Words by Ericka Koehler

When thinking of what words to choose, I didn’t have a special like or dislike for any word until this last year. The point arrived that I was tired and overwhelmed from hearing the words “virus,” “sick,” “contagious,” “death,” “quarantine,” “disinfecting,” “mask,” “social distancing,” “stay home,” “coronavirus,” and “pandemic,” every single day. Those words became simply annoying to my ears. Those words reminded me of many things that happened to me last year. For example, I got my degree in Digital Marketing and I couldn’t have a commencement ceremony because of the pandemic. As if that were not enough, some family members got infected and I lost friends and acquaintances too. Last year was difficult, and this year I am dealing with more things. Words have a powerful effect of us, can make us to remember good or bad experiences. Among all the words mentioned, those that I dislike the most are the phonemic and morphemic of the words “death,” and “pandemic.”

I looked up the phonetics of the words “death” and “pandemic.” According to the Collins English Dictionary (2021), the phonetics of the word “death” is [dɛθ] and phonetics representation of the word “pandemic” is [pændemɪk].

Reviewing the history and origins of these words, I found out that the word “death” comes from “Old English deaþ «total cessation of life, act or fact of dying, state of being dead; cause of death,» in plural, «ghosts,» from Proto-Germanic *dauthuz (source also of Old Saxon doth, Old Frisian dath, Dutch dood, Old High German tod, German Tod, Old Norse dauði, Danish død, Swedish död, Gothic dauus «death»), from verbal stem *dau-, which is perhaps from PIE root *dheu– «to die». With Proto-Germanic *-thuz suffix indicating «act, process, condition» (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2021).” Then, “pandemic” comes from “the Late Latin pandēmus, from Greek pandēmos general, from pan- + demos the people (Collins English Dictionary, 2021).”

There are words that I started to like, which are “hope” and “healing.”

Hope —> /həʊp/ —> [həʊp]

Healing —-> /’hi:lɪŋ/ —> [‘hi:lɪŋ]

The word “hope” comes from Old English hopian «have the theological virtue of Hope; hope for (salvation, mercy), trust in (God’s word),» also «to have trust, have confidence; assume confidently or trust» (that something is or will be so), a word of unknown origin. Not the usual Germanic term for this, but in use in North Sea Germanic languages (cognates: Old Frisian hopia, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch hopen; Middle High German hoffen «to hope,» which is borrowed from Low German). From early 13c. as «to wish for» (something), «desire.» Related: Hoped; hoping (Online English Dictionary, 2021).” While the word “healing comes from «restoration to health,» Old English hæling, verbal noun from heal (v.). Figurative sense of «restoration of wholeness» is from early 13c.; meaning «touch that cures» is from 1670s (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2021).”

I really want to think that the world will return to normality and the pandemic will be just a bad memory. I found a poem that I would like to share with you. It is from poet Kitty O’Meara named “And the People Stayed Home” that makes reference to this pandemic situation. Despite the difficult times, there is light at the end of the tunnel. In this poem, apart from the repetition of the phrase “And people stayed home” and many other words, you can listen to the words “healed” and “heal” which are related to “healing.” Here is the poem: