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Re: Fw: [NABOKV-L] Powerful Kramler: Nabokov decoded ...
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Professor Boyd: many thanks for the perfectly valid point about what VN
meant by ³stang.² And for repeating the excellent advice: Always consult
VN¹s pet W2 (Webster II) first. That can often curtail much idle
speculation, source- & soul-searching, and VN-mind-reading.
There remain some teasing points: how did VN come to find stang, and then,
the more subjective question, why did he use stang, rather than other
possible prosody-preserving synonyms? Before you say: ³He obviously found it
in W2, you daft sod,² consider the traditional functions of dictionaries and
how we all (including VN) normally exploit them.
We encounter an unfamiliar word and then look it up! From headword to
definition, examples of usage, etymologies, possibly synonyms of the
headword. We don¹t usually search a dictionary painfully looking for
keywords of unknown synonyms of words we already know!
(Well, of course, many of us [including VN] do enjoy much random as well as
goal-driven lexicographical browsing. Recall the old, old story of someone
reading the OED from A to Z, then declaring she loved the dramatis personae
but hated the plot. Note also the existence of REVERSE dictionaries that try
to map definitions to headwords, an almost impossible many-to-few mapping
for polysemic languages.)
Rather, we hope that the dictionary provides synonyms (and antonyms), so we
look up the known word and hope to find a rich list of equivalents, or at
least a useful SEE ALSO list. (Not all see-alsos are useful. They often link
to related topics rather than synonyms. Under gulag, you might find See also
Stalinism; kulak; holocaust.) Note also that the usual collections (Roget
etc) offering synonyms are quite sparse for rare technical and dialect
words, the pride of W2 and OED.
We have the following scenarios (maybe more):
1. VN had encountered stang somewhere and it became part of his remarkable,
photographic-memory empowered vocabulary.
Whether he knew its meaning instanter from context, or had to check the
meaning in W2, or simply stumbled across it browsing W2, is not really
relevant, and possibly unknowable (absent a note lurking in the archives or
DN¹s memory!)
2. He checked the W2 entry for rail (maybe other known rail synonyms)
seeking a monosyllabic substitute. I did a quick browse of the W2 entry
(We assume he already knew the many common meanings of rail!)
RAIL, n.
1. A cross beam fixed at the ends in two upright posts.
[In New England, this is never called a beam; pieces of timber of the proper
size for rails are called scantling.]
2. In the United States, a piece of timber cleft, hewed or sawed, rough or
smooth, inserted in upright posts for fencing. The common rails among
farmers, are rough, being used as they are split from the chestnut or other
trees. The rails used in fences of boards or pickets round gentlemen''s
houses and gardens, are usually sawed scantling and often dressed with the
plane.
3. A bar of wood or iron used for inclosing any place; the piece into which
ballusters are inserted.
4. A series of posts connected with cross beams, by which a place is
inclosed.
In New England we never call this series a rail, but by the general term
railing. In a picket fence, the pales or pickets rise above the rails; in a
ballustrade, or fence resembling it, the ballusters usually terminate in the
rails.
5. In a ship, a narrow plank nailed for ornament or security on a ship''s
upper works; also, a curved piece of timber extending from the bows of a
ship to the continuation of its stern, to support the knee of the head, &c.
RAIL, n. A bird of the genus Rallus, consisting of many species. The water
rail has a long slender body with short concave wings. The birds of the
genus inhabit the slimy margins of rivers and ponds covered with marsh
plants.
RAIL, n.
A woman''s upper garment; retained in the word nightrail, but not used in
the United States.
In spite of many chatty cross-reference and usage guides, I don¹t see a link
from rail to the synonym stang! Neither does the W2 stang entry link to
rail. My initial hunch of dialectal links with sting/stung is confirmed
Stang, v. i. [Akin to sting; cf. Icel. stanga to prick, to goad.] To shoot
with pain. [Prov. Eng.]
More research needed on other W2 entries that might link to stang = rail.
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 15/01/2010 19:50, "b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz" <b.boyd@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ> wrote:
> Sorry to be a party-pooper, but we know what Nabokov's preferred English
> dictionary was, so it seems pointless to decide that this or that word he has
> used is a coinage, when it's in Webster's Second.
>
> There, there are 5 different entries for "stang," and the first sense of the
> first entry is "A pole, rail, or beam."
>
> "Larvarium" it defines as "A box or cage for the rearing of insect larvae."
