Re: "par coeur" origin


retrosorter wrote:
The Engloish expression "by heart" or "off by heart" comes from the
French "par coeur" but can anbyone tell me the process in which thr
French term came to mean to know something from memory. I' ve heard
speculation that "par coeur" was originally "par choeur", i.e. "through
group repetition," but I wonder if this is merely folk etymology.

The Latin word for heart is cor, surviving in English cordial,
cordiality. By applying my Magdalenian method (explained
in my etymological thread and several other threads) to COR
I found the following words around the meme of youthful passion:

COR --- young people, darlings; ancient Greek korae for girl,
virgin, young woman, daughter, doll, apple of the eye, koros
for young man, son, youthful, vigorous, Latin cor for heart,
soul, feeling, courage, reason, insight, individuum, person,
cor meum for my heart (my darling)

ROC --- the way young people behave, in puberty, when
falling in love, when quarrelling, when fighting over a woman;
ancient Greek rochtheo for I rustle, roar, buzz, race, effervesce,
rogalos for torn apart (by inner conflicts, then, as in puberty),
English ruction (unexplained until now), ruckus, rock and roll,
the agitated and pulsating music of my youth (in my assumption
we are keeping a holographic memory of early language, rock
in rock and roll would then revive Magdalenian roc, perhaps via
a rolling boulder)

CRO --- to beat, knock, a young heart beating, a quick pulse;
ancient Greek krouo for I beat, push, knock, krouros for source

ORC --- instinct, impulse, drive, desire, passion, when the heart
is beating fast, when young people blush, when the sexual
organs swell; ancient Greek orgao for I brim (over), swell, desire
vehemently, organon in the sense of organ

RCO --- being active, youthful and passionate activities;
ancient Greek rhezo for I do

OCR --- arousal, easily arousable, keen on; ancient Greek
okrioeis for sharp (sharp in English also has the meaning
of keen and eager, scharf in German can also mean horny,
randy, juicy, hot), okriaomai for getting angry, akros for
pointed, sharp, uppermost, supreme, excelling

If my interpretation holds, these words link youthful passion
with the quick and strong pulse of a young heart. Now for
the expression to learn by heart. We learn easily when the
heart is involved, when feelings are present, yet we learn
hard, or not at all, when feelings are absent, when our heart
is elsewhere. We can easily remember plenty details of an
exciting day, whereas we can read the same page over and
over again, without remembering anything when our feelings
are elsewhere. I always learned along projects of mine, also
in school, thus I learned easily. Actors have no problem
learning their roles in a play. How come? A play, whether
a drama or a comedy, is full of feelings, even passion. Good
teachers give lively lessons, linking the subject matter with
the live of their pupils, knowing instinctively that they learn
more easily when their feelings are involved, when their young
hearts are touched and moved, so to speak. "To learn by heart"
--- a fine example of folk wisdom that had been confirmed by
modern pedagogical research.

Regards Franz Gnaedinger www.seshat.ch

.

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