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> -=-Reading is a code that needs to be decifered.-=-
>
Yes.
And only the reader can decipher it.

Does spelling matter? Would word history help?

Cipher is from the Arabic word for zero, and has been in English for a long,
long time. "To cipher," meaning to do arithmetic, is a word even my
grandfather used, who was born in 1898 and lived in Texas. But why a "ph" and not an
"f"? Because it came through Greek. Some Greek mathematician discovered
the idea from Arabic, wrote it down in Greek, and it came to other European
languages from that. "Ph" words in English are always from Greek.

To decipher something (like reading) means to figure out the patterns.

A parent cannot decipher words for a child. Only the child can decipher
written language. You can help! You can help LOTS of ways. One way would be
to gain an interest in the words you use yourself, and stop once in a while
to examine one, its history, why it means what it means.

Holly wrote before she could read too, and she cared about spellings and the
easiest way to explain to her why some spellings seem screwy was to tell her
WHY they were that way. "Two," for example, has a "w" because it was long
pronounced. Still old folks in Scotland and ballad lyrics will sometimes have
"twa" and those who like Shakespeare will know "in twain" (as Gertrude's
heart is broken, for example, or rather cleft--a little rougher than just broken,
and related to "cliff").

Other "two" words where the "tw" sound remains include
twins
twine
between (in the middle of two)
twixt (same meaning)
twenty
twelve (OLD word we can't take down into parts anymore, but two-and-ten,
somehow, since before English was even a language)
twilight (two lights)

Playing with words makes them come to life.

The history of England, of math, of writing, of counting... all clued above
and in all the histories of words. Any portal into the universe is as real as
any other. If an interest in language or butterflies or patterns or water
creates connections for that person to anything else in the world, that can
lead to EVERYTHING else in the world.

A parent cannot decipher the whole world for her child, but she can help him
begin to decipher it.

http://sandradodd.com/etymology
http://sandradodd.com/connections

(I guess I'll go and put this on the etymology page...)


Sandra



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

k

Hmm..

<<twilight (two lights)>>

Wonder if those were Venus and Mercury. I guess I'll look it up.

Kathe




SandraDodd@... wrote:
>>-=-Reading is a code that needs to be decifered.-=-
>>
>
> Yes.
> And only the reader can decipher it.
>
> Does spelling matter? Would word history help?
>
> Cipher is from the Arabic word for zero, and has been in English for
a long,
> long time. "To cipher," meaning to do arithmetic, is a word even my

> grandfather used, who was born in 1898 and lived in Texas. But why
a "ph" and not an
> "f"? Because it came through Greek. Some Greek mathematician
discovered
> the idea from Arabic, wrote it down in Greek, and it came to other
European
> languages from that. "Ph" words in English are always from Greek.
>
> To decipher something (like reading) means to figure out the
patterns.
>
> A parent cannot decipher words for a child. Only the child can
decipher
> written language. You can help! You can help LOTS of ways. One
way would be
> to gain an interest in the words you use yourself, and stop once in a
while
> to examine one, its history, why it means what it means.
>
> Holly wrote before she could read too, and she cared about spellings
and the
> easiest way to explain to her why some spellings seem screwy was to
tell her
> WHY they were that way. "Two," for example, has a "w" because it
was long
> pronounced. Still old folks in Scotland and ballad lyrics will
sometimes have
> "twa" and those who like Shakespeare will know "in twain" (as
Gertrude's
> heart is broken, for example, or rather cleft--a little rougher than
just broken,
> and related to "cliff").
>
> Other "two" words where the "tw" sound remains include
> twins
> twine
> between (in the middle of two)
> twixt (same meaning)
> twenty
> twelve (OLD word we can't take down into parts anymore, but
two-and-ten,
> somehow, since before English was even a language)
> twilight (two lights)
>
> Playing with words makes them come to life.
>
> The history of England, of math, of writing, of counting... all clued
above
> and in all the histories of words. Any portal into the universe is
as real as
> any other. If an interest in language or butterflies or patterns or
water
> creates connections for that person to anything else in the world,
that can
> lead to EVERYTHING else in the world.
>
> A parent cannot decipher the whole world for her child, but she can
help him
> begin to decipher it.
>
> http://sandradodd.com/etymology
> http://sandradodd.com/connections
>
> (I guess I'll go and put this on the etymology page...)
>
>
> Sandra




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In a message dated 11/19/05 12:48:24 PM, katherand2003@... writes:


> <<twilight (two lights)>>
>
> Wonder if those were Venus and Mercury.  I guess I'll look it up.
>

Sun and moon, or day and night.
Twa-/twi- can also mean cut, too, though, so maybe halflight. The half and
half of day and night, though. Between day and night.

Sandra


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