Exercises

Note: for “morkle” and “frannis” in the following exercises, substitute two “nonsense” words of your own devising. Use a different pair for each part of the assignment, if you like.

1. The following phrase in a letter to the New York Times has ruined your already sufficiently nasty breakfast: “…a frannis (or a morkle–the same thing, really)…” You have been studying morkles for years and are outraged. Write a letter (minus salutation, closing, and introductory harrumphing or throat-clearing) to the Times maintaining the distinction between frannis and morkle, and its importance.

2. (a) Choose one of the following words: Word, Sense, Science, Silly, Clear, Meat, Art, Realism, Conscious, Modern, Figure, Subject, Object. Look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary, and read carefully the whole entry. In addition, look the word up in the American Heritage Dictionary and trace its Indo-European base in the Appendix. Write a paragraph discussing the word’s etymology, and account for some of its different senses by considering an early meaning.
   (b) Take either “frannis” or “morkle” and write a brief discussion of its etymology–of its origins and evolving uses since 1600. Add to this a short account of the word and even brief, ingenious but palpably false folk-etymology.

3. There were no frannises in England (or in the U.S., or any country you may select) before 1650 (or 1850, or 1950, if you choose). Explain why. You may, of course, depend on learned authority.

4. Discuss briefly either (a) “Frannis as Morkle: a current ideological theme,” or (b) “Morkle as Frannis in the Writings of _____”

5. Write a page about your own name, or about any other name you might choose. Find out as much as you can about its history, etc., and also about its “meaning” defined by its use by the namers (parents, the person who chooses his or her name, or whoever).

Examples

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did yr and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

slithy “<” lithe + slimy               lithe < lento (“flexible”)
                                                slimy < lei (“slimy”)

(1) The morkie meoved all night, until we fed her some milk and scratched her
head, whereupon she purred.

(2) The morkle rebobulated three times, indicating that the blarg was now
quite spap.

(3) Frannises plankle porrily; morkles splow.

(4) Cromping wallish snuppart.

(5) Ploinggethai moscelluto quongpok czeris aseris

(6) Xerw wwqiomm by hrgeeeibc oojfitms h dhbagtz

7) A901>>OW SET<S iPPYH7LTZIN

(8) illegible

(9) Illegible