Taurus 24: A mounted Indian with scalp locks

The word mounted descends from Indo-European (IE) the root men-2 w h i c h m e a n s t o p r o j e ct . 1 I t s p a r o n y m s i n c l u d e a m e n a bl e , e m in e n t , i m m i n e n t , m e n a c e , m e n t a l ( o f o r r e l a t i n g t o t he c h i n ) , m o u n t a in , m o u t h , prominent, and promenade. T h e p r o p e r n o u n In d i a n e n t e r e d E n g l i s h f r o m t h e L a t i n I n d i a , b y w a y o f t h e G r e e k I n d i a m e a n i n g r e g i o n of t h e I n d u s R i v e r a n d l a t e r u s e d t o d e s c r i b e t h e r e g i on b e h i n d i t . T h e s e t w o t e r m s d e s c e n d u l t i m a t e l y, f r om the Sanskrit sindhu which means river.2 The word river descends from IE root rei-1 which the means to s c r a t c h, (full of tear, cut. 3 Other c ra c k s , or descendants i n c l ud e words r im o s e c hi n k s ,

c r e v i c e s ), r o w , r o p e , r i v e ( t o r e n d o r t e a r a p a r t ; t o b re a k i n t o p i e c e s , a s b y a b l o w ) , r i ft , r i f e , r ip a r i a n , ( o f , o n , o r r e la t i n g t o t h e b a n k s o f a n a t u r a l c o u r se o f w a t e r ) , r a v a g e , a r r i v e , r i p e , r e a p , a n d r i p p l e . T h e w o r d s c a l p i s a d e r i v a t i v e o f t he I E r o o t s k e l - 1 w hi c h m e a n s t o c u t . 4 A m o n g i t s o t h e r d e r i v a t i v e s a re t h e w o r d s c o u l t e r , c u t l a s s , h a l f , h a l ve , s c a l e , s c a l p e l , s c ho o l ( a la r g e gr o u p o f a q ua t i c a n i m a l s ), s c u l p t u r e , s h e l l , s he l f , s h ie l d , a n d s k il l . T h e w o r d l o c k s re f e r s t o a le n g t h o r c u r l o f h a i r , a t r e s s 5 w h i c h d e s c e n d s f r o m t he O l d E n g l i s h l o c c . T H E M E S : T h e f i r st t h e m e i s C U T . R e c a l l t h a t t h e wo r d I n d i a n i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t he I E r o o t r e i - 1 w h i c h m e a n s t o s c r a t c h , t e a r, c u t . T h e w o r d s c a l p d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e I E r o ot s k e l - 1 w h i c h a l s o m e a n s t o c u t . A s e c o n d t h e me c o n c e r n s t h e r e gi o n o f t he H E A D. A m o n g t h e p a r o n y m s o f m ou n t e d a r e b o t h mo u t h a n d m e n t a l . Th e l a t t e r o f t h e se r e f e r s n o t t o t h e m i n d , b u t r a t he r t o t h e c h i n , a n o t h e r p a r t o f t h e h e a d . 6

1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 54 2 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=India 3 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 70 4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 77 5 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/lock_2 6 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/mental_2 Starling Hunter 2011 1

O b v i o u s l y t h e k e y w o r d s c a l p r e f e r s t o t h e s k i n c o v e ri n g t h e t o p o f t he h u m a n h e a d. 7 F i n a ll y , t h e k e y w o r d l oc k s r e f e r s t o t he ha i r o f t h e h u m a n h e a d . A se c o n d m e a n i n g o f w o r d me n t a l i s o f o r re l a t i n g t o t h e m i n d. 8 T h a t s e n se o f t h e w o r d d e s c e n d s f r o m m e n - 1 w h i c h m e a n s t o t hi n k a n d w h o s e d e r i v a t i v e s r e f e r t o v a r i o u s q u a l i t i e s a n d st a t e s o f m i n d a n d t h o u g h t . 9 G i v e n t ha t t he m i n d a n d t ho u g h t p r o c e s s e s a re a s so c i a t e d w i t h t h e b r a i n , t hi s h o mo n y m f u r t h e r e m p ha s i z e s t h e se c o n d t h e m e . A t h i r d a n d r e l a t e d t h e m e c o n c e r n s AB I L I T Y o r S K I L L . R e c a l l t h a t o n e o f t h e p a r on y m s o f s ca l p i s s c h o o l w h i c h h e re r e fe r s t o a g r o u p of a q u a t i c a n i m a l s . Ot h e r s e n s e s o f t he w o r d i n c l u d e a n i n s t i t u t i on f o r t h e i n s t r u c t i o n o f c h i ld r e n o r p e o p l e u n d e r c o l l e g e a g e a n d a n i n st i t ut i o n f o r i n s t r u c t i o n i n a s k i l l o r b u si n e ss . 10 T h a t s e n se d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e IE root segh- which means to hold and its paronyms include scholar and s c h o l a s t i c . 11 I n t e r e s t i n g l y , t he w o r d m e n t a l ( a s i n m i n d ) a n d t h e w o r d s k i l l , w h i c h i s a p a r o n y m o f s ca l p , a re b ot h s y n on y m s of a b i l i t y. I n t u r n , a b i li t y i s a s y n on y m o f s k i l l , s o me t h i n g t h a t o n e l e a rn s i n s c ho o l . M a n y p h r a s e s c a n b e f o r m e d f r o m t h e a b o v e k e y w o r d s a n d p a r o n y m s. T h e s e i n c l u d e a n e m i n e n t s c u l p t o r , a l o c k e d s h e l f , me n t a l s k i l l s , a m e n t a l shield, a mountain of shells, a menacing scalpel, and half-mouth.

7 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/scalp 8 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/mental 9 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 54 10 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / s c h o o l 11 W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 7 4 Starling Hunter 2011 2