This week: Letter vs. letter! Character vs. missive! Which came first and where did it come from? We find out. Then we have a few news tidbits and a whole lot of footnotes. Let’s get into it.
Every semester, I’ve got that one student - the one who thinks I’m going to believe him when he says “Sorry, I didn't know my computer was counting letters instead of words.” Sorry, bud, but your 1,000-word essay is just a few words too short. Like 800 or so. If I count generously1. And don't look too closely at what all the words are2. This semester was no different. But, it did make me wonder, as I read some really good essays and some essays that need some attention, how come we use the same word for letter and, er, letter?
The short answer is just what you'd expect, we started with one meaning (character) and it led, over time, to the other (missive). What's more intriguing is that we don't know exactly where that initial word came from, although there are several theories. In fact, Word Origins: The Hidden Histories of English Words from A to Z states:
The distant ancestry of the word letter has never been satisfactorily explained.
So, you know, there’s that. But, we do know that letter enters English in the 11th century, possibly, and most directly, from the Old French word letre, which was notable in that the singular form contained both character and missive as definitions, while the plural meant literature and/or learning3. Presumably, the French word came from Latin, but it's not entirely clear.
The best guess at a Latin root would be the noun littera which meant a document or written record, or, when pluralized, an epistle or missive. From whence4 did the Latin word come? Well, that's where the trail goes dark. One theory suggests that it came from Greek via Etruscan, where, in its earliest forms, it would have meant to stamp something. However, this theory relies on a significant shift in a consonant sound and so it may change after more research.
In the meantime, murky roots aside, letter brings out a few interesting points. Let's start with the verb form. We know, of course, that to letter means to write, but it's interesting that it has picked up the nuance of meaning to write specific individual characters rather than become a synonym for writing itself. For me, as a lifelong comic book nerd, it most often takes on the image of one of the many hands needed to produce a comic book. Once the writer and artist and inker have done their thing, it's time for the letterer (or letterist5, depending) to step in and do their thing.
It also reminds me of one of my junior high and high school drafting classes where to letter meant to write the labels on a drawing with a very precise form of all-capital block letters, a habit I used until I started teaching at elementary schools when I was asked to stop because it confused some of the kids6.
At the same time, although I was never much for organized sports, many of my friends in high school and college took great pride in lettering for one team or another. They earned their letters and wore them proudly on their letterman jackets.
All told, counting all forms, Merriam-Webster's has 13 different definitions for letter, which you'd expect from a word that's 900 years old. But my favorite fact about letter comes from The Facts on File Encylopedia of Word and Phrase Origins:
The first private letter written in English dates from about 1392 (before then letters had been written in French), and manuals for letter writers abound from about that date on.
This prompts so many other questions, mainly, why French7 and where can I get some of these manuals? Since answering those questions is outside the purview of tonight’s letter, let’s instead look at two synonyms I’ve been using throughout this essay: missive and epistle.
Earlier in Vol. 4 of Learned8, I talked about different kinds of novels, but one I didn’t get to was the epistolatory9 novel, a novel that takes the form of letters sent from one character to another or from a character to the reader10, as noted by the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory:
In the 18th c. the form of the epistolary novel (q.v.) was developed. Such novels included: Richardson's Pamela (1740), and his Clarissa (1747-8); Smollett's Humphry Clinker (1771), one of the best of the genre; and the French classic by Laclos, Les Liaisons dangereases (1782).
However, epistle may be familiar to more modern readers as one of the books of the Bible. That book is comprised of letters from the Apostle Paul to several different groups of people. So, what makes epistle different from letter? Nothing, really. Merriam-Webster notes that it is "a formal or elegant letter" but nothing beyond that.
How about missive? Like epistle, missive is pretty close to a straight synonym for letter, however, while all letters are missives, not all missives need to be letters because missive just means written communication. So, while this doesn't necessarily mean a report, an essay, a diary entry, or a sermon could all be missives. More closely to letter, a text message or an email could also be missives.
And with that, I think we'll "letter-selves" out of this missive and get on to the news.
Stay curious,
J
Bits ‘n’ Bobs:
Two things to share with you this week - they are both deeply nerdy but in very different ways. The first is a word site I’ve recently come across, The Phrontistery:
Since 1996, I have compiled word lists and language resources to spread the joy of the English language in all its variety through time and space. A phrontistery (from the Greek phrontistes 'thinker') is meant to be a thinking-place for reflection and intellectual stimulation.
I’ve been having a lot of fun reading through it and, if you like this newsletter, I think you’ll like it too.
Secondly, the James Webb Space Telescope is in position and has started sending back test photos. I can not easily describe how much I’m looking forward to seeing all the new deep field photos that will be coming out in the next few years. In the meantime, from NASA:
What looks like a simple image of blurry starlight now becomes the foundation to align and focus the telescope in order for Webb to deliver unprecedented views of the universe this summer. Over the next month or so, the team will gradually adjust the mirror segments until the 18 images become a single star.
So. Freaking. Cool.
Like letting things like "every day" when they mean "everyday" slide.
I mean, they can't even claim that they got confused in translation because the words for word and letter are fairly distinct in Japanese and translate from English quite easily. So, uh, find a better excuse, please?
Source: Letter on Etymonline.com
I figure about half of you are cringing at that - "Whence, really?" - while the other half of you are thinking, "Ooo, nice!" and nodding your heads slowly.
I would have sworn that this was a real word describing a job akin to a letterer. However, none of my usual dictionaries are backing me up. Instead, I’m finding a lot of references to specific brands, publications, and writing groups. Go figure. Maybe that could be my job title: are you a writer? No, I’m a letterist, thank you.
I just about had to learn how to print lowercase letters all over again.
Yes, I know. Language of the educated classes, blah blah blah.
Not to be confused with depilatory, which is a novel experience all by itself.
It's not exactly an epistolatory novel, but if you've never read "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvino, you owe it to yourself to do so.