but merely the physical instrument of the mind. When name is
attached to and individual, certain specific forces of conscious
intelligence are combined. They constitute the nucleus of the
mind. The conscious forces combined by the name can be
represented by a numerical formula in much the same way as the
basic chemical elements combined in a chemical compound can
be represented by a chemical formula, such as H2O for water. The
mental characteristics of an individual can be read from the
numerical formula representing the person's name just as the
characteristics of a chemical compound can be read from its
chemical formula.
Mathematical Principle
Languages, alphabets, and calendars are creations of mind
that exist only in mind and are a part of mind. Their logic depends
on consistency of their form and structure. An alphabet is a set of
symbols representing the sounds of the language arranged in a
definite order; a calendar is a consistent ordering of days, months,
and years. The Kabalarian Philosophy contains the knowledge of
the Mathematical Principle, which demonstrates the existence of
nine basic forces of conscious intelligence that manifest in a
natural sequence and operate through language and time,
through the name and the date of birth, to determine the mind, the
pattern of thinking, and the life experiences of the individual.

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 7

Name Analysis
The Kabalarian Philosophy draws on over 70 years of
research and experience in providing name analyses, which offer
invaluable benefit to people in understanding their strengths and
weaknesses both mentally and physically. The Mathematical
Principle can be used to make recommendations for a change of
name to a balanced name which offsets the weaknesses of the
old name, and tunes the mind to the true inner potential
determined form one's date of birth. With a balanced name and
understanding of the inner potential, everyone can make positive,
constructive changes to achieve better health, success,
harmonious personal relations, and a state of overall well-being.
A simple test
Do you recognize these qualities in your friends?

Mary
Linda
Pat
Peter

creative
independent
honest
candid

Barbara
Doreen
Howard
Glenn

reflective
thoughtful
secretive
serious

Diana
Doug
Joe
Sarah

diplomatic
idealistic
passive
sensitive

Betty
Eric
Terry
Jim

ambitious
restless
promotional
analytical

Discover what's in your name

After analyzing the information contained on your Name
Report form, we will prepare a 20-page report accurately
describing:
the way you think
your inner nature
your personality
types of experiences you attract
your health weaknesses
your ability to handle stress
your occupational aptitudes
your degree of success
your compatibility skills
your financial stability and accumulation
and much more
Your personal Name Report will explain past and present
conditions. More important, it will outline how you can make
positive improvements in your life.
[...]
Realize your full potential
Knowing the influence that your name has on your life will
open new doors for you, and provide you with the opportunity to
experience greater personal and business success. [...] [in KP,
pp.6-7]
What's in your name?
The answer is: Everything! Every problem, whether physical,
emotional, or mental, is contained in the name. [in KP, p. 9]
Interference of multiple personalities [i.e. schizophrenia]
results when there is a lack of mental control. A balanced name
makes an important contribution to mental stability. [in KP, p.10]

The Kratylos Question

nomina sunt omina (Proverb)
In his famous chapter in Phaidros (274c-275), Platon talks
explicitly about the problems of the alphabet. In another work,
Kratylos, he deals with certain aspects of the connection of sound
and meaning in ancient Greek language. This material will be
taken as starting point for the enquiry. It is always good to start
with Platon. Whitehead had stated: "The safest general
characterization of western philosophical tradition is that it
consists of a sequence of footnotes to Plato" (Whitehead 1969:
53). If Platon had found something important enough to be worth
devoting a whole lengthy work, then we might well ask if there is

some meaning to be found in what he tells us.

