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Taurus 22: White dove over troubled waters

T h e w o r d w h i t e 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 w e i t - w hi c h means white, to shine.1 Among its p a r o n y m s a r e w h e a t , b i sm u t h , e d e l w e i s s , w h i t in g (a f o o d f i s h ) , a n d w it l o o f . T h e w o r d d o v e de s c e n d s f r o m t h e IE r o o t d h eu - 2 w hi ch m e a n s f l o w . 2 I t s paronyms include deaf, deer, funky, dull, d o l t , d i z zy , dw e l l , fu m e , o b f u s ca t e , s t e w , a n d s t o v e . T h e w o r d t r ou b l e d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o ot ( s ) t w e r - 1 w h i c h m e a n s t o st i r . A m o n g i t s p a r o n y m s a re d i s t u r b , p e r t u r b , s t ir , st o r m , t u r b i d , a n d turbine.3 T h e w o r d w a t e r d e s c e n d s f r o m w e d - 1 w h i c h m e a n s wa t e r, w e t . 4 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e w e t , w a s h , w i n t e r , h y d r a n t , hy d r o u s , w h i s k e y , v o d k a , o t t e r , n u t r ia , a n d hy d r o p s y . T H E M E S : T h e f i r st t h e me he r e c on c e r n s A L CO H O L . S e v e r a l o f t he k e y w o r d s a n d t h e i r p a r o n y m s d e s c ri b e a l c o h o li c b e v e ra g e s ( e . g . vo d k a , w h i s k y ), t he i r i n g r e d i e n t s ( w a t e r , w he a t ) a n d b y p r o d u c t s ( w a s h ), a s p e c t s of the d i s t i l l a t i on process (stew, fumes, stirring, w a s h i n g ), and c o n s e q u e n ce s o f t he c o n s u mp t i on o f gr a i n a l co h o l ( d i z z in e s s ). A s e c o n d t h e m e e m e r g e s f r o m t he re c o g n i t i o n o f t h e d o u b l e m e a n i n g of the keyword dove. As a noun the word refers to any of various widely d i s t r i b u t e d b i r d s o f t h e f a m i l y C o l u m b i d a e , w h i c h i n c lu d e s t h e p i g e o n s , h a v i n g a s m a l l h e a d a n d a c h a r a c t e r i st i c c o o i n g c a l l . 5 A s a v e r b t h e w o r d i s t h e p a st t e n s e d i v e , o n e d e f i n i t i on o f w h i c h i s t o p l u n g e , e s p e c i a l l y

1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 2 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European 5 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/dove Starling Hunter 2011 1

Roots, Roots, Roots, Roots,

p. p. p. p.

45 19 87 95

headfirst, into water.6 This word descends from the IE root dheubw h i c h m e a n s de e p , h o l l o w. 7 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e d e e p , d e p t h , d i p , p y t ho n , t yp h o n , a n d t h e n a me D o n a l d . T h u s , w e h a v e w a t e r r e - e mp h a s i z e d a g a i n . T o sa y s o m e o n e o r s o m e t h i n g d o v e i s t o s a y t h a t t h a t t he y p l u n g e d i n t o w a t e r . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e w o r d d e p t h ha s w a t e r a s a s yn o n y m w h i l e d i p m e a n s t o p l u n ge b r i e f l y i n t o a l i q u i d , a s i n o r d e r t o w e t , c o a t , o r s a t u ra t e . 8 A n d g i v e n t h a t t w o s y n on y m s f o r a l c o h o l i n c l ud e s p i r i t s a n d f ir e w a t e r , t h e r e i s a c l e a r a l l u s i o n h e r e t o t h e f i r s t t w o v e r s e s o f t h e H o l y B i b l e , i . e . G e n e si s 1:1-2: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

6 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/dive 7 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 19 8 http://thesaurus.com/browse/depth; http://educatio n.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/dip Starling Hunter 2011 2

Starling Hunter 2011

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