Kiss
Painting: Marc Chagall: The Birthday |
Reverend Skeat, etymologist, sometimes undermines the feeling that one has for a word;
'a salute with the lips' is sweet, but 'A kiss is a gust or taste, or something
choice' is not so poetic.
It is not his intention to bring us poetry here, only the historic
journey.
Kiss being a word that happens close, that puts two figures into one
personal sphere, to think of it dispassionately seems inappropriate.
The journey of language is bound up with the human journey: the historic
spread of this tribe and that: the individual stumble and stride.
The need to communicate, for practical terms of trade, for spiritual
terms of connection, is a sort of fundamentalism that allows an open mind.
Etymology, a word that travels from the Greek expressions; true,
account, to speak; is a study in connection; the connective spheres between languages;
words on lips exchanged, not unlike the press of a kiss.
The earth as viewed from an orbiting satellite |
Rev. Skeat's tracing of the word 'Kiss' |
Comments
Sue at CollectInTexas Gal