Onoma homoion to pragmati
In Kratylos, Platon talks about the connection of words and
namings, meaning, and sounds. This would today be considered a
discussion of semiotics. He opposes two views:
@:PROTAGORAS
1) The names of things and people are products of social
convention only (the signe arbitraire doctrine), with Prodikos
(384b) and Protagoras as proponents. The famous statement of
Protagoras is cited (386a):
panton chraematon metron einai anthropon.
The human is the measure of all things.
2) The view of Kratylos is summed up in "onoma homoion to
pragmati" (434a), "the name is similar to the thing". This may be
called the Kratylos Question, the core of the argument of the
dialogue:
Oukoun eiper estai to onoma homoion to pragmati, anankaion
pephykenai ta stoicheia homoia tois pragmasin.
If now the word resembles the thing then by necessity must the
sounds (the stoicheia) be similar to the things also.[67]
Kratylos is Platon's discussion of the subject of fittingness or
adequacy of words or symbols to the things symbolized. The key
questions are:
1) Are all words arbitrary? (the signe arbitraire doctrine).
2) Are there some words more fitting than others?
If we assume 2), then we might continue to ask what they may be
more fitting to:
2a) the (objective) thing or
2b) the neuronal (re)presentation the thinker has of a thing.
If we assume 1), we might ask why they are arbitrary. Objective
realism, or materialism states that there are totally objective things
"out there". We now have to concede the fact that humanity has
created literally all possible sound combinations to denote, for
example, the "horseness" of the horse in tens of thousands of
languages and dialects. Therefore one might be hard put to
explain why one word would be more fitting than thousands of
others. Now if all words are arbitrary, there is no great sense in
searching for better fitting ones.
.........................................................................................................
The terms used by Platon
In Platon's time, Greek was not yet a standardized language.
Every greek region had their own dialect. The Ionian was different
from the Athenian, that again different from Spartan, and the
Italian greek dialects were different still. Platon makes reference to
these differences in Kratylos. Classical greek, as it is known
today, is the koinae, the standardized language of the postalexandrian oikumene, a product of the work of scholars whose
main base was the Alexandria library (which served also as
research, studying, and teaching center).
It is usually straightforward to find equivalents between classical
greek and modern languages for words of common culture use
like: house, ship, knife, loom, horse, sheep, river, tree, mountain,
etc., because they denote easily identifiable tangible, physical
objects that are common in western, indo-european cultures.
Philosophical texts though, present a particular problem for
translation because of the extreme variance of semantic fields of
key terms used as compared with modern european languages.
Kratylos is even more problematic because Platon uses his words
in a technical sense, and uses them while he talks about them,
without having a proper meta language at his avail. We should
note that ususally our modern meta languages derive most of their
words from greek roots. Here are some of the keywords used by
Platon:
onoma name, denomination, appellation, designation,word,
expression.
chraema this semantic field denotes things of practical
relevance and objects of human environment: thing, action,
usage, money, belongings, happenings.
There are many similar-sounding, similar-meaning words in the
field: chreia, chreos, chreoo, chrae, chraezoo, chraestos,
chraestes, chraeo.
chraema was the term used by Protagoras. If the very global
meaning of "thing" is substituted for the more specific sense of
"objects of human environment" then we get the most obvious and
commonsense statement of "the human is the measure of all
objects of the human environment". No one in his right mind would
want to argue against this. Otherwise what would they be there

Texts for the essay What's in a Name __________________________________________________________________________ 8

