[Ads-l] Ur ("prototypical")

[Barretts Mail]

LMAO, thank you! I thought it was odd to find so many examples without a defintiion. BB

> On 31 Mar 2021, at 09:07, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> You'll find the "ur-" prefix in many other dictionaries with the same
> "primitive, proto-" meaning. It's a borrowing from German (as in
> "Ursprache"), and the Germanic root isn't etymologically related to the
> name of the city Ur. OED2 has examples in English back to 1889, but it goes
> back much further in German. AHD takes it back to the PIE root "*ud-"
> meaning "up, out."
> 
> https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=ur- <https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=ur->
> https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/indoeurop.html#IR122000 <https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/indoeurop.html#IR122000>
> 
> 
> On Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 11:27 AM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com <mailto:mail.barretts at gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> 
>> Wiktionary has this as a prefix
>> 
>> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ur-#Prefix <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ur-#Prefix> <
>> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ur-#Prefix <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ur-#Prefix>>
>> Forming words with the sense of “proto-, primitive, original”.
>> 
>> Two citations are provided, from 2003 and 2007.
>> 
>> Derived terms with definitions provided are:
>> urelement
>> ur-form
>> ur-poem
>> ur-text
>> 
>> BB
>> 
>>> On 31 Mar 2021, at 08:20, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ur <
>> https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ur <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ur>>) defines “Ur” as a city of
>> ancient Sumer. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur> <
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur>>) says Ur was founded c. 3800 BCE.
>>> 
>>> One of the “Making of” DVDs of the “Lord of the Rings” has a usage in
>> which Ur is used as a metaphor, but I’m too lazy to try to find it again. I
>> believe it was about the concept of the Ur-legend; that is, a prototypical
>> or ancient source from which later legends and stories derive.
>>> 
>>> It seems to be generally agreed that Uruk was founded before Ur:
>>> 
>>> https://www.ancient.eu/uruk/ <https://www.ancient.eu/uruk/> <https://www.ancient.eu/uruk/ <https://www.ancient.eu/uruk/>>
>>> World History Encyclopedia
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> The city of Uruk is most famous for its great king Gilgamesh and the
>> epic tale of his quest for immortality but also for a number of `firsts' in
>> the development of civilization which occurred there.
>>> 
>>> It is considered the first true city in the world, ….
>>> ###
>>> ###
>>> 
>>> If Uruk is older than Ur and is home to the Gilgamesh myth, why is it
>> used to mean “ancient source” instead of Uruk? I can only speculate that
>> perhaps it’s because Abraham’s birthplace is given in Genesis as Ur Kasdim.
>>> 
>>> Here are additional examples using “Ur" as a prefix to mean
>> “prototypical” or “primeval”:
>>> 
>>> 1. https://tinyurl.com/33hbwm86 <https://tinyurl.com/33hbwm86> <https://tinyurl.com/33hbwm86 <https://tinyurl.com/33hbwm86>>
>>> Lord of the Geeks
>>> Andrew Leonard
>>> 31 Dec 2002
>>> 
>>> I take this meaning to be “primitive/fundamental” but it’s not clear.
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> Progress in computing can be judged by how well the state of the art
>> enables the evocation of that Ur-territory of dwarves and goblins.
>>> ###
>>> ###
>>> 
>>> 2. https://tinyurl.com/cms4sdaf <https://tinyurl.com/cms4sdaf> <https://tinyurl.com/cms4sdaf <https://tinyurl.com/cms4sdaf>>
>>> Here Be Blank Spaces: Vaguely Medieval Fantasy Maps
>>> Jonathan Crowe
>>> Aug 2013 (original publication date)
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> The Lord of the Rings doesn’t just give us the ur-text of modern
>> fantasy; it also gives us, in its map of the western part of Middle-earth,
>> the ur-map: the progenitor map from which the modern fantasy map design is
>> descended.
>>> ###
>>> ###
>>> 
>>> 3. https://tinyurl.com/8ujfuxd4 <https://tinyurl.com/8ujfuxd4> <https://tinyurl.com/8ujfuxd4 <https://tinyurl.com/8ujfuxd4>>
>>> "Recreating the World with Words: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Beowulf and The
>> Lord of the Rings”
>>> Yun Ni
>>> c. 2017
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> Apart from a systematic examination on the history of Middle-earth, a
>> comparative study of Old English and Tolkien’s fantasy Elvish languages,
>> especially Quenya and Sindarin, will explore the connection between a
>> hypothesized ur-language and its concomitant worldview.
>>> ###
>>> ###
>>> 
>>> 4. https://tinyurl.com/ydy2r4hz <https://tinyurl.com/ydy2r4hz> <https://tinyurl.com/ydy2r4hz <https://tinyurl.com/ydy2r4hz>>
>>> Millions Are Hounded for Debt They Don’t Owe. One Victim Fought Back,
>> With a Vengeance
>>> Zeke Faux
>>> 6 Dec 2017 (original posting date)
>>> 
>>> “ultimate (source)"
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> His search for the ur-source rarely traveled in a straight line.
>>> ###
>>> ###
>>> 
>>> 5. https://tinyurl.com/dk5ssjkc <https://tinyurl.com/dk5ssjkc> <https://tinyurl.com/dk5ssjkc <https://tinyurl.com/dk5ssjkc>>
>>> Post-Classical Fantasy Cinema: The Lord of the Rings
>>> I. Q. Hunter
>>> 6 Sep 2018
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> ...successful screenplays were variations on a twelve-stage Hero’s
>> Journey model. A good film reworked this Jungian ur-narrative within the
>> standard Three Act structure…
>>> ###
>>> ###
>>> 
>>> 6. https://tinyurl.com/2xvjxxrz <https://tinyurl.com/2xvjxxrz> <https://tinyurl.com/2xvjxxrz <https://tinyurl.com/2xvjxxrz>>
>>> Matt Gaetz has zero interest in being in Congress
>>> Chris Cillizza
>>> 30 Mar 2021
>>> 
>>> “prototypical” though meaning “perfect example”
>>> 
>>> ###
>>> Now, many newly elected Republican House members see a seat in Congress
>> as a means to a more lucrative end -- a chance to build their, uh, brand,
>> widen their fundraising base and raise their profile in order to get the
>> real prize: A well-paying gig on a conservative media network.
>>> 
>>> The Ur example of this trend comes in the form of a brassy and
>> bouffanted Florida congressman named Matt Gaetz.
>>> 
>>> Since his arrival in Congress in 2017, Gaetz has shown far more interest
>> and passion in appearing on Fox News to dunk on Democrats than in actually
>> trying to, you know, legislate.
>> 
> 
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