>
> As far as I know it is still possible to obtain old copies of Webster's Second
> International Unabridged at ridiculously low prices from Merriam-Webster.
>
> Brian Boyd
>
>
> On 15/01/2010, at 9:20 AM, jansymello wrote:
>
>> Gary Lipon to jansymello [I mean, the substantive "Stange" meaning "perch,"]
>> I don't get an entry for "stange" meaning "perch" in thefreedictionary.com
>> <http://thefreedictionary.com> , my first goto source for words, only a town
>> in Norway. So I'm confused as to what you mean...The peculiar thing is that
>> "rail" and "stang" are both monosyllabic and thus work equally well in terms
>> of prosody. Surely VN would have considered a common word like "rail"; thus
>> must of really intended "stang"...
>>
>> JM: I originally checked in the Oxford Duden Dictionary (German), but on-line
>> there is Stange, indicating perch, stick,rail...:
>> Stange Stange f , -, -n
>> a (=langer, runder Stab) pole
>> (=Querstab) bar
>> (=Ballettstange) barre
>> (=Kleiderstange, Teppichstange) rail
>> (=Gardinenstange, Leiste für Treppenläufer) rod
>> (=Vogelstange) perch
>> (=Hühnerstange) perch, roost
>> (=Gebissstange) bit, (Hunt) (=Schwanz) brush
>> (=Geweihteil) branch (of antlers) (fig) (=dünner Mensch) beanpole inf
>> b (=länglicher Gegenstand) stick
>> eine Stange Zigaretten a carton of 200 cigarettes
>> c (=zylinderförmiges Glas) tall glass
>> d (Redewendungen) ein Anzug von der Stange a suit off the peg (Brit) or
>> rack (US)
>> von der Stange kaufen to buy off the peg (Brit) or rack (US)
>> jdn bei der Stange halten inf to keep or hold sb
>> bei der Stange bleiben inf to stick at it inf
>> jdm die Stange halten inf to stick up for sb inf , to stand up for sb
>> eine (schöne or ganze) Stange Geld inf a tidy sum inf
>>
>> Translation Stange in the German-English Collins dictionary
>> <http://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Stange>
>> Search the archive
>> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en>
>> Contact the Editors <mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit
>> "Nabokov Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com>
>> Visit Zembla <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View Nabokv-L
>> Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage subscription
>> options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>>
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
meant by ³stang.² And for repeating the excellent advice: Always consult
VN¹s pet W2 (Webster II) first. That can often curtail much idle
speculation, source- & soul-searching, and VN-mind-reading.
There remain some teasing points: how did VN come to find stang, and then,
the more subjective question, why did he use stang, rather than other
possible prosody-preserving synonyms? Before you say: ³He obviously found it
in W2, you daft sod,² consider the traditional functions of dictionaries and
how we all (including VN) normally exploit them.
We encounter an unfamiliar word and then look it up! From headword to
definition, examples of usage, etymologies, possibly synonyms of the
headword. We don¹t usually search a dictionary painfully looking for
keywords of unknown synonyms of words we already know!
(Well, of course, many of us [including VN] do enjoy much random as well as
goal-driven lexicographical browsing. Recall the old, old story of someone
reading the OED from A to Z, then declaring she loved the dramatis personae
but hated the plot. Note also the existence of REVERSE dictionaries that try
to map definitions to headwords, an almost impossible many-to-few mapping
for polysemic languages.)
Rather, we hope that the dictionary provides synonyms (and antonyms), so we
look up the known word and hope to find a rich list of equivalents, or at
least a useful SEE ALSO list. (Not all see-alsos are useful. They often link
to related topics rather than synonyms. Under gulag, you might find See also
Stalinism; kulak; holocaust.) Note also that the usual collections (Roget
etc) offering synonyms are quite sparse for rare technical and dialect
words, the pride of W2 and OED.
We have the following scenarios (maybe more):
1. VN had encountered stang somewhere and it became part of his remarkable,
photographic-memory empowered vocabulary.
Whether he knew its meaning instanter from context, or had to check the
meaning in W2, or simply stumbled across it browsing W2, is not really
relevant, and possibly unknowable (absent a note lurking in the archives or
DN¹s memory!)
2. He checked the W2 entry for rail (maybe other known rail synonyms)
seeking a monosyllabic substitute. I did a quick browse of the W2 entry
(We assume he already knew the many common meanings of rail!)
RAIL, n.
