posted
I have a question for someone who either: A. Speaks Greek or B. Understands more about linguistics than I.
Basically - what is the actual implication of the suffix, "phobia" as used originally - not in common English usage?
I always see people using the word, "homophobia" to mean "dislike of homosexuality". At first I used to think that it was a misuse of that suffix, as I thought "phobia" meant "fear of", not "dislike of". After doing a little searching though, it seems as though it more accurately implies "aversion to", which fits with the usage in "homophobia" - but then strikes me as too mild a suffix when used to describe psychological fears.
Is it simply that distinctions are not made in Greek between mild and extreme aversions? Or are they, but we only imported the one suffix into English and used it to cover all degrees?
I have a similar problem with the corresponding suffix "philia" to mean "affinity for". On the one hand, "bibliophile" is fine for someone who really likes books... but how would one make a similar construction for someone who really likes children - without making it seem as though they liked children in an inappropriate way?
Again, it seems like the implication of degree of attraction is just lost in English, defaulting to just whatever "common usage" says for a specific case. That's a very unsatisfying explanation for me.
So, anyway, as I say, the question is: What is the implication of the suffix, "phobia" - outside of any usage in English?
Or am I thinking about this incorrectly, and is "phobia" strictly an English thing, just derived from a Greek root that was never used that way to begin with?
-------------------- See Here for the latest update on the 2013 Chicago Gathering (now including tentative attendance list)
Registered: Feb 2008
| IP: Logged |
Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
I'm pretty sure the Greek root of phobia equates to a fairly extreme fear. The God Phobos was the personification of the horrors of war, and I think the word generally has a similar connotation no matter what you apply it to.
I've always assumed that "homophobia" originally meant something stronger than it does now, and that it just got watered down as people extended it to cover any prejudice against homosexuals as opposed to actual fear of homosexuality.
If anything, the Greeks tend to make a lot more distinctions in degrees or types of emotions than are typically made in English. "Philia" actually has more of connotation of "the affection one feels towards one's friends" than anything else in Greek, so I think it's import into English pretty much distorts its meaning completely. I think the problem is more that "likes books" and "likes young boys" just seem to have different meanings in English more than anything having to do with the Greek root.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
Set
There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.
posted
Phobos (o phobos in modern Greek) was 'mortal fear' or 'morbid fear' while Deimos (to deima or to deos in classical Greek) was 'dread.'
Today's 'phobias' are irrational anxieties, not ncessarily 'mortal fears,' and would, IMO, better fit as a 'deima,' as they are more a sense of creeping life-long dread than a sudden fright. Still, phobia, right or wrong, is here to stay, even if 'arachnodeima' might be more accurate, classically.
A phobic person is essentially suffering from the same sort of apprension and constant stress and worry that someone who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder does. In the case of the 'phobe, they don't necessarily have to have ever suffered any sort of traumatic experience to trigger this phenomena, but simply have an overly active sense of dread regarding one or more stimuli, leading to a constant sense of worry, usually all out of proportion to any threat that may exist.
Unfortunately, a lifetime of constant worrying about the object of their phobia leads to them being prone to extreme reactions. They've spent their entire life suffering from the stress and anxiety of their fears, and tend to rationalize a violent reaction as 'self-defense' from something that that's been 'hurting them' for years.
Registered: Aug 2006
| IP: Logged |
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic
