Grammar has terms, conditions
I have been wondering how grammar terms received their names. Some of the origins are baffling.
A noun, that part of speech that names people, places and things, comes from the Latin word “nomen,” meaning “name.” That makes sense.
We don’t seem to use the word “noun” outside of grammar conversations. The root, “nomen,” is used in “nomenclature,” the system of finding names for objects in science and art.
Better than that is the word “nomenclator.” Today, it means the person who gives names to things. Originally, it meant the slave who traveled with his master to tell him the names of the people the master met. I would hire someone at a living wage to do that for me if I could afford it.
“Verb,” the part of a sentence that conveys action, comes from the Latin word for “word.”
Again, that’s simple enough. All verbs are, indeed, words. The word also is used as part of longer words. “Verbal” is an adjective meaning “having to do with words.” A “verbose” person is one who talks a lot.
The root of “article” — a word such as “a” or “the” — is curious. The Latin root means either “joint,” “division” or “limb.”
Articles also are stories in newspapers or magazines, clauses in business contracts or other documents, or certain items.
I suppose an article in a grammatical context is an item.
“Apostrophe” is a big word for that small but mighty punctuation mark. Its Greek root means “the act of turning away from.”
We sometimes use an apostrophe to indicate that we have omitted a letter or letters from a word. “I’m” is short for “I am.” “She’d” is short for “she would.” Maybe that’s where the “turning away” comes in.
But the apostrophe is also used to indicate possession:
Griffin’s injury Angela’s ashes
Custer’s last stand
In those cases, the “turning away” doesn’t make sense.
“Comma” comes from the Greek word “komma,” or a piece cut off. A comma looks just like an apostrophe, but it’s at a different height on the line of text. Still, I guess it looks like a piece cut off something. I suppose it resembles an appendix.
But I don’t think the meaning