[HPforGrownups] Name meanings: Arabella Figg/ Hagrid

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 44234

At 20:52 17/09/02 -0500, Richelle Votaw wrote:

>Yes, and it also hinges on something else.  JKR herself not being a Latin
>scholar (French teacher yes, Latin scholar, no), and since she is the one
>who's come up with all of this, I simply don't see it as vital for
>everything to be grammatically correct to make a nice story.  Take
>Wingardium Leviosar (sorry if I spelled it wrong, I REALLY don't want to be
>turned back into a ferret again), for example.  I haven't researched it
>properly, but I think leviosar can be related to a lightness, but then wing
>is thrown in there, completely unLatin.

I agree entirely. JKR is NOT a Latinist, and some of her Latin 
constructions aren't quite right (as everyone's chucking out examples, one 
of the most glaring for me was "expecto" rather than "exspecto"; BTW for 
the record, it's "Leviosa"). :-)

A few relevant points.

I anything, this proves that JKR is NOT using a Latin dictionary to derive 
names; she's using half-remembered bits from her limited Classics studies, 
and probably a dictionary of names. Strangely enough, only someone using a 
dictionary (rather than even a basic knowledge of Latin) would use "bellum" 
(war) to attempt to derive meaning from "Arabella".

No, JKR isn't a Latinist. She is/was, however, a teacher (and presumably 
fairly fluent speaker) of French. Even if she had no Latin schooling at all 
(which isn't the case), she'd connect "bella" with "belle" (Fr. beautiful) 
well before she connected it with "bellicose". Apart from anything else, 
even without knowing French, there was (and presumably still is?) a British 
women's magazine called "Bella". Clue: it's got nothing to with the 
military. :-)

This discussion has started confusing two things: JKR's own invented words 
(spells, names) which sound vaguely Latinish and clearly have some kind of 
Latin derivation, however incorrectly formed, and existing words which have 
accepted Latin etymologies and meanings.

Now, if "Arabella" didn't exist in the real world, I would agree that JKR 
could give it absolutely any meaning (and spelling) she wished; the issue 
is that the name *does* exist, and it has an accepted etymology (or even 
several, including the IMO less plausible one via "Annabel"). Considering 
the level of detail JKR has gone into and the research she has clearly done 
(which doesn't seem to have included a Latin dictionary!) :-) I find it 
bizarre that she would choose this name to mean anything other than what it 
is accepted to do. Otherwise, what would be the point of using a specific 
name or word unless its meaning was clear?

Incidentally, etymology is most frequently a "subtle science and precise 
art" of educated opinion rather than a prescriptivist statement of 
right/wrong, black/white. It's usually about a balance of probabilities and 
lexicographers have argued some words back and forth for generations. The 
problem in the case of Arabella is quite simply that "bellum" being 
involved anywhere along the line is not only improbable but almost 
certainly impossible (if I were a professional lexicographer I could be 
more definitive). :-)

>Thank you for noticing, I AM very opinionated.  And I love creating
>controversy. :)

As am I, except that when I express my opinions, I get accused of 
transforming people into ferrets and bouncing them around the room. :-)

<snip>

Hagrid

 >Now, once again I'll venture I could be stupid again, but I always perceived
>Hagrid to be a "play" on the word haggard.   Considering Hagrid doesn't
>look, well, too spiffy.

You might consider me strange, but in this instance I agree with you, 
except that I go one step further - I've always considered Hagrid to be a 
combination of haggard and rugged (pronounced as is in some English 
dialects as "ruggid").