On the suffix -Nesia

The word ‘nesia’ comes from Ancient Hellenic (Greek) meaning ‘island’.

These words below are found to have ‘nesia’;

Polynesia = Poly for ‘many’ + Nesia ‘island’ = Many islands
Micronesia = Micro for ‘small’ + Nesia = Small islands
Indonesia = Indo (loosely translated) for the ‘Indus region’ + Nesia = Indus region islands

The suffix ‘-Nesia’ is used often to describe small islands and have been used to name nations and even clusters of islands. Perhaps you’ll think twice on the idea of the origins or etymology of ‘Polynesian culture’ or what it means to be ‘Indonesian’.

The point of the above,

Is to reiterate the fact that words come from something. People don’t ‘always’ name things willy nilly and make up words derived from a vacuum. If we assume some form of causality and reason, we could derive the origins of words as well as their meanings to wield a greater understanding and authority over language, thus aiding our journeys in life and communication.

Study etymology, study orthology, find the truth of the origin of words and reach a greater height of understanding in knowing the origins. For if you know where the arrow came from, you can see the path it takes. Know your present to know your past, and know your past to know your future.

A small lesson in words;

This is a small lesson in affixes or fixes.

Essentially, letters combine to create fixes which can become root words. These fixes can be affixed in the front of the word as a ‘pre-fix’ or at the end of the word as a ‘suffix’.

“impassable” = “im- pass -able”
‘im-‘ prefix meaning ‘not’
‘pass’ the root fix meaning loosely ‘to go through’
‘-able’ suffix meaning ‘ability to’ or ‘chance of’.

So the word impassable broken down can mean ‘not a chance of going through’.

A ‘pre’ fix is in the front of the word or fix. ‘pre’ meaning ‘In front’ or ‘before’.
A ‘Suf’-fix is in the end of the word or fix. ‘su’ similar to ‘sur’ meaning ‘end’ or ‘last’ or ‘after’. Like ‘surname’.
The base fix or root word or root fix is the part of the word that is common.

As a note, you have to understand the origin of the word as well, for some prefixes, may derive from Hellenic or Slavic or Latin or different origins and mean different things. So puzzle yourself on that.

You can break down many words in English and in other languages using a similar understanding.

Knowing how words are derived may help you to form better compound words and sentences. Hopefully this small lesson sharpens your wordcraft, wordsmithing, or logomancy.

(as a side note, this is the English I WISHED I was taught of in classes, to unify and provide the foundational work of understanding of language and the philosophy of language. Not reading some old works of dead poets for posthumous analysis)

A side note on -Mnesia

There is another suffix that is -mnesia, like in the word ‘amnesia’. Which is not the same as ‘-nesia’ for island, but could be mistaken as such, because it’s only one letter away. -Mnesia suffix comes from Greek for memory, like in mnemonic, so it has a different meaning and shouldn’t be considered the same as nesia.

As another side note into divine comedy, if we consider a fractured memory or a schizm of the mind as a bunch of islands of thoughts, it would make the canny relation between -nesia and -mnesia to be a divine pun in a sense. But that’s of course if you try to frame or will this connection into being.

Epilogue;

I truly mean it when I say,

Words Mean Things

So, please, question what words you use and how they relate to other words in the present contemporary sense, as well as their origins. The funny thing about universal wisdom, the Universe LOVES puns. It’s almost as if. . .

Everything is connected to Everything.