Muse

Muse (pronounced myooz)

(1) To think or meditate in silence, as on some subject; to meditate upon.

(2) To gaze meditatively or in wonder (archaic though used still in poetry).

(3) A state of abstraction (archaic).

(4) Thoughtfully to comment or ruminate upon some topic.

(5) In Classical Mythology, originally the goddesses of song, meditation & memory, but latterly and more commonly as the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over various arts.

(6) The goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or any goddess presiding over a particular art (sometimes lowercase); just about any source of inspiration.

(7) The genius or powers characteristic of a poet (always lowercase).

(8) As the acronym MUSE (Mainstream US English), the strain of US English considered to be standard or unmarked by dialectal variation in pronunciation, syntactic structures, or vocabulary, used in the mainstream news media and taught in (almost all) schools.

(9) A bar or poet (obsolete).

(10) A gap or hole in a hedge or fence through which a wild animal is accustomed to pass; a muset (rare though the concept is now often part of road or railroad construction as under or overpasses for the use of wildlife).

1300–1350: From the Middle English muse & musen (to mutter, gaze meditatively on, be astonished), from the Middle French muser, from the Old French (which may have been influenced by the Medieval Latin mūsus & mūsum (snout)).  The fourteenth century verb muse (to reflect, ponder, meditate; to be absorbed in thought) has a murky history, one strain of etymological thought being it was based on the idea of “standing with one's nose in the air” or even “to sniff about” (in the manner of a dog which has lost the scent), thus the link to muse (muzzle) from the Old French & Classical Latin mūsa (snout) of unknown origin.  The fourteenth century noun muse (one of the nine Muses of classical mythology) was from the Old French Muse and directly from the Classical Latin mūsa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa) (a muse (also music, song)), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European root men- (to think).  The sense of (an inspiring goddess of a particular poet (with a lower-case m-)) dates from the late fourteenth century.  Synonyms of the verb include brood, cogitate, consider, contemplate, deliberate, dream, feel, meditate, moon, percolate, ponder, reflect, revolve, roll, ruminate, speculate, think, weigh, chew over & mull over

The noun musing (act of pondering, meditation, thought) emerged at much the same time as a verbal noun from the verb.  The noun museum was first used in the 1610s to describe the university building in Alexandria and was from the Latin museum (library, study), from the Ancient Greek mouseion (place of study, library or museum, school of art or poetry (originally “a temple or shrine of the Muses”).  The earliest use in reference to English institutions was in the mid-seventeenth century when it was applied to libraries (in the sense of collections of books, documents and other manuscripts) for scholarly study (1640s) while the modern idea of a physical "building or part of a building set aside as a repository and display place for objects relating to art, literature, or science" dates from the 1680s.  Muse is a noun & verb, muser & musing are nouns, musing is a verb museful an adjective and musingly & musefully are adverbs; the noun plural is muses.

Portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton (circa 1782) by George Romney.  Emma Hamilton (1765-1815) was the mistress of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson (1758-1805) and muse of the portraitist, George Romney (1734-1802).

The acronym MUSE (Mainstream US English) seems first to have appeared in 1997 and describes what used to be called GA (General American), the unofficial standard accent of the United States.  It’s essentially the accent of much of the Midwest and the West and remains by far the most frequently heard on US broadcast news (regardless of political leanings or affiliation).  It’s thus something of an unofficial standard but does differ from the previous “prestige accent”, the so-called “trans-Atlantic” which was clipped and precise but without the exaggerated form of the UK’s RP (received pronunciation).  The critique of MUSE is that (MUSE) is often treated as morally superior, a view which of course implies negative perceptions of “non-standard languages”, a process of stigmatization which perpetuates dialect discrimination which can result in the disparagement or other mistreatment of users of non-standard varieties.  The acronym MUSE is merely descriptive among academics in the field but is politically divisive in that it’s thought by many as the superior accent in a hierarchy (an idea familiar in the UK) in which the regional forms (such as the Southern Accent) or those influenced by ethnic identity (such as African-American Vernacular English (AAVE)) are thought deviations from what is defined as “correct”.  A similar political movement is now promoting Ebonics (the construct a portmanteau of ebony + phonics which originally referenced the languages spoken by the descendants of slaves in the Caribbean, and North America but which was in the 1970s appropriated by African-American academic psychologist Professor Robert Williams 1930-2020), a defined sociolect of what technically is a sub-set of African-American English as an equally legitimate form of the language.  The dialect certainly differs from standard American English and its adoption as a political marker reflects the strain of multi-stranded separatism which now characterizes the positions taken by activists.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens because Ebonics is an example of how English has in the past evolved and, under the Raj, the British noted the adaptations their colonized peoples made to English and even adopted some of the words or expressions which proved useful.  Identity politics have of course evolved since the Raj and there’s now a view that to plunder something like Ebonics for the odd handy phrase would be an act of cultural appropriation and use must remain exclusive to people of color.

