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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009"insentient" the right word here?
Pardon my brain fade, but I can’t seem to find a word to finish my sentence. See the following passage: Lyell opposed the idea of the jump from non-rational animals to rational humans, as being too much of a jump for his uniformitarianism to accommodate. If species could transmigrate from non-rational to rational beings, why couldn’t other such leaps take place in the animal, plant, and ______ worlds? The word I’m looking for means “non-animal or –plant life.” I’d use “insentient,” but I’m not sure that it means the exact same thing; it is a bit pedantic as well. Is there any (other) word that refers to all non-living matter—water, earth, rocks, etc.? OK "inanimate" seems to do. Any others? > Pardon my brain fade, but I can’t seem to find a word to finish my > sentence. See the following passage: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > is a bit pedantic as well. Is there any (other) word that refers to > all non-living matter—water, earth, rocks, etc.? The cliche has "mineral" in that slot, although inanimate, inorganic, nonorganic, lifeless, and non-living are all probably better. But [in-, non-]organic suffer from the mass confusion over the term "organic". >Pardon my brain fade, but I can’t seem to find a word to finish my >sentence. See the following passage: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >is a bit pedantic as well. Is there any (other) word that refers to >all non-living matter—water, earth, rocks, etc.? I would prrefer "non-sentient". But that use of "transmigrate" is wrong. Souls transmigrate (or not). Species transmute or transform (or not).  SignatureDon Aitken Mail to the From: address is not read. To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com" > Pardon my brain fade, but I can’t seem to find a word to finish my > sentence. See the following passage: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > is a bit pedantic as well. Is there any (other) word that refers to > all non-living matter—water, earth, rocks, etc.? Yes, "inanimate" and "mineral" are classic terms -- but neither is usually presented as potentially sentient. Instead of explaining Lyell in terms he probably did not use (e.g. jump, transmigrate) can you find a sufficiently short passage in which Lyell makes this point in his own language? SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) > Yes, "inanimate" and "mineral" are classic terms -- but neither > is usually presented as potentially sentient. That's ok--the third category would only be for items that are not sentient, or even potentially so. So either of these terms ("inanimate" and "mineral") would work, with "inanimate" getting the edge, b/c I want to include everything that is material but not living--"mineral" usually doesn't include water, or at least, not prima facie. > Instead of explaining Lyell in terms he probably did not use > (e.g. jump, transmigrate) can you find a sufficiently short > passage in which Lyell makes this point in his own language? > -- > Don Phillipson > Carlsbad Springs > (Ottawa, Canada) I am reading a book that is summarizing Darwin's contemporaries and predecessors, so I only have a short quote from him, but nothing that is as to the point as my sentence was. > > Yes, "inanimate" and "mineral" are classic terms -- but neither > > is usually presented as potentially sentient. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > living--"mineral" usually doesn't include water, or at least, not > prima facie. Then you're looking for a word to encompass all the elements of the Periodic Table. P. Rittmanp: > Pardon my brain fade, but I can't seem to find a word to finish my > sentence. See the following passage: [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > The word I'm looking for means "non-animal or -plant life." I'd use > "insentient," but I'm not sure that it means the exact same thing... I've never heard "insentient"; I'd form the opposite of "sentient" as "non-sentient". I only know it from science fiction, in which "sentient" basically refers to species with enough intelligence to be considered "people" as opposed to "animals". > Is there any (other) word that refers to all non-living matter-- > water, earth, rocks, etc.? As you said, "non-living". Or "inanimate." SignatureMark Brader | "... There are three kinds of death in this world. Toronto | There's heart death, there's brain death, and msb@vex.net | there's being off the network." -- Guy Almes My text in this article is in the public domain. > P. Rittmanp: > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > As you said, "non-living". �Or "inanimate." Both "non-living" and "inanimate" bring to my mind cemeteries or morgues. > > P. Rittmanp: > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Not to mine. "Non-sentient" brings to my mind creatures who are not self-aware (SF fan here). |
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