for? Today, one would call that statement a core requirement of
ergonomics. And as ergonomics consultant, Protagoras might
still make good money today.
pragma things done, business, negotiation.
This term is used by Kratylos. There is very slight variance to
chraema, but it might be significant. The semantic field of pragma
is a little more oriented towards process, dealings, and doings.
The word praxis belongs to this field.
Platon uses this term in the majority of places that are translated
as "thing".
onta, einai being things.
With the "to ti aen einai" the thingness of things starts to appear in
Aristoteles. Platon uses this term sparingly (385b) and he does
not seem to differentiate very much between all the three terms.
Pythagorean Cosmology and the Alphabet:
The Stoicheia as used in Kratylos and Timaios
@:STOICHEA
In most translations of Platon's works, stoicheia and grammata
are treated as synonyms: meaning letters of the alphabet. But for
Platon, there is a quite marked distinction: when he talks about
stoichea, he talks about spoken sounds, and when he says
grammata, he means the written letter. The translation of
Kratylos has to be treated with special care to yield any useful
information of what Platon was talking about. The semantic field of
stoichea is:
stoicheoma: element, fundamental building block, first principle
stoicheoo: to teach the basics
stoicheomata: the 12 signs of the zodiac
stoicheon: letter of the alphabet
stoichos: the rod or stylus of a sundial that casts the shadow by
which the time is indicated on the dial
It is easy to see that the term is heavy with connotations from
ancient cosmology. This subject has been treated in another of
Platon's dialogues: Timaios. The first meaning of stoicheoma
denotes the idea of a first principle of the cosmos. This is also
called the archae. The zodiacal signs can be clarified in
connection with the sundial. The sundial was introduced in Greece
by Anaximander. He is also connected with the original
formulation of the ancient greek theory of the four elements and
the apeiron (Hlscher 1989: 172).
.........................................................................................................
We now have one detail left to clarify: Why and how might the
word stoichea have acquired the meaning of letter-of-alphabet
which is usually denoted by the word grammata? Let us create a
mental image of a sundial: We see a rod, or stylus, the sun
shines, and the stylus casts a shadow. Then we call into memory
another memorable fable of Platon, the cave parable. There,
Platon talks about a big cave where miserable humans are
chained fast to their seats so they cannot move and only watch
the shadows dancing on the cave walls, forever entertaining
themselves guessing what these shadows mean and what they
stand for. The connection to the stoichea becomes immediately
clear. The symbols of the alphabet are viewed as the shaped
holes through which the pure light of the divine logos shines. The
shadows that are cast on the dial of the sundial or the cave walls
are the meanings of those symbols as we perceive them from our
lowly perspective. Platon talks in Phaidros, 276a of the grammata
as the shadow pictures of the living, animated logos. He uses a
very subtle word-play here, the opposition of eidotos (true
knowledge) and eidolon (shadow image).
@:EIDOTOS
Ton tou eidotos logon legeis, zonta kai enpsychon, ou ho
gegrammenos eidolon an ti legoito dikaios
You mean the living, ensouled speech, the logos, of the truly
knowledgeable, of which the written version can only be looked at
as shadow image. (Platon, Werke, Vol. V, 276a)
We also find a statement in the same vein in Platon's revealing
(and ominous) seventh letter. With all these indications and
examples from different works, it is sure worth trying to find an
explanation for Platon's interesting speculation.
The Kratylos examples are taken from greek epic tradition
When we look at the examples Sokrates gives for the similiarity of
name and thing, we quickly see that Platon was careful to choose
mostly words that have no physical referent. He derives his terms
mostly from mythology and other greek terms of the ethical
domain. He starts out with Homer as one of those people who are

daemiourgon onomaton, the master in the art of forming words

(390e). This is is highly significant because we find a direct
correspondence to the daemiourgos of the Timaios, who is
creating the world.[70] Then he goes through an assorted list of
greek gods and heroes. He follows the genealogy list as given by
Hesiodos, and in 409, he comes to the planets and stars, the four
elements, and the four seasons. In 411 he talks about abstract
and ethical terms like virtue, righteousness, etc. This gives an
indication that Platon did not have the intention to show us the
relations of names for physical objects but rather, to the thought
and association structure contained in the greek epics,
cosmologies, and mythologies. And here, it makes much more
sense to speculate about a connection between the thing and the
name, and the sounds of the names: This archaic thought
structure was preserved and transmitted by the ancient aoidoi, as
the poets, singers, and bards of greek antiquity were called.
So there is no problem to relate them to the phenomena
perceived. The greek gods and mysteries literally "lived" in the
rhymes and metres of ancient greek epical poetry, and it would be
impossible to extract them from there. Another indication for this is
Platon's use of pragma to denote the "things". He doesn't talk
about a thingness-in-itself as Kant may have postulated, but about
a going-on. That is for example the reciting of an epic text. While
the text was recited, the mental imagery unfolded in the inner
vision of the aoide and his audience. So the examples Platon
refers to, his pragmata, were for the ancient greek audience of
epics a true process, of the nervous system, and not concepts. In
this respect, we can perceive an auto-poieitic element, as the
sounds themselves create their meaning by rhythm, meter, and
association. The rhythm and meter component cannot be treated
here, so another work will be referred to which does an extensive
discussion on that subject: J. Latacz (1979-1991).
["Platon's Kratylos Hypothesis and the Semaiophonic Aoide Thought
Structures", in Andreas Goppold, The Symbolator Project, section 16.6.1]

Abbreviations
CPED The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
CPPTSE The Complete Poems and Plays of T.S. Eliot
HB Holy Bible
IV Intimate Voices. Selected Work 1965-1983
KP Kabalarian Philosophy
NR The Norton Reader
SLFS Ultimele sonete nchipuite ale lui Shakespeare n traducere
imaginar de V. Voiculescu / Shakespeare's Last Fancied Sonnets in
V. Voiculescu's Imaginary Translation
WSCO William Shakespeare. The Complete Works