Lindsay Lohan, MUSE Magazine photo-shoot, January 2010.

Amuse (to divert the attention, beguile, delude) was a mid-fifteenth century verb from the Old French amuser (fool, tease, hoax, entrap; make fun of (literally "cause to muse" (in the sense of being distracted from some useful purpose)), the context being a- (from Latin ad- (through; towards), but here thought a causal prefix) + muser (ponder, stare fixedly).  This original sense in English is technically obsolete but echoes of the meaning live on in critiques the more serious-minded sometimes make of the more banal examples of popular culture.  For most of the eighteenth century, the word assumed the usual meaning “to deceive or cheat by first diverting attention”; the modern “bemuse” thus retaining something of the old meaning.  In the Ancient Greek amousos meant "without Muses (and hence "uneducated"), another connection some like to link to popular culture.  The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) noted “amuse” was never used by Shakespeare, indicating it wasn’t in widespread use before the seventeenth century.

In Classical Greek Mythology, the original three goddesses were Aoede (song), Melete (meditation), and Mneme (memory) but later writers fleshed-out the roll-call and scholars consider the standard canon to be the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy).  In Roman mythology the Camenae were goddesses thought originally water deities, inhabiting a sacred grove and spring located outside the Porta Capena (gate in Rome's Servian Wall).  They were believed imbued with magic powers which could cure ailments and prophesy the future so in Roman religious rituals, the Camenae were offered libations of water and milk and it was the poet Quintus Ennius (circa 239–circa 169 BC) who identified them with the Muses; there they’ve remained.

Marilyn Monroe 1962 (left) & Lindsay Lohan 2011 (right).

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) has since her death been a visual muse for many in popular culture including Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Cynthia Sherman (b 1954), Richard Avedon (1923–2004), James Rosenquist (1933–2017), Richard Hamilton (1922-2011) & Richard Pettibone (b 1938), all of who followed their pursuit with a seriousness quite unfairly never afforded to her acting while she was alive.  Lindsay Lohan twice made a muse of Marilyn Monroe, in 2008 & 2011 reprising two of her photo sessions.

Sociolect

Sociolect (pronounced soh-see-uh-lekt (U) or soh-shee-uh-lect (non-U))

In the jargon of sociolinguistics, a variant of a language used by a particular social group (socioeconomic class, an ethnic group, an age group etc); a social dialect.

1970–1975: The construct was socio- + (dia)lect (ie by analogy with dialect, idiolect, etc).  The prefix socio- was from the Latin socius (associated, allied; partner, companion, ally), from the primitive Indo-European sokyo- (companion), from sek- (to follow).  The suffix –lect was adopted from the terminal element of dialect, thus representing the Ancient Greek element -λεκτος (-lektos), ultimately from λέγω (légō) (I say or speak).  The plural was sociolects.

In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a variation of an established language, distinguished by a non-standard dialect or a re-allocation of meaning to elements of an existing dialect and a restricted or extended register).  Most sociolinguists restrict the definition to language used by a socioeconomic class, ethnic group, age group etc but some (somewhat controversially) include the language sub-sets used almost exclusively by trades or professions; few sociolinguists agree with the latter approach and maintain this language of essentially technical terms should be listed just as jargon.  The other significant difference from most other dialects is that it tends to be social class rather than geographical origin which substantiates the (unique or shared (lexical overlap being a noted feature in this field)) linguistic elements.

Sociolects (the companion term ethnolect is sometimes applied to ethnic-based dialects) as a distinct phenomenon are a recent addition to the field of structural linguistics.  There had long been an interest in dialectial variations which usually emerged organically in specific geographical spaces and tended to evolve and become entrenched in when the mobility of people was limited (although recent research does suggest this effect was over-stated) but what began in the late 1960s was the distinct branch of dialectology, the study of different dialects in relation to social society.  Unlike the dialects which began and became associated with a particular geographical space, the idea of the sociolect was of a speech which conforms to a social group identity, based usually on age or ethnicity and greatly influenced by socio-economic status.  That sounded environmentally deterministic and at the time that was probably true but what later emerged, especially as new technologies permitted an essentially instantaneous dissemination of popular culture to an increasing number of the global population, the earlier sociolinguistic view that patterns of speech are learned from the surrounding community was modified: people could now mix & match, picking community with which they wished to be associated and adopting their linguistic traits.