1. A cross beam fixed at the ends in two upright posts.
[In New England, this is never called a beam; pieces of timber of the proper
size for rails are called scantling.]
2. In the United States, a piece of timber cleft, hewed or sawed, rough or
smooth, inserted in upright posts for fencing. The common rails among
farmers, are rough, being used as they are split from the chestnut or other
trees. The rails used in fences of boards or pickets round gentlemen''s
houses and gardens, are usually sawed scantling and often dressed with the
plane.
3. A bar of wood or iron used for inclosing any place; the piece into which
ballusters are inserted.
4. A series of posts connected with cross beams, by which a place is
inclosed.
In New England we never call this series a rail, but by the general term
railing. In a picket fence, the pales or pickets rise above the rails; in a
ballustrade, or fence resembling it, the ballusters usually terminate in the
rails.
5. In a ship, a narrow plank nailed for ornament or security on a ship''s
upper works; also, a curved piece of timber extending from the bows of a
ship to the continuation of its stern, to support the knee of the head, &c.
RAIL, n. A bird of the genus Rallus, consisting of many species. The water
rail has a long slender body with short concave wings. The birds of the
genus inhabit the slimy margins of rivers and ponds covered with marsh
plants.
RAIL, n.
A woman''s upper garment; retained in the word nightrail, but not used in
the United States.
In spite of many chatty cross-reference and usage guides, I don¹t see a link
from rail to the synonym stang! Neither does the W2 stang entry link to
rail. My initial hunch of dialectal links with sting/stung is confirmed
Stang, v. i. [Akin to sting; cf. Icel. stanga to prick, to goad.] To shoot
with pain. [Prov. Eng.]
More research needed on other W2 entries that might link to stang = rail.
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 15/01/2010 19:50, "b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz" <b.boyd@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ> wrote:
> Sorry to be a party-pooper, but we know what Nabokov's preferred English
> dictionary was, so it seems pointless to decide that this or that word he has
> used is a coinage, when it's in Webster's Second.
>
> There, there are 5 different entries for "stang," and the first sense of the
> first entry is "A pole, rail, or beam."
>
> "Larvarium" it defines as "A box or cage for the rearing of insect larvae."
>
> As far as I know it is still possible to obtain old copies of Webster's Second
> International Unabridged at ridiculously low prices from Merriam-Webster.
>
> Brian Boyd
>
>
> On 15/01/2010, at 9:20 AM, jansymello wrote:
>
>> Gary Lipon to jansymello [I mean, the substantive "Stange" meaning "perch,"]
>> I don't get an entry for "stange" meaning "perch" in thefreedictionary.com
>> <http://thefreedictionary.com> , my first goto source for words, only a town
>> in Norway. So I'm confused as to what you mean...The peculiar thing is that
>> "rail" and "stang" are both monosyllabic and thus work equally well in terms
>> of prosody. Surely VN would have considered a common word like "rail"; thus
>> must of really intended "stang"...
>>
>> JM: I originally checked in the Oxford Duden Dictionary (German), but on-line
>> there is Stange, indicating perch, stick,rail...:
>> Stange Stange f , -, -n
>> a (=langer, runder Stab) pole
>> (=Querstab) bar
>> (=Ballettstange) barre
>> (=Kleiderstange, Teppichstange) rail
>> (=Gardinenstange, Leiste für Treppenläufer) rod
>> (=Vogelstange) perch
>> (=Hühnerstange) perch, roost
>> (=Gebissstange) bit, (Hunt) (=Schwanz) brush
>> (=Geweihteil) branch (of antlers) (fig) (=dünner Mensch) beanpole inf
>> b (=länglicher Gegenstand) stick
>> eine Stange Zigaretten a carton of 200 cigarettes
>> c (=zylinderförmiges Glas) tall glass
>> d (Redewendungen) ein Anzug von der Stange a suit off the peg (Brit) or
>> rack (US)
>> von der Stange kaufen to buy off the peg (Brit) or rack (US)
>> jdn bei der Stange halten inf to keep or hold sb
>> bei der Stange bleiben inf to stick at it inf
>> jdm die Stange halten inf to stick up for sb inf , to stand up for sb
>> eine (schöne or ganze) Stange Geld inf a tidy sum inf
>>
>> Translation Stange in the German-English Collins dictionary
>> <http://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Stange>
>> Search the archive
>> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en>
>> Contact the Editors <mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit
>> "Nabokov Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com>
>> Visit Zembla <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View Nabokv-L
>> Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage subscription
>> options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>>
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/