The return of the mononym

[Wilson Gray]

It's actually Greek "dis" and Latin "bis," both meaning, and related
to, English "twice, two times," The combining forms are "di-" and
"bi-," respectively. Cf. "twi-" in English "twin." The Attic Greek
word for "name" is "onyma." Cf. "[syn]onym." In, e.g., Homeric Greek,
the word is "onoma," in which "o[nom]a" more clearly shows the
relationship to Latin "[nom]en." And both of these words are likewise
related to English "[nam]e."

-Wilson

On 2/22/07, barbara hawkins <lumeria99 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       barbara hawkins <lumeria99 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: The return of the mononym
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "bi" & "dio": They both mean two (2), right? Latin and Greek. "bi"  denotes ability to move either way whereas "dio" just means double .... ???
>
>   cheers,
>   barbara hawkins
>
> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: The return of the mononym
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Not "binym," but "dionym."
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 2/22/07, Charles Doyle wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Charles Doyle
> > Subject: Re: The return of the mononym
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Isn't there a significant difference between mononyms for individuals who have well-known second (usually sur-) names, like Hillary, Elvis, and Che, and those who don't (the ESSENTIAL mononymites), like Pele, Madonna, and Dagmar?
> >
> > Is "Ann-Margaret" a mononym or a binym?
> >
> > --Charlie
> > __________________________________________________
> >
> > ---- Original message ----
> > >Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:50:28 -0500
> > >From: Laurence Horn
> > >Subject: The return of the mononym
> >
> > >
> > >According to an Op-Ed in today's NYT, Hillary is running on "The Mononym Platform", although this seems to refer only to the fact that she bills (no pun intended) herself as "Hillary" and not as "Hillary Clinton" (or "Clinton" for that matter), thereby aligning her nomenclaturally, if not politically, with Madonna, Cher, Wynona, Elvis, Che, Pele, et al. "Mononym" is unlisted in AHD4 and its entry in the OED sports a death dagger as "obsolete" as well as "scientific", with no cites past 1899 and no proper name examples, but there are 1670 google hits, including the above individuals--chiefly singers, actresses, revolutionaries, and soccer stars--although no Hillary yet. There are but 10 hits on Nexis (Major Papers), including today's Op-Ed, dating back to 1981 (a reference in the Washington Post to a 14-year-old actress billed as "Louanne" who sang the role of Annie at the Kennedy Center). Is "mononym" a candidate for best revival, if it really did lapse for most of a c!
> en!
> > tu!
> > !
> > ry before coming back to life?
> > >
> > >LH
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Finding fabulous fares is fun.
> Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org