One of the best known of the genre is Ebonics (the construct a portmanteau of ebony + phonics), a word re-purposed in the early 1970s by a group of African-American academics, headed by a psychologist, Professor Robert Lee Williams II (1930–2020).  Originally, linguistic anthropologists used Ebonics to refer to the forms of English-based languages used by all those descended from black African slaves, particularly those brought from West Africa to the Caribbean and North America.  For generations, scholars had regarded these variations from Standard English as inferior and essentially a form for the “uneducated” and the assertion of a redefined Ebonics was a reaction to the negative connotations which had long pervaded academia.  It proved of some interest to those working in structural linguistics but within the community of black academics (who turned out to be as diverse and disparate in their opinions as academics of any race), it was a controversial topic because of the view that whatever the merits in recognizing that all dialectical forms (and structurally, in a sense, Standard English was just one of many) deserved to be recognized as equally valid forks, there was the recognition that the use and mastery of the standard forms was a fundamental necessity for social advancement and economic empowerment.

A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess, first edition, signed by the author, AU$18,975.08 on eBay.

Neither widely embraced by the linguistic community nor recognized by most lexicographers (although dictionaries in the era were still substantially in print and acceptance did take longer, mistakes in static documents impossible to correct), Ebonics for years remained little-known outside universities although some police departments did use the word, providing printed guides of phrases used (uniquely it was said) by African-Americans to communicate among themselves while concealing the meaning from outsiders who might be listening.  These phrases used words from the vocabulary of Standard English but with a different grammar and sometimes a re-allocation of meaning.  In this it differed from Nadsat, the argot or fictional register invented by Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) for the droogs in A Clockwork Orange (1962), where the words, although often derived from English, were barely if at all unrecognizable.

It was in 1996 Ebonics became widely known in the US.  The Oakland School Board, apparently in an attempt to gain additional funding for the teaching of English to those for whom it was not a first language, listed Ebonics as the primary language of the substantial number of their African-American pupils.  The use of the term seems to have been an attempt to add some academic gloss or gain political favor because the alternative term “African American English”, had been in use for some years and technically, meant the same thing although there may have been the feeling Ebonics carried a favorable political loading.  The board’s view was interpreted as a recognition there was in some senses a separate community of African Americans and to enable them to operate in both cultures it was desirable for them to learn Standard (American) English so they might use both depending on the circumstances, a process called "code switching".

A roaming pack of valley girls.

Valleyspeak (sometimes shortened to Valspeak) was another interesting form.  It was a socially-specific dialect associated with the stereotypical white, materialistic, upper middle-class, teen-aged girl (hence “valley-girl” being the archetype) in southern California circa 1980-1987, characterised by the adoption (and sometimes re-purposing) of existing words and phrases, delivered with an exaggerated inflection.  Elements of Valleyspeak spread to other demographics and for a certain period in the 1980s and 1990s, it was something of a fad with a peak period from around 1981 to 1985 although some of it has endured in words and phrases now part of much mainstream speech.  The use of “like” as a discourse marker and “whatever”, deployed to covey general dismissiveness have become endemic and “uptalk” or “upspeak” (technically the “high rising terminal” (HRT) or “high rising intonation” (HRI), where declarative sentences can end with a rising pitch similar to that once associated only with yes/no questions) seems to have been infectious in younger, less educated demographics.  The source of the term Valleyspeak is said to have been Frank Zappa’s (1940-1993) parody music single Valley Girl (1982) in which, behind the music, his teenage daughter Moon Unit Zappa (1967), delivered a monologue in what would come to be known as Valleyspeak.  The form was subsequently spread and popularized by US pop-culture, especially film and television.  Valleyspeak includes:

Like = um.
Whatever = dismissively, whatever you say.
Totally = I agree.
As if = unlikely, impossible.
Oh my God = amazing, shocked.
So = very.
Fer shur (for sure) = certainly.
Bitchin’ = excellent.
Filth = excellent.
Gag Me = ick.
Gag me with a spoon = super ick.
Awesome = awesome.
I know, right? = agree.
Grody = somewhat gross.
Gross = disgusting.
Bogus = untrustworthy, sketchy.
Barf out! = An exclamation of encountering something grody.
For sure = absolutely.
Dork = someone uncool & clueless.
Hunk = attractive male.
Spaz = someone clumsy.
To the max = extreme adjective.
Excellent! = excellent.
No way = I don’t believe it, dude.
Yes way = believe it, dude (in response to ‘no way’).
Humongous = very large, bigger than huge.
Humongoid = humongous.
Heinous = ugly.
Nice = an ironic judgement.

Moon Unit Zappa, Valley Girl (1982)