A lesson in etymology

Occasionally, we come across gems from readers who drop us a line to comment on a hot issue, react to something they read, or inquire about a point of interest.

The other day, Ramon Alfonso A. Fuentes – who described himself as "a concerned senior citizen" – faxed a letter to The STAR to call attention to the wrong use of a word in this column. The letter carried the logo of "Fuentes Media Operations, publishers of ‘The Filipino Economist."’

In his letter, Mr. Fuentes gave a free lecture on etymology. We’re publishing his letter in full because we can learn a lot from it. I sure did.

Here’s Mr. Fuentes:

"The postscript portion of your column ‘A Sporting Chance’ in The STAR of Nov. 9 uses the malalocution: ‘40th day death anniversary Mass for…’

"I hope you shall not take umbrage at this simple call to attention. It may have slipped your mind that the etymology of the term ‘anniversary’ is as follows, to wit:

"1. The free or base morpheme ‘anni’ in anniversary is rooted in the Latin word ‘annus,’ meaning ‘year.’

"2. The bound or combining morpheme ‘versary’ is derived from the Latin ‘versus,’ the past participle of ‘vertere,’ meaning ‘to turn.’

"It is very clear from the foregoing etymological breakdown that the word ‘year’ is a built-in component of the word ‘anniversary.’ Therefore, to modify it with the compound attributive adjectival phrase, ‘40th day death’ is tautologous. Grammatically improper. It would have been more appropriate and grammatically correct to have stated, 40th day commemorative Mass of the death of…’ To be sure, it is a bit longer but otherwise, unquestionably correct.

"The word ‘anniversary’ cannot be used except to convey the sense of any event recurring after a year or years. That is an apodictic rule.

"The foregoing notwithstanding does not detract from the fact that in sports journalism, you are the apotheosis of the profession."

I phoned Mr. Fuentes yesterday to thank him for taking time to write his letter. He told me he’s "an amateur lexicographer" and shared his concern about the youth being miseducated in the use of English.

Mr. Fuentes, who’s 72, said he makes it a point to write grammar "violators" so that errors aren’t repeated. For all the letters he’s written – and there have been many, he said he’s been acknowledged only twice – first, by Grepalife CEO and House of Investments president Alfredo Antonio (the word ‘anniversary’ was misused in a corporate ad that appeared in newspapers) and second, by yours truly.

One more thing, I asked Mr. Fuentes about the use of the word ‘tautologous’ in his letter. I’d never heard or read the word before. Apparently, neither had my computer which packs an automatic spell-check program. My computer underlined the word as misspelled. In the dictionary, the word is spelled as Mr. Fuentes wrote it. The meaning? Redundant. One is never too preoccupied to learn.

Thanks, Mr. Fuentes.

And on the topic of letters, bowling guru Angel Nepomuceno faxed a handwritten note to The STAR regarding a recent column on the hiring of foreign coach Madoka Amano.

Here’s Mr. Nepomuceno in full:

"Thank you for the excellent piece you had in your column of Nov. 1. It encompasses the subject matter of foreign coaches for grassroots logically and understandably.

"In short, you do not need a university professor to teach grade school students. A grade school teacher will perhaps do a better job due to superior patience and understanding."

Mr. Nepomuceno’s point was it’s a waste of money and time for the Philippine Sports Commission to hire a foreign coach to teach young kids how to bowl in a grassroots program.

Point well taken.