Mysteries of vernacular: Window - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel
Let’s Begin…
Metaphoric compounds, like the combination of the words wind and eye to represent a window, populated Norse and Old English. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel describe how this love of metaphor created the word window.
Additional Resources for you to Explore
Here is an online etymology of the word window.Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300.Find out more about Old Norse pronunciation.How do metaphors help us better understand the world? And, what makes a
good metaphor? Explore these questions with writers like Langston Hughes
and Carl Sandburg, who have mastered the art of bringing a scene or
emotion to life.A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound (usually two words, often hyphenated) that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun.
Watch the video and finish the Think section to complete the lesson.
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