Subject: Neoteny
From: L. Manning Vines (lmanningvines@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Nov 24 2001 - 18:06:29 GMT
Will said/quoted:
<< According to Jeremy Campbell in Grammatical Man, a book about
language learning, "This technique of slowing down maturity,
retaining into grown-up life the juvenile traits of ancestral
species, is called neoteny, a word coined in 1883. It means,
literally, 'holding youth'" >>
I think "neoteny" comes from the Greek "neos" + "teinô" (my dictionary says
"teinein" which is the infinitive form of "teinô").
"Neos" is youth, but "teinô" is not "to hold" but, rather, "to stretch." So
it's actually "stretching youth." "To hold" is "echô" so I suppose a word
that literally meant "holding youth" would be something like "neoechy."
-robbie
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