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Late Sixteenth century England had no word for "emotion" (except in the sense of "political disturbance"), which does not arise in English until, I think, Florio's translation of Montaigne. Of course, they had "passion," but one doesn't always want to emphasize the passive side of feeling. When they wanted to emphasize the active side of feeling, they needed another word. So Spenser, for example, just makes up very similar words: emmove, amove, etc... Spenser's neologisms, I think, arise out of the situation that Jean describes (whatever the name for it may be [I'd call it "being at a loss for words"]). Brad Quoting Jean Goodrich <[log in to unmask]>: > I have heard that the Eskimo language has 20-something different > words > for snow. The Native Americans (Tohono Odam, Pima, > Navajo) of the southwest have different words for summer rains and > winter rains which describe their respective characteristics. > > And I was just reading an article on Salon.com, I think, on finding > a > decent Pinot Grigio and the often misleading language > of wine description. > > Do any of the topoi mentioned describe the situation of not having a > word to express the item or phenomenon in question? > This seems particularly vexing in the case of smells, tastes and > feelings. > > > > Jean Goodrich > U of Arizona > -- Brad Tuggle Honors College University of Alabama